History Literature / TheNewDinosaursAnAlternativeEvolution

* GentleGiantSauropod: The lumber and the turtosaur are depicted as being so utterly passive, they don't fight back even when threatened by predators. The lumber relies on its size and thick skin for defence, while the turtosaur hunkers down and relies on its turtle-like shell.

** All the ecozones and biome arrangements of the Earth's continents are still exactly the same as in our timeline despite the vast differences in flora and fauna. In many cases, the animals living in the environments are also ''extremely'' similar to those in our timeline, like koala and kangaroo dinosaurs living in Australia, giraffe and ostrich pterosaurs living in Africa, moa-like pterosaurs in New Zealand, and sabre-tooth cat and glyptodont-like dinosaurs living in South America.

** The Glub and the Watergulp in particular are fully aquatic hypsilophodonts that reproduce viviparously. While certain reptiles like a few snake species are known to give birth this way, no dinosaurs, extinct or living, have been known to reproduce in this manner, and all of them exclusively lay eggs.

* PteroSoarer:
** The book's pterosaurs are among the '''worst''' to ever appear anywhere (even for their time, they were bad), it seems that Dougal basically just said "screw it" and gave the pterosaurs any features he thought were [[RuleOfCool cool]], but couldn't be given to dinosaurs. American paleontologist Greg Paul [[http://gspauldino.com/Tertiary.pdf even called him out on this]]. The [[https://speculativeevolution.fandom.com/wiki/Kloon Kloon]], a small, wingless and flightless herbivore, is particularly infamous despite its arguably adorable design.
** Although it should be noted, that at the time pterosaur science was in its infancy (little is still known about them).
** Ironically, one of the more ''plausible'' pterosaur species in the book is [[https://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/09/22/come-back-lank the Lank]], despite Paul considering the most absurd in the above essay. There is one major flaw in its design however, in that it inexplicably walks on the tips of its wing fingers, something that is about as reasonable as a bat walking on the tips of its wings.

** Dixon also states that the Arctic tundra is too cold for dinosaurs, before showing the native residents, the mammoth-like Tromble, which is a giant flightless ''bird''.

** Despite the fact there was no extinction event in this timeline, dromaeosaurs still suddenly because extinct at the K-Pg boundary. The reason why is not specified.

A 1988 book, written by Scottish geologist Creator/DougalDixon about what life on Earth [[AlternateHistory would be like if]] the Cretaceous extinction event never occurred and dinosaurs never went extinct. It is a SpiritualSuccessor to Dixon's previous Speculative Biology book, ''Literature/AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture'', and is presented in a very similar way.

A 1988 book, written by Scottish geologist Creator/DougalDixon about what life on Earth [[AlternateHistory would be like if]] the Cretaceous extinction event never occurred. It is a SpiritualSuccessor to Dixon's previous Speculative Biology book, ''Literature/AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture'', and is presented in a very similar way.

** The Whulk and Pelorus are future pliosaurs, but its group went extinct near the beginning of the Late Cretaceous (this was partly due to ScienceMarchesOn; at the time, all short-necked plesiosaurs were considered pliosaurs, but we know now short necks evolved more than once from long-necked plesiosaurs).

** As for the Lank, while its anatomy is [[AccidentallyCorrectWriting surprisingly accurate]] (besides the fact that it walks on the end of its fourth finger that supports its wing membrane, despite pterosaurs walking on their first three fingers in life), its lifestyle as a herbivorous grazer is rather questionable, given the abundance of herbivorous dinosaurs as competition. More believably, it would be a ground-dwelling omnivore similar to hornbills, which feed on small vertebrates and insects as well as seeds and fruit.

** The jinx is a dromaeosaur which hunts by disguising itself as the herbivorous coneater, sneaking into their herds undetected to spring a surprise attack later. No known predatory vertebrate hunts like this, for a simple reason: the anatomy of a specialized carnivore is way too different from the anatomy of a herbivore to work (the book was published [[ScienceMarchesOn long before later discoveries showed that dromaeosaurs were extremely bird-like]], so the jinx's appearance looks very little like a real dromaeosaur).

* EvolutionaryStasis: Downplayed. While all of the animals depicted have obviously evolved, it's frequently noted how little most of them have changed since the end of the Mesozoic Era and most of the differences are merely superficial. This can largely be chalked up to ScienceMarchesOn, as dinosaur evolution was very poorly understood in the 1980s, and the book is filled with dated "facts" now known to be misconceptions.

* SpeculativeDocumentary: The book takes a lot of time discussing general ecology, biotic interactions, the history of life, evolution, and dinosaur knowledge ([[ScienceMarchesOn as it was known at the time]]), arguably more than even the made-up animals, as some entries talk more about the environment in which the animal lives than the animal itself.

A 1988 book, written by Scottish geologist Creator/DougalDixon about what life on Earth [[AlternateHistory would be like if]] the meteor that killed the dinosaurs didn't hit the Earth. It is a SpiritualSuccessor to Dixon's previous Speculative Biology book, ''Literature/AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture'', and is presented in a very similar way.

