Comments on: Dinosaur Sighting: Hardcover Tyrannosaurus

By: Walter

Walter — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:34:32 +0000

Ah, looks like an interesting read.

By: Brian Switek

Brian Switek — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:53:28 +0000

Hi Walter,

There is actually a little-known French novel which featured dinosaurs that was published a few years before The Lost World. I wrote a brief post about that novel here – http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/dinosaur/2009/03/the-dinosaurs-that-ate-paris/

By: Walter

Walter — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 01:38:47 +0000

Actually, I think The Lost World actually was the first novel to feature dinosaurs. There were a few short stories and longer works that made casual references, but Journey to the Center of the Earth, for instance, actually had no dinosaurs in it — just aquatic reptiles and some mastodons. Dinosaurs, from my understanding, didn’t really become the superstars of paleontology until the start of the 20th century, and in some ways Doyle was cashing in on the dino craze by writing the novel.

Truth be told, even The Lost World is rather light on actual dinosaurs. Much more ink is given to cavemen than prehistoric reptiles.