The Tyrannosaur Chronicles: The Biology of the Tyrant Dinosaurs

by David Hone

'Gripping and wonderfully informative' Tom Holland, New StatesmanAdored by children and adults alike, Tyrannosaurus is the most famous dinosaur in the world, one that pops up again and again in pop culture, often battling other beasts such as King Kong, Triceratops or velociraptors in Jurassic Park. But despite the hype, Tyrannosaurus and the other tyrannosaurs are fascinating animals in their own right, and are among the best-studied of all dinosaurs.Tyrannosaurs started small, but over the course of 100 million years evolved into the giant carnivorous bone-crushers that continue to inspire awe in palaeontologists, screenplay writers, sci-fi novelists and the general public alike. Tyrannosaurus itself was truly impressive; it topped six tons, was more than 12m (40 feet) long, and had the largest head and most powerful bite of any land animal in history.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 and fought and even ate each other. This book presents the science behind this research; it tells the story of the group through their anatomy, ecology and behaviour, exploring how they came to be the dominant terrestrial predators of the Mesozoic and, in more recent times, one of the great icons of biology.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Dinosaurs, Palaeontology, Biology, Animals, Nature

305 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 5, 2016

About the author

David Hone is a paleontologist and senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. He has written about dinosaurs for leading publications such as National Geographic, The Guardian, The Telegraph and HuffPost. His books include The Tyrannosaur Chronicles: The Biology of the Tyrant Dinosaurs

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a definite need for more popular science paleobiology works that aim a bit higher than just being a picture-book-type encyclopedia for children. There really isn't much to choose from, and because of that I was super excited to get to The Tyrannosaur Chronicles. While this book is 100% better than your regular reference guide, I still found it a bit lacking in the engagement factor. I kept asking myself, who is this thing written for? It's far too generic in the depth of material covered to be aimed at academics, yet the excessive jargon makes it kind of difficult for a layman. Part two is dedicated solely to the morphology of the species, and has literally a grocery list of anatomical terms. There are paragraphs one after another that sound something along these lines:

"The shoulder begins with the scapula: long, thin bone that lies across numerous dorsal ribs (it is partly anchored to them, thus ultimately holding the arm in place) and runs down to the chest. Here a smaller bone, the coracoid, links to the scapula, and between these bones lies the joint for the humerus, with the scapula and coracoid also providing attachment sites for the arm muscles."

Wait... What? I'm lost in this labyrinthine description.

There is really nothing wrong with going through dino anatomy a bone at a time (though I question the benefit of such endeavour), but a large accompanying diagram might have made this journey slightly easier to follow. I found that this book was not something I could just quickly read through, but would rather need to thoughtfully study. Again, there is nothing wrong with that, but I was not prepared to deal with semantics of every paragraph while reading a popular science book. Ultimately, it did not come alive for me. The tyrant lizards remained dead fossils in this book, despite dealing with all aspects of the species' lives.

Having said that, I think this is a great book, full of valuable information for anyone seriously interested in dinosaurs. It covers everything from anatomy to behaviour, to feeding, to specifics of evolution in nice, succinct chunks. It has wonderfully summarized material sourced from highbrow paleobiological research, that would certainly prove useful to freshmen university students pursuing the career. But as a casual read for dinophiles like me, it might not be the most engaging book.

[Richard Derus]

$1.99 on Kindle!

[Brian Clegg · Rating 3 out of 5]

For most of us, dinosaurs have a strangely Victorian feel, with the associations of large, scary skeletons in nineteenth century buildings like the Natural History Museum. However, not only has knowledge of this remarkable group of animals moved on hugely since those skeletons were first put on show, the amount we have learned in the last 20 years eclipses everything that has come before, so it is valuable to have a really up-to-date view of dinosaurs, and in particular that most popular of groupings, the tyrannosaurs.