* AlternateHistory: ''Pre''history, but the same thing applies. The book asks the question of what might live on Earth if the K-Pg extinction event did not occur (at the time, what caused the extinction was a matter of debate and the book goes with the interpretation it was gradual climate change, but [[ScienceMarchesOn nowadays, it's universally agreed upon an asteroid impact was the main, if not sole cause]]).

* ScavengersAreScum: The megalosaur and the gourmand are depicted as obligate scavengers, and the text emphasizes these carnivores as gluttonous, unintelligent, monstrous, and loathsome (the book was written when the hypothesis that ''Tyrannosaurus'' only scavenged was gaining steam, [[ScienceMarchesOn but the idea is thoroughly debunked nowadays]]).

** For some reason, there are ''Megalosaurus'' in the present day. In [[MisplacedWildlife Africa]] (''Megalosaurus'' went extinct in the Middle Jurassic, - of Europe - long before its fellow dinosaurs died out). ''Megalosaurus'' was long used as wastebasket to contain various large theropods from throughout the Mesozoic, but this had mostly been sorted out by then.

A 1988 book, written by Scottish geologist Creator/DougalDixon about what life on Earth [[AlternateHistory would be like if]] the meteor that killed the dinosaurs didn't hit the Earth. It is a SpiritualSuccessor to Dixon's previous Speculative Biology book, ''Literature/AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture'', and is presented in a very similar way. However, similar to his previous book, it suffers badly from [[ScienceMarchesOn the progress of science]]; its creatures are more [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology fanciful than realistic]] nowadays (even back in the day they weren't exactly the most accurate dinos). Even so, its illustrations and descriptions are very good, depicting these nonexistent animals as if they were real.

** The northclaw is a predator that's evolved to kill prey with one massive, misshaped claw on its right hand. It's not explained why it only has one claw on one hand rather than a giant claw on ''both'' hands.

* FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Many of the book's imaginary animals are really easily seen to be based on real animals. The Lank are giraffe-like pterosaurs (even with giraffe colours), Plungers are penguin-pterosaurs, Tubb are koala-dinosaurs (yes, they live in Australia), Watergulps are manatee-dinosaurs, Pangaloons are, well, pangolin-dinosaurs and the Gestalt are mole rat-dinosaurs to name a few.

* HornAttack: The [[https://speculativeevolution.fandom.com/wiki/Monocorn Monocorn]] is a descendant of ceratopsians with a huge, single horn on its nose that is native to the Great Plains. It is quite similar to its ancestors in habits and appeareance.

* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: The [[https://speculativeevolution.fandom.com/wiki/Cutlasstooth Cutlastooth]] is a saber-toothed maniraptoran which is basically a dinosaurian counterpart of ''Smilodon''. The aquatic whulk also has thousands of tiny sharp teeth which allow it to filter the plankton it eats.
* KangaroosRepresentAustralia: A very bizarre example with iguanodonts known as the Gwanna being Australian kangaroo analogues that also ''hop like kangaroos''. There is also the Tubb, a very blatant FantasticFaunaCounterpart of the koala, which inexplicably also happens to live in Australia.

** Ironically, one of the more ''plausible'' pterosaur species in the book is [[https://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/09/22/come-back-lank the Lank]], despite Paul considering the most absurd in the above essay.
* RaptorAttack: As this was written before ''Jurassic Park'', dromaeosaurs are given little coverage, with only two species shown, the Springe and the Jinx. On the bright side, it is probably the first piece of media to depict them with down (although it's considered ''fur'' rather than feathers).

A 1988 book, written by Scottish geologist Creator/DougalDixon about what life on world [[AlternateHistory would be like if]] the meteor that killed the dinosaurs didn't hit the Earth. It is a SpiritualSuccessor to Dixon's previous Speculative Biology book, ''Literature/AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture'', and is presented in a very similar way. However, similar to his previous book, it suffers badly from [[ScienceMarchesOn the progress of science]]; its creatures are more [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology fanciful than realistic]] nowadays (even back in the day they weren't exactly the most accurate dinos). Even so, its illustrations and descriptions are very good, depicting these nonexistent animals as if they were real.

* KrakenAndLeviathan: The [[http://www.sivatherium.narod.ru/library/Dixon_2/09_en.htm Kraken]] is portrayed as a gigantic-sized descendant of Ammonites with a large shell that is usually seen from the water surface, often serving as a perching spot for birds and pterosaurs. While it doesn't target human ships, it's still a free-drifting predator that uses its long, skinny tentacles as a trap for microscopic food and fishes. Certain plesiosaurs can kill it, however.

* EverythingIsBetterWithDinosaurs: This is basically the entire reason this book exists.

