Field Guide to Dinosaurs and Other Mesozoic Reptiles

The ***Field Guide to Dinosaurs and Other Mesozoic Reptiles*** is a book authored and illustrated by Nathaniel Antonio. It depicts several reptiles from the Mesozoic Era as accurately as possible.

## History

Twelve years ago, a young Nathaniel was inspired to write his own dinosaur book - the most accurate one in existence. He collaborated with an online friend to narrow down which creatures he would write about. Unfortunately, said friend took too long to message him creature ideas, so all Nathaniel was able to write was a single basic outline and several incomplete notes.

Finally, in "Adventure of a Lifetime", his collaborator delivered the final two creatures, prompting Nathaniel to start work on his *magnum opus*. He breezed through the intro in just one night, but hit a roadblock in the actual "creatures" part, as the information in his notes was not enough to tell even the colors of many species. Due to his scientific mind, he didn't want to make up his own color schemes and risk being inaccurate.

Some time later, Dana suddenly appeared in his bedroom. After a lengthy conversation about her origins, the talking dinosaur suggested that they go back in time to observe the creatures for themselves. This prompts Nathaniel to do just that. Dana brought his OC's, Mousey and Pen, to life, and Nathaniel transformed himself into Artist. Together, they went on a time trip to observe the creatures alive, writing down everything they learn right in the field.

## Appearance

The book is very thick. Its front cover has an illustration of a *Pteranodon* flying above a sea cliff with the text "Field Guide to Dinosaurs and Other Mesozoic Reptiles" at the top, and "Written and Illustrated by Nathaniel Antonio" at the bottom.

## Contents

The first chapter is an introduction. It begins with a short intro of the book itself, and further explains what dinosaurs and other types of extinct reptiles are. The second chapter consists of cladograms, or family trees that show how each creature in the book is related to each other. The third, fourth, and fifth chapters are the "creatures" section; every two-page spread talks about a single creature in detail. These profiles are arranged in geologic order from oldest to youngest. The sixth and last chapter explains the science of paleontology and paleoart. It ends with a page of hypothetical future discoveries. Although the title of the book is *Field Guide to Dinosaurs and Other **Mesozoic Reptiles***, there are some mentions and illustrations of Paleozoic and Cenozoic animals, including some non-reptiles.

### Creature profiles

Each profile has the name of the creature in the top-left corner, their location in the top-right corner, and their position on the Mesozoic timeline on the bottom. There is an infobox that lists an animal's most basic information, while specific behavioral quirks are detailed in their own paragraphs. A full-color digital painting of the animal takes up most of the space, while rough sketches accompany some paragraphs.

## Appearances

### Season 1

* "Adventure of a Lifetime" (as outline only)

## Trivia

* The book is inspired by the real life *A Field Guide to Dinosaurs: The Essential Handbook for Travelers in the Mesozoic* by Henry Gee and illustrated by Luis Rey.
* Atlantis536 wants to write a real version of this book someday.
	+ He also considers *Paleoart* to a documentary about the making of such a book.