Sea Monsters Prehistoric Creatures of the Deep

by EVERHART, MICHAEL

• ISBN13: 9781426200854
• ISBN10: 1426200854
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-10-02
• Publisher: National Geographic

Summary

Sharks and dinosaurs, dinosaurs and sharks, we find them both alien and awe-inspiring, at once utterly inhuman and somehow irresistibly compelling. But forgetJawsandJurassic Park--nothing can prepare you forSea Monsters: Prehistoric Creatures of the Deep,an amazing plunge into the Cretaceous oceans of 80 million years ago, a merciless realm ruled by the most ferocious animals ever to stalk the seas of planet Earth. More terrifying than anything known to humankind, it scarcely seems possible that these swift, massive underwater predators actually existed, but they did--and this is their frightening, fascinating, unforgettable story. Featuring incredibly realistic computer-generated images and 3-D film clips--with 3-D glasses--field photography by National Geographic cameramen, and much more, the book interweaves dramatic scenes of the far, far distant past; up-to-the-minute scientific profiles of nearly two dozen sea monsters; and a group portrait of the eccentric Sternberg family, Kansas-bred pioneers of marine paleontology. From giant sharks and fierce reptiles to the fossil-hunters who proved that today's land-locked Great Plains were once submerged, to the cutting-edge Large Format Film technology that madeSea Monsterspossible, this book and the movie behind it will forever change how we think about marine predators--and make us look at the oceans of our world with new eyes and a shivery mix of wonderment and ancient, instinctive fear.

Author Biography

Mike Everhart, author of this book and lead consultant for the film, is former president of the Kansas Academy of Science and current editor of the academy journal. Since 1998 he has been curator of paleontology at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History and presently teaches the subject at the University of Kansas. He is also the author of Oceans of Kansas: A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. 6
What is a sea monster?	p. 8
The fossil finders	p. 46
In dangerous waters	p. 84
Where did they go?	p. 128
The making of the 3-D movie	p. 156
Index & illustration credits	p. 186
Acknowledgments	p. 191
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.