* SeldomSeenSpecies:
** The [[https://speculativeevolution.fandom.com/wiki/Paraso Paraso]] is a future pterosaur whose appeareance and hunting technique is based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_heron Black heron]]. The same applies to dromaeosaurs, aka raptors, as this was written before ''Jurassic Park'' and therefore they hadn't achieved the high levels of popularity they enjoy now. Only two future descendants of them, the Springe and the Jinx, are depicted. There are still plenty of future maniraptorans in the book.
** The dubious genus ''Fulgurotherium'', an Australian hypsilophodont with very scarce remains, is cited in the book as being the precursor to three of its creatures, the arboreal Crackbeak, the panda-like Taddey and the koala-like Tubb.
** The Early Cretaceous genus ''Kakuru'' is suggested to be the ancestor of the modern Cribrum, Dingum, and Pouch (at the time, ''Kakuru'' was considered a coelurosaur, but [[ScienceMarchesOn nowadays]] has no definitive identity beyond "theropod").

** Many diverse varieties of pterosaurs are shown in the book, which takes place in an alternate Quaternary period. Trouble is, the pterosaurs were ''already in decline'' in the late Cretaceous, being outcompeted in most of their niches by birds and other flying maniraptorans. Had the asteroid never hit, most of the niches of Dixon's speculative pterosaurs would be more likely occupied by birds or related theropods, with pterosaurs reduced to a few marginal niches in isolated islands or regions-- if not already outright extinct by then.
*** This is itself debatable now, as more recent evidence suggests that pterosaurs were still doing fine before the KT extinction, hadn't actually been reduced to a small number of large species, and hadn't experienced much niche overlap with birds.

* HookHand: The Northclaw is a ''biological'' variant of this trope.

* KingOfTheDinosaurs: Subverted. The Gourmand is the only tyrannosaur in the book, and it's a sluggish scavenger rather than a majestic, fearsome predator.

* RaptorAttack: As this was written before ''Jurassic Park'', dromaeosaurs are given little coverage, with only two species shown, the Springe and the Jinx. On the bright side, it is probably the first piece of media to depict them with down.

* AnachronismStew:

** The Whulk is a future pliosaur, but its group went extinct near the beginning of the Late Cretaceous.

* AlternateHistory: The book starts with the premise that the dinosaurs never went extinct.
* AquaticHadrosaurs: The ''Bricket'' is a lambeosaurine hadrosaur that lives in dense woodlands. However, as ticks and other sorts of parasites tend to live off from them, ''Brickets'' would often submerge themselves in watery bodies to wash said parasites away from them. It is also when submerged in water where ''Brickets'' mate with one another.

** The Plunger is an aquatic flightless pterosaur that fills the niche of penguins. Except the ancestors of penguins already existed as aquatic loon-like birds during the end of the Late Cretaceous, so had dinosaurs never gone extinct, the niche of penguins would be filled by...penguins.

** For some bizarre reason, the Wyrms are long snake-like coelurosaurs that fill the niche of lizards and snakes. Even though such niches are far more likely to be occupied by ''actual'' lizards and snakes...did all the squamates suddenly become extinct for no reason?

* SeldomSeenSpecies: The [[https://speculativeevolution.fandom.com/wiki/Paraso Paraso]] is a future pterosaur whose appeareance and hunting technique is based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_heron Black heron]]. The same aplies to dromaeosaurs, aka raptors, as this was written before ''Jurassic Park'' and therefore they hadn't achieved the high levels of popularity they enjoy now. Only two future descendants of them, the Springe and the Jinx, are depicted. There are still plenty of future maniraptorans in the book.

* SpeculativeBiology: One of the most famous examples.

* {{Irony}}: Of a sort - the Gourmand, a gigantic scavenger native to South America that has lost its arms entirely, is described as being a type of tyrannosaur, whose ancestors migrated to South America and wiped out the native predators. There ''is'' a family of giant theropods that seemed to be evolving away their arms in the fossil records, however - the abelisaurs, some of whom were ''native'' to South America.
* KingOfTheDinosaurs: Subverted, at least in the traditional sense. The only tyrannosaur shown is the Gourmand, a massive, sluggish [[ScavengersAreScum scavenger]]. Not coincidentally, this book was written when the "T. rex was a scavenger" hypothesis was gaining traction in popular culture.

** The jinx is a dromaeosaur which hunts by disguising itself as the herbivorous coneater, sneaking into their herds undetected to spring a surprise attack later. No known predator (aside from some insects) hunts like this, for a simple reason: the anatomy of a specialized carnivore is way too different from the anatomy of a herbivore to work (the book was published [[ScienceMarchesOn long before later discoveries showed that dromaeosaurs were extremely bird-like]], so the jinx's appearance looks very little like a real dromaeosaur).

* TyrannosaurusRex: Subverted, at least in the traditional sense. The only tyrannosaur shown is the Gourmand, a massive, sluggish [[ScavengersAreScum scavenger]]. Not coincidentally, this book was written when the "T. rex was a scavenger" hypothesis was gaining traction in popular culture.