Sea Dragons

A must read for any dinosaur aficionado.--Christian Science Monitor

A wonderful grab bag of a book [that] will appeal to paleontologists and to people who never saw a taxonomic puzzle they could resist. It also might entice the child or teenager who, by contemplating the book's murky wonders, may be drawn into the exhilarating exploration of the natural world. . . . The drawings are delightful.--Los Angeles Times

Ellis is America's foremost writer on marine research. [Here] he conducts an exhaustive and generously illustrated survey of what paleontologists know about these monsters of the deep [and] skillfully applies his imagination and extensive knowledge of maritime animals [to] bring them back to life.--Publishers Weekly

Fires the imagination and invites rumination on great mysteries.--Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Flashy . . . and fun to browse.--Journal of Scientific Exploration

The only popular science book devoted to covering major groups of extinct marine reptiles in a cohesive style.--Fortean Times

This work will appeal not only to biologists and paleontologists, but to anyone interested in giant reptiles.--Choice

Giant marine reptiles ruled the oceans when their distant cousins the dinosaurs ruled the land. Despite their wonderful strangeness, these sea monsters have been overlooked in the modern dinosaur frenzy. . . . Ellis's drawings show the wonderful variety of the creatures, and the text is overflowing with facts.--New Scientist

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