by Brian Switek
As the paleontologist Stephen Brusatte wrote: S. L. Brusatte, Dinosaur Paleobiology (Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012), 216–26.
the physiology and biology: P. Martin Sander et al., “Biology of the Sauropod Dinosaurs: The Evolution of Gigantism,” Biological Reviews 86, no. 1 (2011): 117–55.
paleontologists Christine Janis and Matthew Carrano: Christine M. Janis and Matthew Carrano, “Scaling of Reproductive Turnover in Archosaurs and Mammals: Why Are Large Terrestrial Mammals So Rare?,” Annales Zoologici Fennici 28 (1992): 201–16; Jan Werner and Eva Maria Griebeler, “Reproductive Biology and Its Impact on Body Size: Comparative Analysis of Mammalian, Avian and Dinosaurian Reproduction,” PLoS ONE 6, no. 12 (2011), e28442, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0028442.
The skull of a juvenile Diplodocus: John A. Whitlock, Jeffrey A. Wilson, and Matthew C. Lamanna, “Description of a Nearly Complete Juvenile Skull of Diplodocus (Sauropoda: Diplodocoidea) from the Late Jurassic of North America,” Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30, no. 2 (2010): 442–57, doi:10.1080/02724631003617647.
6. Dinosaur Society
the site where Deinonychus: John H. Ostrom, “Osteology of Deinonychus antirrhopus, an Unusual Theropod from the Lower Cretaceous of Montana,” Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 30 (1969); W. Desmond Maxwell and J. H. Ostrom, “Taphonomy and Paleobiological Implications of Tenontosaurus-Deinonychus Associations,” Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 15, no. 4 (1995): 707–12.
Yet the quarry Ostrom described: Brian T. Roach and Daniel L. Brinkman, “A Reevaluation of Cooperative Pack Hunting and Gregariousness in Deinonychus antirrhopus and Other Nonavian Theropod Dinosaurs,” Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 48, no. 1 (2007): 103–38, dx.doi.org/10.3374/0079-032X(2007)48[103:AROCPH]2.0.CO;2.
This site, tucked away: Michael J. Ryan et al., “The Taphonomy of a Centrosaurus (Ornithischia: Cer[a]topsidae) Bone Bed from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Upper Campanian), Alberta, Canada, with Comments on Cranial Ontogeny,” PALAIOS 16 (2001): 482–506.
The paleontologist Roland T. Bird: See R. T. Bird, Bones for Barnum Brown: Adventures of a Dinosaur Hunter (Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 1985).
One trackway made by these dinosaurs: Rihui Li et al., “Behavioral and Faunal Implications of Early Cretaceous Deinonychosaur Trackways from China,” Naturwissenschaften 95, no. 3 (2008): 185–91, doi:10.1007 /s00114-007-0310-7; Alexander Mudroch et al., “Didactyl Tracks of Paravian Theropods (Maniraptora) from the Middle Jurassic of Africa,” PLoS ONE 6, no. 2 (2011), e14642, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0014642.
In fact, Buckland proclaimed: William Buckland, Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology (London: William Pickering, 1837).
The fossil wasn’t actually: Kenneth Carpenter et al., “Evidence for Predator-Prey Relationships: Examples for Allosaurus and Stegosaurus,” in The Carnivorous Dinosaurs, ed. K. Carpenter (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005), 325.
A few years before, Farke had: Andrew A. Farke, “Horn Use in Triceratops (Dinosauria: Ceratopsidae): Testing Behavioral Hypotheses Using Scale Models,” Palaeontologia Electronica (2004).
When the Yale University paleontologist Richard Swann Lull: Richard S. Lull, “Restoration of the Horned Dinosaur Diceratops,” The American Journal of Science 4, 4 (1905): 420–22.
If the dinosaurs were fighting: A. A. Farke, Ewan D. S. Wolff, and Darren H. Tanke, “Evidence of Combat in Triceratops,” PLoS ONE 4, no. 1 (2009), e4252, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004252.
Goodwin’s work with Jack Horner: Mark B. Goodwin and John R. Horner, “Cranial Histology of Pachycephalosaurs (Ornithischia: Marginocephalia) Reveals Transitory Structures Inconsistent with Head-Butting Behavior,” Paleobiology 30, no. 2 (2004): 253–67, doi:10.1666/ 0094-8373(2004) 030<0253:CHOPOM> 2.0.CO;2; J. R. Horner and M. B. Goodwin, “Extreme Cranial Ontogeny in the Upper Cretaceous Dinosaur Pachycephalosaurus,” PLoS ONE 4, no. 10 (2009): e7626, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007626.
But in 2012, Joseph Peterson: J. E. Peterson and Christopher P. Vittore, “Cranial Pathologies in a Specimen of Pachycephalosaurus,” PLoS ONE 7, no. 4 (2012): e36227, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036227.
7. Dinosaur Feathers
The paleoartist Gregory S. Paul: G. S. Paul, Predatory Dinosaurs of the World: A Complete Illustrated Guide (New York; Simon & Schuster, 1988), 126–27.
As the paleontologist Hugh Falconer: H. Falconer, Letter to Darwin, January 3, 1863, Darwin Correspondence Database, www.darwinproject.ac.uk/entry-3899, accessed July 13, 2012.
who obtained the first skeletal specimen: Richard Owen, “On the Archaeopteryx of von Meyer, with a Description of the Fossil Remains of a Long-Tailed Species, from the Lithographic Stone of Solenhofen,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 153 (1863): 33–47.
It turns out that no one knows: Peter Wellnhofer, Archaeopteryx: The Icon of Evolution, rev. English ed., trans. Frank Haase (Munich: Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, 2009).
included a restoration of the Triassic dinosaur: Robert T. Bakker, “Dinosaur Renaissance,” in The Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs, ed. Gregory S. Paul (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2003), 331–44.
John Ostrom, who was chiefly responsible: Malcolm Browne, “Feathery Fossil Hints Dinosaur-Bird Link,” New York Times, October 19, 1996, www.nytimes.com/1996/10/19/us/feathery-fossil-hints-dinosaur-bird-link.html.
Thanks to these finds: Xing Xu et al., “A Gigantic Feathered Dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China,” Nature 484 (2012): 92–95, doi:10.1038/nature10906.
Two dinosaurs—each about as far removed: Lawrence L. Witmer, “Dinosaurs: Fuzzy Origins for Feathers,” Nature 458 (2009): 293–95.
a fuzzy juvenile dinosaur: Oliver W. M. Rauhut et al., “Exceptionally Preserved Juvenile Megalosauroid Theropod Dinosaur with Filamentous Integument from the Late Jurassic of Germany,” PNAS 109, no. 29 (2012): 11746–51, doi:10.1073/pnas.1203238109.
As Charles Darwin wrote: C. R. Darwin, The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, vol. 1 (London: John Murray, 1871), 3.
The Archaeopteryx feather was black: Ryan M. Carney et al., “New Evidence on the Colour and Nature of the Isolated Archaeopteryx Feather,” Nature Communications 3, article no. 637 (2012), doi:10.1038/ncomms1642.
They did just that: Jakob Vinther et al., “The Colour of Fossil Feathers,” Biology Letters 4, no. 5 (2008): 522–25, doi:10.1098/rsbl.2008.0302.
the following year, Vinther led: J. Vinther et al., “Structural Coloration in a Fossil Feather,” Biology Letters 6, no. 1 (2009): 128–31, doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0524.
On January 27, 2010: Fucheng Zhang et al., “Fossilized Melanosomes and the Colour of Cretaceous Dinosaurs and Birds,” Nature 463 (2010): 1075–78.
Vinther’s team countered: Quanguo Li et al., “Plumage Color Patterns of an Extinct Dinosaur,” Science 327, no. 5971 (2010): 1369–72, doi:10.1126/science.1186290.
the feathered dinosaur Microraptor: Quanguo Li et al., “Reconstruction of Microraptor and the Evolution of Iridescent Plumage,” Science 335, no. 6073 (2012): 1215–19, doi:10.1126/science.1213780.
