Description: A renowned marine naturalist, author, and artist explores--through both word and image--the discoveries, predatory habits, appearance, locomotion, environment, diet, and extinction of the ferocious swimming reptiles that ruled the oceans of the Mesozoic era.
Review Quotes:
"Ellis has written the paleohistorical equivalent of Jaws. Modern-day sharks are anchovies compared to the monstrous great reptiles of prehistoric seas, most of which were bigger, faster, more powerful, omnivorous, and better armed."--Peter Benchley, author of Jaws and Shark Trouble
"With this book, Richard Ellis complements his previously published works on living marine creatures with a riveting account of those long-necked, sharp-toothed, and in some cases, armor-plated giants of the 100-million-year-old seas. His exploration of the past brilliantly showcases creatures more astonishing than any Loch Ness Monster we can dream up."--Michael Novacek, Provost of Science and Curator of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History and author of Time Traveler: In Search of Dinosaurs and Other Fossils from Montana to Mongolia
"Dinosaurs were the most magnificent creatures that ever walked the earth and remain a subject of enduring fascination, as witnessed by the highly popular Jurassic Park. Ellis's vivid and delightfully illustrated book chronicles a lesser-known but equally magnificent group of these extraordinary mega fauna--the remarkable giants that swam the great Mesozoic seas."--Sir Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey
"This is really the first book to present a detailed summary of the history of ideas on marine reptile paleontology. It's also very readable and accessible, which is one of Ellis's trademarks as a writer."--Michael Caldwell, curator of higher vertebrates at the University of Alberta Museum of Paleontology and associate editor of Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology