Dougal Dixon graduated from the University of St Andrews with a Master of Science degree in 1972. He began his career as a geological consultant, nurturing a special interest in fossils and evolution. As a practical geologist, he was involved in excavating a dinosaur-rich site in Jurassic rocks at Durlston on the Dorset coast in 1987. He is now a full-time writer specializing in earth sciences and has written many children's books and encyclopedias with a special interest in dinosaurs.