# Are there any novels set in the 1800s about paleontology/reactions to the discovery of dinosaurs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 22, 2018, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601 "2018-05-22T02:58:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/1 "2018-05-22T02:58:23Z")
I’ll be honest, up until a visit to The American Museum of Natural History in late 2015 I didn’t realize that it’s been less than 200 years since people knew there were dinosaurs. It hadn’t ever occurred to me that paleontology could be such a _young_ science, or that many species of mega fauna were discovered first, but that seems to be the case. Honestly, I’d been laboring under the impression that the “dragons” people talked about for centuries were inspired by early dinosaur bone discoveries… So are there any novels that talk about the early realizations that our planet was once inhabited by these massive creatures? It must’ve seemed quite fantastically, especially to non-scientists. I’d love to read stories not only about paleontologists from the early days, but ones that also touch on what the common people thought about such revelations. Suggestions of relevant YA or children’s books are as welcome as novels meant for adults, by the way. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/2 "2018-05-22T03:03:56Z")
Remarkable Creatures, by Tracey Chevalier > **[Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6457081-remarkable-creatures)** > > Discover and share books you love on Goodreads. Has the added advantage of being based on a true story, set in 1810. Great novel. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/3 "2018-05-22T03:11:57Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Honestly, I’d been laboring under the impression that the “dragons” people talked about for centuries were inspired by early dinosaur bone discoveries… I think that’s still likely to be the case. Many dinosaur bones are found almost at surface level, in caves, mines, or quarries, which have been in operation for centuries longer than formalised palaeontology. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/4 "2018-05-22T03:12:14Z")
I haven’t read it but Michael Crichton’s Dragon Teeth sounds like something you’d be interested in. From Amazon: "Michael Crichton, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Jurassic Park, returns to the world of paleontology in this recently discovered novel—a thrilling adventure set in the Wild West during the golden age of fossil hunting. The year is 1876. Warring Indian tribes still populate America’s western territories even as lawless gold-rush towns begin to mark the landscape. In much of the country it is still illegal to espouse evolution. Against this backdrop two monomaniacal paleontologists pillage the Wild West, hunting for dinosaur fossils, while surveilling, deceiving and sabotaging each other in a rivalry that will come to be known as the Bone Wars." ---
**Author:** ![Egnu\_Cledge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@Egnu\_Cledge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Egnu_Cledge)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/5 "2018-05-22T03:28:22Z")
Your idea that fossils inspired the myths and tales of dragons is probably spot on. It’s not a novel, but Adrienne Mayor’s [The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology In Greek And Roman Times](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1080806.The_First_Fossil_Hunters) addresses that thesis. > [@](#): > > As Mayor shows, the Greeks and Romans were well aware that a different breed of creatures once inhabited their lands. They frequently encountered the fossilized bones of these primeval beings, and they developed sophisticated concepts to explain the fossil evidence, concepts that were expressed in mythological stories. The legend of the gold-guarding griffin, for example, sprang from tales first told by Scythian gold-miners, who, passing through the Gobi Desert at the foot of the Altai Mountains, encountered the skeletons of Protoceratops and other dinosaurs that littered the ground. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/6 "2018-05-22T03:38:14Z")
In their exploration of the American West, Lewis and Clark were instructed to keep an eye out for exotic beasts, based on fossil findings. Thomas Jefferson believed such animals might still exist in the continent’s wild interior. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/7 "2018-05-22T03:39:50Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I think that’s still likely to be the case. Many dinosaur bones are found almost at surface level, in caves, mines, or quarries, which have been in operation for centuries longer than formalised palaeontology. You’d think they’d still be around, though. Someone pulls a giant, stone dragon skull out of a salt mine in Bohemia, you’d expect the local lord to snap it up and put it in a vault. You’d think a genuine “dragon” skull would end up on a velvet cushion next to the crown jewels, but this [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_paleontology) article doesn’t mention anything other than modern-ish shellfish and bamboo until around the 17th century. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/8 "2018-05-22T04:18:00Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > In their exploration of the American West, Lewis and Clark were instructed to keep an eye out for exotic beasts, based on fossil findings. Thomas Jefferson believed such animals might still exist in the continent’s wild interior. I don’t believe Jefferson thought there still might be dinosaurs wandering the Great Plains. He was probably referring to mammoths, mastodons, and ground sloths. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/9 "2018-05-22T04:36:20Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > I don’t believe Jefferson thought there still might be dinosaurs wandering the Great Plains. He was probably referring to mammoths, mastodons, and ground sloths. … which paleontology also studies. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/10 "2018-05-22T04:49:59Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > I haven’t read it but Michael Crichton’s Dragon Teeth sounds like something you’d be interested in… _ **Dragon’s Teeth** _ is a decent summer beach/airplane novel, fast-paced but not deep in any way. It does give the reader a pretty good feel for the skullduggery afoot during the Bone Wars. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/11 "2018-05-22T07:09:43Z")