8. Hadrosaur Harmonics and Tyrannosaur Tastes
The Fayetteville State University paleontologist: Phil Senter, “Voices of the Past: A Review of Paleozoic and Mesozoic Animal Sounds,” Historical Biology 20, no. 4 (2008): 255–87, doi:10.1080/08912960903033327.
the Canadian paleontologist William Parks: W. A. Parks, “Parasaurolophus walkeri, a New Genus and Species of Crested Trachodont Dinosaur,” University of Toronto Studies, Geology Series 13 (1922): 1–32.
Henry Fairfield Osborn described an exceptional Edmontosaurus: H. F. Osborn, “Integument of the Iguanodont Dinosaur Trachodon,” Memoirs of the AMNH (new series) 1, no. 2 (1912): 33–54.
Even John Ostrom: J. H. Ostrom, “The Cranial Crests of Hadrosaurian Dinosaurs,” Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History Postilla 62 (1962): 1–29.
When James Hopson: J. A. Hopson, “The Evolution of Cr
anial Display Structures in Hadrosaurian Dinosaurs,” Paleobiology 1, no. 1 (1975): 21–43, www.jstor.org/stable/2400327.
David Weishampel used an improvised model: D. B. Weishampel, “Acoustic Analyses of Potential Vocalization in Lambeosaurine Dinosaurs (Reptilia: Ornithischia),” Paleobiology 7, no. 2 (1981): 252–61; Weishampel, “Dinosaurian Cacophony: Inferring Function in Extinct Animals,” BioScience 47, no. 3 (1997): 150–59, www.jstor.org/stable/1313034.
David Evans is one of the paleontologists: D. C. Evans, “Nasal Cavity Homologies and Cranial Crest Function in Lambeosaurine Dinosaurs,” Paleobiology 32, no. 1 (2006): 109–25, dx.doi.org/10.1666/04027.1; D. C. Evans, Ryan C. Ridgely, and L. M. Witmer, “Endocranial Anatomy of Lambeosaurine Hadrosaurids (Dinosauria: Ornithischia): A Sensorineural Perspective on Cranial Crest Function,” The Anatomical Record, 292 (2009): 1315–37.
In 2005, Otto Gleich: O. Gleich, Robert J. Dooling, and Geoffrey A. Manley, “Audiogram, Body Mass, and Basilar Papilla Length: Correlations in Birds and Predictions for Extinct Archosaurs,” Naturwissenschaften 92, no. 12 (2005): 595–98, doi:10.1007/s00114-005-0050-5.
At 1994’s Dino Fest: J. R. Horner, “Steak Knives, Beady Eyes, and Tiny Little Arms (A Portrait of T. rex as a Scavenger),” in Dino Fest: Proceedings of a Conference for the General Public, ed. Gary D. Rosenberg and D. L. Wolberg, Paleontological Society Special Publications 7 (Knoxvillle: The Paleontological Society, 1994), 157.
Tyrannosaurus was certainly capable: Thomas R. Holtz Jr., “A Critical Re-Appraisal of the Obligate Scavenging Hypothesis for Tyrannosaurus rex and Other Tyrant Dinosaurs,” in Tyrannosaurus rex: The Tyrant King, ed. Peter L. Larson and Kenneth Carpenter (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008), 371.
9. In the Bones
Chris Brochu’s exhaustive monograph: Christopher A. Brochu, “Osteology of Tyrannosaurus Rex: Insights from a Nearly Complete Skeleton and High-Resolution Computed Tomographic Analysis of the Skull,” Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22, sup4 (2003), doi:10.1080/02724634.2003.10010947.
Shortly after Sue was discovered: Peter Larson and Kristin Donnan, Rex Appeal: The Amazing Story of Sue, the Dinosaur That Changed Science, the Law, and My Life (Montpelier, VT: Invisible Cities Press, 2002), 1–2.
predatory dinosaurs often fought: Darren H. Tanke and Philip J. Currie, “Head-Biting Behavior in Theropod Dinosaurs: Paleopathological Evidence,” GAIA 15 (1998): 167–84.
