The Tyrannosaur Chronicles

The fascinating story of the king of the dinosaurs as never told before. Tyrannosaurs are the most famous dinosaurs in the world. Popular among children and adults alike, it is the only dinosaur many people can name. The Tyrannosaurus was an impressive beast, it topped ten tons, was more than forty feet (fifteen meters) long, and had the largest head and most powerful bite of any land animal, ever. The Tyrannosaurus and other tyrannosaurs are fascinating animals and perhaps the best-studied of all dinosaur groups. They started small, just a couple of yards long, and over the course of 70 million years evolved into giant, meat-slicing bone crushers. New types of tyrannosaurs were discovered every year between 2010 and 2014, greatly revising what we know about how they lived, bred, fed, and died. The Tyrannosaur Chronicles tracks the rise of these dinosaurs, and presents the latest research into their biology, showing off more than just their impressive statistics--tyrannosaurs had feathers, may have hunted in groups, and fought and even ate one another. Indeed, David Hone tells the evolutionary story of the group through their anatomy, ecology, and behavior, exploring how they came to be the dominant terrestrial predators of the Mesozoic--and more recently, one of the great icons of biology.

David Hone is a lecturer in ecology based at Queen Mary University of London. He has published more than fifty academic papers on dinosaur biology and behavior, with a particular focus on tyrannosaurs. His fieldwork has included working on the famous feathered dinosaur deposits of China. His writing credits include the BBC's "Walking with Dinosaurs" and articles in New Scientist and The New York Times. He lives in London, England.

Preface Note From The Illustrator The Game of The Name A Brief Primer on Tyrannosaur Bony Anatomy PART 1: INTRODUCTION Chapter 1: Introducing the Dinosaurs Chapter 2: What is a Tyrannosaur? Chapter 3: Tyrannosaur Species Chapter 4: Tyrannosaur Relationships Chapter 5: Tyrants in Time and Space PART 2: MORPHOLOGY Chapter 6: Skull Chapter 7: Body Chapter 8: Limbs Chapter 9: Outside Chapter 10: Physiology Chapter 11: Changes PART 3: ECOLOGY Chapter 12: Reproduction and Growth Chapter 13: Prey Chapter 14: Competitors Chapter 15: Obtaining Food Chapter 16: Behaviour and Ecology PART 4: MOVING FORWARDS Chapter 17: Tyrannosaurus Fact and Fiction Chapter 18: The Future Chapter 19: Conclusions References Further Reading Museums and Online Sources Acknowledgements Index