A huge, meat-eating theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period. The largest meat-eater that has ever existed, it stood 5 to 7 m (16 to 21 feet) tall on its great clawed feet and had terrible, dagger-like teeth, 15 cm (6 inches) long. Tyrannosaurus rex was roughly 5 to 7 tonnes in weight. Its enormous skull was about 1.5 m (5 feet) long. The eye sockets in its skull are 10.2 cm (4 inches) across; its eyeballs would have been about 7.6 cm (3 inches) in diameter.
Zapsalis (ZAP-sa-lis) (“through shears”):
A meat-eating dinosaur (a theropod) that lived during the Cretaceous Period. This theropod was found in the Judith River Formation, Montana, usa in 1876. It is only known through its teeth and is currently classified as a troodontid.
Other References & Notes
Bees:
Over the past three years, Stephen Hasiotic, a Colorado University doctoral student and geology lab instructor, has found nests, almost identical to modern honeybee nests, that date back 207 to 220 million years, or about twice as far back as the oldest fossils of flowering plants. This means bees have been around longer than previously thought. The ancient bees could have found sugars and nutrients – which they find today in the nectar of flowers – in coniferous plants or even in animal carcasses.
Receptaculites (REE-sep-TACK- you-light-eeze):
Receptaculites are often referred to as the “sunflower coral” and date from 450 million years ago. At one time thought to be a sponge, it is commonly found as a flattened shape with a pattern of crossing lines like the head of a ripe sunflower. In more recent times, Receptaculites are considered sponge-like rather than a true sponge. (NB: This invertebrate is from the Ordovician Age, and Daniel collected it a couple of years earlier from an entirely different spot than the Cretaceous Period finds they are working on currently.
Crocodilians:
Crocodilians are the order of archosaurs (ruling lizards) that includes alligators, crocodiles, gavials, etc. They evolved during the late Triassic Period and are a type of reptile.
Dragonflies:
Dragonflies, primitive flying insects that can hover in the air, evolved during the Mississippian Period, about 360 to 325 million years ago. Huge dragonflies with wingspans up to 70 cm (27.5 inches) existed during the Mesozoic Era (when the dinosaurs lived).
Bibliography
Bakker, Robert T., Dinosaur Heresies, Morrow, New York, 1986
Gross, Renie, Dinosaur Country: Unearthing the Badlands’ Prehistoric Past, Western Producer Prairie Books, 1985, ISBN: 0-88833-121-5
Lauber, Patricia & Henderson, Douglas, Living with Dinosaurs, Bradbury Press, N.Y., 1991. ISBN: 0-02-754521-0
MacMillan Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals, Editors: Dr. Barry Cox, Dr. Colin Harrison, Dr. R.J.G. Savage, Dr. Brian Gardiner, MacMillan London Ltd., 1988.
McIver, Elisabeth E., “The Paleoenvironment of Tyrannosaurus rex from Southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada,” Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, #39 (2002), Pages: 207 – 221
Norman, David Ph. D., & Milner, Angela Ph. D., Dinosaur, Dorling Kindersley Ltd., 1989. ISBN 0-7894-5808-x
Parker, Steve, Dinosaurs And How They Lived, Macmillan of Canada, 1988. isbn: 0-7715-96832-4 (Window on the World series)
Reid, Monty, The Last Great Dinosaurs: An Illustrated Guide to Alberta’s Dinosaurs, Red Deer College Press, Red Deer, Alberta, 1990, ISBN: 0-88995-055-5.
Relf, Pat, A Dinosaur Named Sue, Scholastic, Inc. 2002. ISBN: 0-439-09985-4
Simpson, George Gaylord, The Dechronization of Sam Magruder, St. Martin’s Griffin, New York, 1996. ISBN : 0-312-15514-x
Smith, Alan, Saskatchewan Birds, Lone Pine Publishing, 2001. ISBN: 1-55105-304-7
Stewart, Janet, The Dinosaurs: A New Discovery, Hayes Publishing Ltd., Burlington, Ontario, 1989, ISBN: 0-88625-235-0.
Storer, Dr. John, Geological History of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Museum of Natural History, Government of Saskatchewan, 1989.