The veterinarian Ewan Wolff: E.D.S. Wolff et al., “Common Avian Infection Plagued the Tyrant Dinosaurs,” PLoS ONE 4, no. 9 (2009): e7288, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007288.
a young T. rex nicknamed “Jane”: Joseph E. Peterson et al., “Face Biting on a Juvenile Tyrannosaurid and Behavioral Implications,” PALAIOS 24, no. 11 (2009): 780–84, doi: 10.2110/palo.2009.p09-056r.
Coarsely serrated teeth: William L. Abler, “The Serrated Teeth of Tyrannosaurid Dinosaurs, and Biting Structures in Other Animals,” Paleobiology 18, no. 2 (1992): 161–83, www.jstor.org/stable/2400997.
Cannibalism is another possibility: Nicholas R. Longrich et al., “Cannibalism in Tyrannosaurus rex,” PLoS ONE 5, no. 10 (2010): e13419, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013419.
author Brian Aldiss: B. Aldiss, “Poor Little Warrior!,” in Behold the Mighty Dinosaur, ed. David Jablonski (New York: Elsevier/Nelson Books, 1981), 180.
Tyrannosaur coprolites: Karen Chin et al., “A King-Sized Theropod Coprolite,” Nature 393 (1998): 680–82; K. Chin et al., “Remarkable Preservation of Undigested Muscle Tissue Within a Late Cretaceous Tyrannosaurid Coprolite from Alberta, Canada,” PALAIOS 18, no. 3 (2003): 286–94, www.jstor.org/stable/3515739.
the paleontologists George Poinar and Arthur Boucot: G. Poinar Jr. and A. J. Boucot, “Evidence of Intestinal Parasites of Dinosaurs,” Parasitology 133, no. 2 (2006), 245–49, doi:10.1017/S0031182006000138.
huge, 165-million-year-old fleas: Diying Huang et al., “Diverse Transitional Giant Fleas from the Mesozoic Era of China,” Nature 483 (2012): 201–04, doi:10.1038/nature10839.
Organized by Tanke: D. H. Tanke and Bruce M. Rothschild, Dinosores: An Annotated Bibliography of Dinosaur Paleopathology and Related Topics—1838–2001, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin no. 20, 2002.
most of them in hadrosaurs: B. M. Rothschild et al., “Epidemiologic Study of Tumors in Dinosaurs,” Naturwissenschaften 90, no. 11 (2003): 495–500, doi:10.1007/s00114-003-0473-9.
pathologist Roy L. Moodie: R. L. Moodie, Studies in Paleopathology (New York: Paul B. Hoeber, 1918); L. C. Natarajan et al., “Bone Cancer Rates in Dinosaurs Compared with Modern Vertebrates,” Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 110, nos. 3–4 (2007): 155–58.
One dinosaur that I feel especially sorry for: Brent H. Breithaupt, “The Discovery of a Nearly Complete Allosaurus from the Jurassic Morrison Formation, Eastern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming,” in Resources of the Bighorn Basin: Forty-seventh Annual Field Conference Guidebook, ed. C. E. Bowen, S. C. Kirkwood, and T. S. Miller (Casper: Wyoming Geological Association, 1996), 309.
paleontologist Rebecca Hanna cataloged: R. C. Hanna, “Multiple Injury and Infection in a Sub-Adult Theropod Dinosaur Allosaurus fragilis with Comparisons to Allosaur Pathology in the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry Collection,” Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22, no. 1 (2002): 76–90.
this injured dinosaur wasn’t alone: Martin G. Lockley et al., “Limping Dinosaurs? Trackway Evidence for Abnormal Gaits,” Ichnos 3 (1994): 193–202.
10. Dinosaurs Undone
As Michael Benton has emphasized: M. J. Benton, “Scientific Methodologies in Collision: The History of the Study of the Extinction of Dinosaurs,” Evolutionary Biology 24 (1990): 371–400.
dinosaurs “died a natural death”: R. S. Lull, Organic Evolution: A Text-book (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1917), 220–25.
one paleontologist who didn’t follow this trend: G. R. Wieland, “Dinosaur Extinction,” American Naturalist 59, no. 665 (1925): 557–65.
entomologist Stanley Flanders: S. E. Flanders, “Did the Caterpillar Exterminate the Giant Reptile?,” Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 1, no. 1 (1962): 85–88.
