Caroline Arnold's Books

Do you picture dinosaurs in warm, tropical environments? In this book you will learn about dinosaurs that thrived in Earth's polar regions. New discoveries in Alaska, Antarctica, Australia, and elsewhere are revealing how these ancient reptiles not only survived at Earth's extremes but were well adapted to live there. Evidence from bones and teeth to trackways and skin impressions raise important questions. How did polar dinosaurs cope with three months of total darkness in winter? What did they eat? How cold was it? Although winter temperatures at the poles fell below freezing, dinosaurs lived at a time when there was no permanent polar ice. Today, as we face the consequences of global warming, dinosaur fossils are helping us to understand what a warmer Earth was like long ago.

Dinosaur Time Line

Read Global Warming and the Dinosaurs, Giant Sea Reptiles of the Dinosaur Age, Pterosaurs: Flying Reptiles of the Dinosaur Age or Dinosaurs With Feathers. Make a time line of the history of the earth and show when dinosaurs, pterosaurs and giant sea reptiles lived. (Use a roll of shelf paper or draw the time line with chalk on the playground. If one inch equals a million years you will need about 20 feet to go back to the beginning of dinosaurs.)

Write a story about what you would do if you had a dinosaur, pterosaur, or giant sea reptile as a pet. Where would you keep it? What would it eat?

Lacing her narrative with deliciously mouth-filling names-Pachyrhinosaurus, Fulgotherum, Saurornitholestes (go ahead, try them out)-Arnold tallies recent fossil discoveries inside or close to the Arctic and Antarctic Circles proving that dinosaurs weren't just tropical animals but could adapt to cold climates and long nights too. Moving region by region around the globe, the narrative provides brief descriptions of fossil finds in Alaska, Siberia, Canada, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand and Patagonia, along with hypotheses explaining diet and possible migratory habits that enabled them to survive....Arnold has found a topic that hasn't been treated in such detail elsewhere, making it a sure draw, therefore, for confirmed young dino-fans. (museum list, index) (Nonfiction. 9-11)

Arnold introduces dinosaur species that lived during the Cretaceous Period in the polar regions of Earth, locations once thought too cold for dinosaur survival. In a brief introductory section she explains the paleoclimatology and fossil finds that led scientists to these discoveries, then visits finds in Canada, Alaska, Australia, and Antarctica. The discussion alternates between descriptions of the major species--including their inferred behaviors and physical characteristics adaptive to the colder invironment--and historical accounts of the scientists and amateur fossil collectors whose hard work in today's harsh polar climates has added to our knowledge of these animals. Caple's luminous watercolors place the dinosaurs in lush northern forests and beaches reminiscent of today's Pacific Northwest. Appended are an index and a list of museums (and their websites) that contain fossils of polar dinosaurs. (Danielle J. Ford)

Fully illustrated, this larg-format book takes readers back to the Mezozoic Era, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, even in polar regions. The world's climate was warmer then and polar ice was seasonal, Arnold explains, but the Arctic and Antarctic winters' three months of cold and darkness would have challenged the animals that lived there. After the introductory sections, the book shifts from region to region, telling stories of dinosaur fossil finds in Alaska, northern Canada, Siberia, Antarctica, Southern Australia, New Zealand, and Patagonia as well as discussing their interpretation and implications. Since illustrations usually show dinosaurs in tropical settings, readers may be startled by the sight of a tyrannosaurid in a winter-white Alaskan landscape or snow falling on ceratops. The best of Caple's watercolor paintings convincingly portray individual animals while creating beautiful effects with fine-textured surfaces and suffused light. A list of museums featuring polar dinosaur fossils as well as related Internet sites is appended to this clearly written, informative, and handsome book.

Dinosaurs lived and thrived, not only Earth's tropical and temperate regions, but near the poles as well. While Earth was much warmer during the Jurassic—undergoing global warming—the polar areas were still cooler and darker than the habitats in which we normally imagine most dinosaur species.

This book introduces readers to the unique dinosaurs that inhabited the planet’s extreme climate regions and how they survived there. This NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book for 2010 takes the science of paleontology beyond other sources. Understanding the methods and insights gained through studies in polar regions will help students gain insight into climate change, plate tectonics, and adaptations in the huge and highly successful group we collectively call "dinosaurs." Lists of museums, lists of websites, and an index will help students learn more.