Tokaryk, Tim T., Blue Jay, Archaeology: Puzzles of the Past, 52 (2), June, 1994
Tokaryk, Tim T., Blue Jay, Palaeontology: Treasures on the Shelves, 52 (3), September 1994
Tokaryk, Tim T., & Bryant, Harold N. The Fauna from the Tyrannosaurus rex Excavation, Frenchman Formation (Late Maastrichtian), Saskatchewan, as published in: Summary of Investigations, 2004, Vol. 1, Miscellaneous Report 2004-4.1, paper a-18. Vol 1. Saskatchewan Geological Survey, Regina.
Tokaryk, Tim T., Saskatchewan Archaeological Society Newsletter, Palaeontology News: “Encounters with Monsters,” February, 1991, Vol 12, Number 1
Tokaryk, Tim T., Saskatchewan Archaeological Society Newsletter, Palaeontology News: “A Tale of Two Vertebrae,” April 1992, Vol 13, Number 2
Tokaryk, Tim T., Saskatchewan Archaeological Society Newsletter, Palaeontology News: Serendipity, Surprises and Monsters of the Deep, October, 1996, Vol 17, Number 5
Tokaryk, Tim T., Scotty’s Dinosaur Delights, A Paleo Breakfast, 1995. Friends of the Museum, Eastend, Saskatchewan.
Tokaryk, Tim T., Preliminary Review of the Non-Mammalian Vertebrates from the Frenchman Formation (Late Maastrichtian) of Saskatchewan. As published in: McKenzie-McAnally, L. (ed), Canadian Paleontology Conference Fields Trip Guidebook No 6. Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary Stratigraphy and Paleontology of Southern Saskatchewan, /1997. Geological Association of Canada.
Wallace, Joseph, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaur, Michael Friedman Publishing Group, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1987, ISBN: 0-8317-2368-8.
URLS:
http://www.dinocountry.com
http://www.enchantedlearning.com
http://www.dinodatabase.com/dinoclas08.asp
http://teacher.scholastic.com/researchtools/articlearchives/dinos/general.htm
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/dinos.shtml
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/activities/math/size.shtml
http://www.nps.gov/dino/dinos.htm
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/dictionaries/animals/data/m0049059.html
http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/images/tropical_paradise_at_the_cretace.htm
Author’s Web site:
http://www.judithsilverthorne.ca/
Acknowledgements
My profound thanks to Tim Tokaryk, paleontologist at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum field station in Eastend, for his many suggestions, and for keeping me on track in the world of paleontology. His patience and expertise is appreciated beyond measure. Thanks to Mark Caswell, Heather Gibson, and the staff at the T. rex Discovery Centre; and to Scott and Warren at the newest quarry site, and my guide Travis. Thank you again to all of you for sharing your wealth of information, which has made the writing of this book so much easier. I really appreciate being able to be as accurate as possible! Any errors are solely mine.
Thank you to Barbara Sapergia for her insightful and enthusiastic editing that contributed to the focus and polish of the manuscript. My heartfelt thanks go to Nik, Duncan, Karen, Deborah, and Melanie, a fabulous publishing team that I treasure highly and profoundly.
Thanks to Constable James Fraser of the rcmp for his valuable information and support. And thanks to everyone who contributed in any way to the details of this book.
I am especially grateful to my parents, Stan and Elaine Iles for their loving support and encouragement.
Patricia Miller-Schroeder, Susan McKenzie, Alison Lohans, Jan Johnston, and Neil Jones continually warm my heart with their dedicated support of my writing and their unconditional friendship.
About the Author
Judith Silverthorne is the author of six previous books. Four of them are children’s novels: The Secret of the Stone House, The Secret of Sentinel Rock, Dinosaur Hideout, and Dinosaur Breakout. The other two are non-fiction: a biography called Made in Saskatchewan: Peter Rupchan, Ukrainian Pioneer and Potter and Ingrained Legacy: Saskatchewan Pioneer Woodworkers 1870-1930. She has won the Saskatchewan Book Award
for Children’s Literature for her first two children’s books and the last two have also been finalists. Her children’s novels are also on the Our Choice recommendation lists of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. As well, Dinosaur Hideout was nominated for the 2004 Willow Awards.
She also works as an editor, curator, mentor, and instructor of writing and film courses. Silverthorne has lived most of her life in Saskatchewan, and is keenly interested in the landscape and history of the province, which inspires many of her works. She currently lives in Regina, where she juggles a full-time job with writing novels and extensive travel to do author presentations and workshops on the writing process. For more information, or to contact Ms. Silverthorne, please visit her web site at: http://www.judithsilverthorne.ca.
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