Instead, in a 1980 Science paper: Luis W. Alvarez et al., “Extraterrestrial Cause for the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction,” Science 208, no. 4448 (1980): 1095–1108.
a New York Times reporter: Malcolm W. Browne, “Dinosaur Experts Resist Meteor Extinction Idea,” New York Times, October 29, 1985, www.nytimes.com/1985/10/29/science/dinosaur-experts-resist-meteor-extinction-idea.html?pagewanted=all.
“The arrogance of those people”: M. B. Browne, “Dinosaur Experts Resist Meteor Extinction Idea,” New York Times, October 29, 1985, www.nytimes.com/1985/10/29/science/dinosaur-experts-resist-meteor-extinction-idea.html.
paleontologist David Raup: D. M. Raup, “The Extinction Debates: A View from the Trenches,” in The Mass-Extinction Debates: How Science Works in a Crisis, ed. William Glen (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1994), 145.
geologist Alan Hildebrand: A. R. Hildebrand et al., “Chicxulub Crater: A Possible Cretaceous/Tertiary Boundary Impact Crater on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico,” Geology 19, no. 9 (1991): 867–71, doi:10.1130/ 0091-7613(1991) 019<0867:CCAPCT> 2.3.CO;2.
“biological failings”: D. M. Raup, “The Extinction Debates: A View from the Trenches,” in The Mass-Extinction Debates: How Science Works in a Crisis, ed. William Glen (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1994), 150.
a 2010 Science paper: Peter Schulte et al., “The Chicxulub Asteroid Impact and Mass Extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary,” Science 327, no. 5970 (2010): 1214–18; J. D. Archibald et al., “Cretaceous Extinctions: Multiple Causes,” Science 328, no. 5981 (2010): 973.
Acknowledgments
A book is like a dinosaur skeleton. Just as a reconstructed dinosaur seldom comes together by the hands of a single person—a varied crew of multiple volunteers and specialists is often involved in discovering, excavating, preparing, and studying any given dinosaur—a book such as this requires t
he kindness, patience, and help of many.
I owe an immense debt to the friends and professionals who provided me with the encouragement and opportunities to become an author. I’m frustrated that I cannot remember everyone who has helped me, and I apologize to those I have ultimately forgotten by name, but this book could not have existed without the caring attention of numerous friends and colleagues.
Friend and ace science writer Ed Yong introduced me to my enthusiastic agent, Peter Tallack, and I am humbled by Ed and Peter’s unflagging support. Peter brought my first book—Written in Stone—to the editor Erika Goldman at Bellevue Literary Press, and I am grateful that Erika and the rest of the team at Bellevue took a chance on my debut.
The critical success of the first book, and Peter’s tenacious support of what would become My Beloved Brontosaurus, caught the attention of this title’s editor, Amanda Moon. I met Amanda during the 2010 Science Writers conference in New Haven, Connecticut, and she was enthusiastic about my dinosaur dreams from the very start. Translating the initial idea into an actual book was sometimes a difficult process, especially when my enthusiasm for scientific minutiae threatened to derail the book’s narrative, but Amanda is a kind and patient editor who persistently pushed me to keep improving the manuscript. Amanda challenged me to become a better writer and storyteller, and I should note that any hiccups in the story are a result of my own stubbornness. Christoper Richards also contributed suggestions on many chapters, and the copy editor Annie Gottlieb did a heroic job cleaning up the manuscript.
I am grateful for the many friends and experts who supported this project, answered my questions, and let me join them in the field. First and foremost, the paleontology staff at the Natural History Museum of Utah have welcomed me since I first arrived in the Beehive State. Randall Irmis, Mike Getty, Mark Loewen, Carrie Levitt, Jelle Wiersma, Katherine Clayton, Josh Lively, and Eric Lund all contributed to this book in different ways, simply through conversation, in interviews, and by letting me become a field and lab volunteer. The Utah paleontologists Jim Kirkland and Don DeBlieux were very generous with their time and expertise, in addition to the avocational dinosaur fans of Utah Friends of Paleontology.