This is a book about dinosaurs. More precisely, mainly about dinosaurs. And also about modern animals that will sooner or later become fossils. And also about the puzzles that scientists who reconstruct the appearance of fossil animals and artists who draw these animals have to solve. New discoveries are constantly changing our ideas about the appearance of the Earth of past geological eras. Discoveries in recent decades have radically changed our understanding of dinosaurs, transforming former scaly, pimply crocodiles on their hind legs into swift, warm-blooded creatures covered in feathers and down. This book is designed to break stereotypical ideas about dinosaurs, and also shows us where experts were wrong in the past and may be wrong in the present. The authors tried to recreate the most likely appearance of some prehistoric reptiles, and it may seem quite unusual. Part of the book is devoted to a thought experiment: an attempt to imagine what paleontologists of the distant future could say about the animals of our time, having approximately the same amount of information about them as we do we have regarding fossil animals. The results may surprise and make you smile, but this is just an attempt to clearly show how large our gaps in knowledge can be, and how speculative the hypotheses that fill them can be. The book was published in December 2012, so the English version of the book is not exhibited for obvious reasons . Naturally, the book was not published in Russia, and it is unlikely that it will be published - we don’t like science too much now. Nevertheless, I took upon myself the work of translating it, since it will definitely find its reader in our country.