> [@Egnu\_Cledge](#): > > Your idea that fossils inspired the myths and tales of dragons is probably spot on. It’s not a novel, but Adrienne Mayor’s [The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology In Greek And Roman Times](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1080806.The_First_Fossil_Hunters) addresses that thesis. Thank you for this. I always wondered, had to figure that much like the world being round, it must have been something a lot of people knew before it was studied in a systematic way. It’s hard for me to imagine that 200 years ago people were like, “OMG! There used to be dinosaurs! We had no idea!” ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/12 "2018-05-22T08:06:14Z")
Maybe too obvious, but Jules Verne’s _Journey to the Center of the Earth_ was published in 1864. I haven’t read it, but the movie had lots of dinosaurs, so I would guess you could gather some popular ideas about prehistoric creatures from it. I _have_ read E.R.Burroughs’ _The Land That Time Forgot_, and it definitely had dinosaurs, but it was written a bit past your cutoff (1918). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/13 "2018-05-22T11:45:22Z")
> [@Egnu\_Cledge](#): > > Your idea that fossils inspired the myths and tales of dragons is probably spot on. It’s not a novel, but Adrienne Mayor’s [The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology In Greek And Roman Times](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1080806.The_First_Fossil_Hunters) addresses that thesis. She also wrote a follow-up, **Fossil Legends of the First Americans** (2005) about American Indian legends inspired by fossils. Just so’s you know – these suggestions weren’t original with her\* – you can read lots of speculation about the role of fossils in shaping myths, legends and folklore before her. Have a look at Willy Ley’s books, like **Willy Ley’s Exotic Zoology**. One of the most surprising things is to learn that most legends of dragons and the lie were NOT inspired by dinosaur fossils. In cases where we have or can identify the likely sources, the fossils were of much later mammal megafauna, like mammoths, wooly rhinoceros, and the like. Willy Ley makes a compelling case for the Babylonian _sirrush_ being inspired by dinosaurs, however, with its notably bird-like clawed feet. L. Sprague de Camp took this idea and ran with it in his historical novel _The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate_\*, which sorta qualifies for the OP’s query about books about fossils, myths, and their inspiration, if over 2000 years earlier. \*Mayor is, however, as far as I know, the one who came up with the suggestion that the legends of Griffens/Gryphons were inspired by fossil ceratopsians like _Psitticasaurus_ and _Protoceratops_. I’ve met and talked with Ms. Mayor, because a.) we’ve both written books on scientific inspirations of Greek myths and b.) one of her homes is a block from the park where my wife used to play as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/14 "2018-05-22T13:14:21Z")
Not exactly fiction, but there’ve been a couple good books about the Cope-Marsh Bone Wars: [Bone Sharps, Cowboys & Thunder Lizards](https://www.amazon.com/Bone-Sharps-Cowboys-Thunder-Lizards/dp/0966010663) (Graphic Novel, [some fictionalizing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_Sharps,_Cowboys,_and_Thunder_Lizards#Factual_accuracy)) [The Bonehunters’ Revenge](https://www.amazon.com/Bonehunters-Revenge-Dinosaurs-Fate-Gilded/dp/0618082409) [Bone Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_Wars_(book)) (not read this one myself, it apparently focuses on _Diplodocus_) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/15 "2018-05-22T13:36:19Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Not exactly fiction, but there’ve been a couple good books about the Cope-Marsh Bone Wars: > [Bone Sharps, Cowboys & Thunder Lizards](https://www.amazon.com/Bone-Sharps-Cowboys-Thunder-Lizards/dp/0966010663) (Graphic Novel, [some fictionalizing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_Sharps,_Cowboys,_and_Thunder_Lizards#Factual_accuracy)) > [The Bonehunters’ Revenge](https://www.amazon.com/Bonehunters-Revenge-Dinosaurs-Fate-Gilded/dp/0618082409) > [Bone Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_Wars_(book)) (not read this one myself, it apparently focuses on _Diplodocus_) There’s also the Edwin Colbert book **The Great Dinosaur Hunters** , published by Dover > **[The Great Dinosaur Hunters and Their Discoveries](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1067685.The_Great_Dinosaur_Hunters_and_Their_Discoveries)** > > Fascinating, lavishly illustrated story of dinosaur res… ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/16 "2018-05-22T18:49:48Z")
Although released in 1912, _The Lost World_ was inspired by the (then) recent discovery of Angel Falls as well as several recent fossil discoveries. ---
**Author:** ![nofloyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nofloyd/32/2870_2.png) [@nofloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nofloyd)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/17 "2018-05-22T19:19:53Z")
[Who Wrote the First Dinosaur Novel?](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/who-wrote-the-first-dinosaur-novel-3-13220835/) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/18 "2018-05-22T19:31:15Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > _ **Dragon’s Teeth** _ is a decent summer beach/airplane novel, fast-paced but not deep in any way. It does give the reader a pretty good feel for the skullduggery afoot during the Bone Wars. Skullduggery or skull-diggery? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/19 "2018-05-22T22:41:49Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You’d think they’d still be around, though. Someone pulls a giant, stone dragon skull out of a salt mine in Bohemia, you’d expect the local lord to snap it up and put it in a vault. You’d think a genuine “dragon” skull would end up on a velvet cushion next to the crown jewels, but this [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_paleontology) article doesn’t mention anything other than modern-ish shellfish and bamboo until around the 17th century. Crown jewels tended to get stolen a lot. And most gems are significantly more resistant to destruction than fossils are. I bet a lot of those earlier fossils got parted out, lost, destroyed, and mixed with stuff of less impressive provenance. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601/20 "2018-05-22T23:00:08Z")
IIRC in he Mayor book there are stories of bones dug up that were thought to be the remains of figures from myths and legends and reburied with honor, or kept in temples and carried away as spoils of war. Also, for a long time in Europe, at least, fossils were thought to be natural occurances that grew in the ground, like crystals. Ant their shape was a clue from God what they should be ground up and eaten to treat. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-novels-set-in-the-1800s-about-paleontology-reactions-to-the-discovery-of-dinosaurs/814601.md?page=2)