It's appropriate that I mention a Victorian feel, as David Hone's writing does have something of a fussy academic style. Unlike some academics who write popular science, he retains a precision and requirement to note uncertainty in some detail that doesn't make for the best reading, even if it is strictly the most accurate way to present what is, and isn't known. (I assumed he was about 70 from his style, but from the photo he's a lot younger.) However, this isn't disastrous and there is no doubt that what he gives us is a thorough grounding in dinosaurs in general, how the various tyrannosaurs (it's not just T. rex, by any means) fit into the bigger picture and a lot of the detail we know about them.

What's refreshing about this book is the clear presentation of just how difficult it is to make definitive statements based on a few, often fragmentary remains of animals that lived many millions of years ago. Even an apparently obvious distinction like whether an animal is male or female, or whether it is a small species or the juvenile of a different large species, is anything but straightforward. This approach is a wonderful counter to the likes of the TV show Walking with Dinosaurs (ironically Hone has written for the WwD website), which may have entertained its large audiences with its apparent 'facts', but made vast unsupported assumptions that Hone sweeps aside to show what we really know and don't know.

It's not possible to give this book more than three stars, because it suffers deeply from what you might call Rutherford's disease. The great physicist Ernest Rutherford infamously said 'All science is either physics or stamp collecting,' mocking the way some scientific disciplines are primarily about collecting and collating information, and the majority of The Tyrannosaur Chronicles is a step-by-step, working through what we know about different bits of the skeletons, what we can deduce about their diet from their skeletons, what we can deduce about the way they moved from their skeletons, what we deduce about their feathers from fossil remains and so forth. It will delight the young (or old) dinosaur enthusiast who wants to absorb every last piece of evidence, but it can be quite hard going for the general reader.

I found in working through the book that some chapters came across much stronger than others - a topic would suddenly become interesting and give some real insights, but then we'd be back to the stamp collecting. This may have been because some chapters take on a wider remit - so, for instance, one of the chapters I found most interesting was on the physiology of the tyrannosaurs, because rather than just describe (for instance) the skull and its implications, as one chapter does, the physiology chapter talks about the difference between being warm and cold blooded, showing it's not a simple binary option, and exploring whether dinosaurs, and tyrannosaurs in particular, could be fitted into a particular category and why.

For me, as a reader, by far the best part of the book was something the author probably thinks is totally trivial. I was aware that birds were some kind of relation to dinosaurs, but Hone makes it clear that birds are dinosaurs - and that simple revelation was startling. I'm sure others would get a lot more out of the detailed descriptions and illustrations (I wish there had been more illustrations) than I did. And Hone does a splendid job of showing both how far our understanding has moved on and how much more we need to discover. But it was a book that I found involved a fair amount of work to continue reading.

[Katie Long · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a criticism, more of a warning, but this has a bit too much technical detail for a general audience. And by general audience, I mean me.

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love dinosaurs. That means I like watching documentaries and reading books about dinosaurs. (And yes, I have seen all the Jurassic Park movies, and really, the only worthwhile thing about Jurassic World was the look of the dinosaurs and other reptiles.)

I picked this book up on impulse. I saw Tyrannosaur in the title and didn't get any further down the shelf at the library. Tyrannosaurs have awesome press, because, what's not to like? Big teeth, big bodies, terrifying appearance....they were walking nightmares.

Though this book is not jargon-laiden, this isn't for the super-casual reader. If you're familiar with Scott Sampson's writings for lay people, then you will find this book tougher going. David Hone's style is more formal. You have to want to essentially sit through a very long lecture about a particular group of dinosaurs, the tyrannosaurids.

The book is organized into sections, which is great, since each section builds on the other, laying on the facts and the reasoning so that by the time you get to the discussion about ecology (which was what I was waiting for) you have a pretty good grounding in information about this group. The sections are as follows in the hardcover I read:

-Preface: p. 7-20: Basics on time periods the creatures lived in and the creatures' anatomy.

