Strange Prehistoric Animals and their Stories
By A. Hyatt Verrill

Boy, the author got that right--this book is strange!  The author, A. Hyatt Verrill, truly believes that there are
sea serpents existing today (well, 1948).  The author states that (page 112) "There are, and probably always
will be, a certain number of people--especially scientists--who refuse to be convinced of anything that does
not agree with their own theories.  On the other hand, there are many famous scientists who are firmly
convinced that the sea serpent does exist and that it is similar to or closely related to the prehistoric marine
creatures." He also claims that Patagonians herded domesticated ground sloths and that Alticamelus was
domesticated by human beings and trained to carry burdens (page 154)!  Later Verrill writes about the 1929
findings of Dr. Samuel Hubbard, curator of archeology at the Oakland, California Museum.  As quoted in
Verrill's book (page 156) "In the account of his find, Dr. Hubbard says, 'Cut into the solid stone gorge of the
Hava Supai River are carvings of dinosaur, imperial elephant, and the ibex--the first intimations ever received
that prehistoric man knew, saw, or hunted the great lizards or the giant pachyderms, and the first knowledge we
ever have had that the ibex inhabited the New World'." I wonder if the so-called "scientific creationists"
have ever read and quoted from this book?

I had never seen or heard of this book on dinosaurs and prehistoric animals until I got a copy when I purchased
several dinosaur books in a lot from a seller on Ebay. If you enjoy reading old dinosaur books with
questionable science, by all means search for this one!



Verrill illustrated the book and there are two color plates; this one, and the one reproduced on the cover. 
Verrill also provides many less than adequate line drawings.  At least his illustrations were original and
imaginative and not simply copies of illustrations from the "masters" (i.e., Knight, Burian, Zallinger,
and Parker).

index