⚡️ I was provided an e-ARC by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review (Out now!)
This post also contains affiliate links to purchase this book
If you know me at all, you probably know that I am a huge dinosaur person, but the first fossils that stole my heart are ice age megafauna (if any wooly mammoths are reading this, you have all of my love). But aside from the big guys who stole the spotlight after the dinosaurs, I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t know much else about early mammals.
So if you’re like me and are covertly early-mammal obsessed but don’t know where to begin without a complete dinosaur takeover, I highly recommend this book (especially the print version with its hilarious footnotes, but the audiobook, read with a gorgeous Scottish accent, is delightful too). Before the days of excessively furry and giant mammals, the world teemed with not-quite-dinosaurs that would begin the mammal family tree, a whole genre of rodent-like friends, and more funky horses than you could ever dream of.
Also, yes I do love our early mammal cousin Dimetrodon so much more now because I really appreciate him and his silly stance.
Beasts Before Us is the perfect guidebook if you’re tired of mammals being relegated to a footnote in a dinosaur-focused natural history, or you just want to get a broader understanding of the time of the dinosaurs (because we ALL know it isn’t just about them), dive into this book!
Beasts Before Us: The Untold Story of Mammal Origins and Evolution
by Elsa Panciroli
🌟: 4 / 5
📚: Long before the mammoths and sabertooth tigers of the ice age, even more prehistoric mammals roamed the earth, pioneering traits that would one day make us, us.
💭: I think that a lot of folks who know me can tell you that, as much as I love dinosaurs, prehistoric mammals are what I really freak out over when I see them in museums. Panciroli brings all of the things that I love most about loving prehistory as an adult, namely a sense of humor and a compelling narrative that brings these animals to life, to the table in her fully immersive and creative nonfiction.
Not only is Beasts Before Us beautifully typeset (watch the deep nerd come out in this review, am I right?), but it is beautifully illustrated and full of imagery that makes this book stand out amongst a genre that can get pretty dry. And not only is it scientifically accurate, but it’s genuinely hilarious. Panciroli keeps a running commentary filled with jokes, personal reflections, puns, and fun facts in the footnotes (something that the audiobook lacks and makes reading a physical or e-book copy worth it). I snorted multiple times at lines such as “they are nature going digital: the first fingers and toes” and “this animal [Moschops] was a serious ‘chonky boi.’”
Something else that makes Beasts Before Us stand out is that, in a sea of paleo books mainly written by men, Panciroli uses her book as an opportunity to discuss the shortcomings of paleo history and the bias that the views of the (mostly) men who led the field had on how we understand prehistory. By highlighting oft-forgotten indigenous knowledge, pioneering work by women in the field, and the grassroots efforts to advance science, Panciroli almost effortlessly weaves a narrative that allows readers to see themselves in the story of prehistory.