Dinosaurs of the East Coast - Paperback

by David B. Weishampel (Author), Luther Young (Author)

The great dinosaur bone beds of the American and Canadian West are world famous and have yielded spectacular fossil finds. But the eastern United States and maritime Canada, where dinosaurs also roamed in great numbers, have been equally important to the study of these extraordinary creatures. Some dinosaur fossils have come from the bog iron and clay pits of Maryland and New Jersey, while others have been discovered in the riverbanks of North and South Carolina. Dinosaur footprint sites have been found from central Virginia to the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia.

In Dinosaurs of the East Coast, David Weishampel and Luther Young restore East Coast dinosaurs to their rightful place on the paleontological map. They describe such dinosaurs as the plant-eating Astrodon johnstoni, which browsed in a tropical Maryland jungle 100 million years ago; Anchisaurus polyzelus, which lived in New England some 200 million years ago; Eubrontes, the first large therapod on the East Coast; Pekinosaurus olseni, a primitive ornithischian found in North Carolina; and Hadrosaurus foulkii, a duck-billed dinosaur that lived in New Jersey some 70 million years ago. In addition, they chronicle the long and colorful history of dinosaur fossil hunting along the Atlantic coast and profile the modern-day fossil hunters--both professional paleontologists and amateur collecters--who continue to make important discoveries today. Richly illustrated with more than one hundred photographs and drawings, Dinosaurs of the East Coast combines science and history to offer a new look at an always fascinating subject.

Back Jacket

In Dinosaurs of the East Coast David Weishampel and Luther Young restore East Coast dinosaurs to their rightful place on the paleontological map. They describe such dinosaurs as the plant-eating Astrodon johnstoni, similar to the Brachiosaurus, which browsed in a tropical Maryland jungle 100 million years ago. Other East Coast dinosaurs included a distant relative of Astrodon, Anchisaurus polyzelus, which lived in New England some 200 million years ago. And the remains of Hadrosaurus foulkii, a duck-billed dinosaur that lived in New Jersey some 70 million years ago, represented North America's first well-preserved dinosaur skeleton. The authors also show that dinosaur fossil-hunting has not only had a long history along the Atlantic coast but also is very much alive there today. Some dinosaur fossils have come from the bog iron and clay pits of Maryland and New Jersey, while others have been discovered in the riverbanks of North and South Carolina. Dinosaur footprint sites have been found from central Virginia to the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia.

Author Biography

David B. Weishampel is associate professor of cell biology and anatomy at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is senior editor of The Dinosauria and coauthor of The Evolution and Extinction of Dinosaurs. Luther Young is senior science writer and public information officer at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. Prior to that he was a long-time journalist for the Baltimore Sun, including four years as the newspaper's science writer.