-Intro: pp. 23-84: What's a T-Rex? What individual dinosaurs are in this group of tyrannosaurs and how they got organized in this particular group by paleontologists.

-Morphology: pp. 87-157: Anatomy and physiology. (Side note; I can't hear the word 'morphology' without remembering it said by Roy Batty when he walked in on Tyrell in Blade Runner.

-Ecology: pp. 161-248: Egg-laying, what did they munch on, who'd they compete with, and tyrannosaurs' social lives.

-Moving Forwards: pp. 251-279: What myths persist about these creatures and what do we really know based on evidence? What can we hope to find out in the future based on ever-improving technology?

I felt like I had learned a lot. It took me a while to read this book, and I had to take it in smallish chunks to help digest all the information conveyed by the author, who clearly loves his subjects and is quite knowledgeable.

[Arun Divakar · Rating 3 out of 5]

If popular media is any indication, the Tyrannosaurus rex is a huge celebrity. Movies, merchandise, books and comics focus on this animal and it has been one of the forerunners that introduced what a dinosaur was to the general populace. Keeping all the razzmatazz aside there wasn’t much I knew about the Tyrannosaurs as a family of dinosaurs. Having prided myself to be a dinosaur nut, the biggest revelation to me was that the T-rex is only one among the many species of Tyrannosaurus that roamed the planet. Talk about ignorance !

The subtitle of the book captures it best for the contents cover the biology of the family of theropod dinosaurs in its entirety. The anatomy, possible behavioural patterns, ecosystems that supported this carnivore and also its prey and competition are topics that get covered. While this subject matter appears very interesting at a first glance, the writing style is a tad too academic to support a swift read. David Hone writes in a precise and accurate fashion that edges this book closer to textbook territory than a popular science book. Even with me wanting to understand more about the animal the writing kept me derailed for a big part of the book.

However in defence of the book and also looking at all this objectively this could be the best way to write such a book. These animals are long gone and we will not see them nor hear them again and all that we can do is to tinker around with bones. A lot many of what we know about dinosaurs is based on a few facts, some conjectures, a lot of approximations and ample amounts of guess work. David Hone does not hesitate to call a spade a spade and where he is faced with inadequate data, he makes sure that the reader knows it too. This is contrary to what a lot of popular science articles about dinosaurs admit to since they make definitive assertions about a species where every new fossil find changes things sometimes drastically.

The Tyrannosaur family is a very diverse one ranging from the little Guanlong to the gigantic T-rex and there is a very solid coverage of almost all of these family members here. While the academic approach was a turn off, it was an educating read.

[Nicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Tyrannosaur Chronicles is a pretty entertaining survey of everything we currently know about tyrannosaurs — not just T. rex, but the related tyrannosaurs. That means it includes dinosaurs we don’t always think of as tyrannosaurs, but which are classified as types of tyrannosaur because of their close relationship to T. rex. The book is upfront about the fact that the information in it is going to be out of date before long — though not, I think, from the perspective of a layperson.

A lot of the info is stuff you may well already know, like the fact that T. rex was most likely feathered. But this book discusses it in detail, going into parts that were likely to be feathered, where the tyrannosaurs might have been scaled as traditionally depicted, etc. There are various different cases where there are theories about the tyrannosaurs that can’t be proven one way or another, and this book goes into them in detail. It discusses the evidence and findings, bringing them together into an entertaining and informative package of pure tyrannosaur-related awesomeness. It never got too dry or anything; I found all of it interesting and relevant.

Like all the best dinosaur books, it made me want to run out and become a palaeontologist, somehow. And it also made me crave overviews of other dinosaurs — can I have a book like this about the sauropods, now? Please?

Originally reviewed here.

[sidney · Rating 4 out of 5]

finally finished a book! this was entertaining; not a lot that i wasn’t broadly familiar with already but very enjoyable 🦖

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and absorbing book about the one dinosaur most people can probably name, the Tyrannosaur. Well written by Dr. Hone, this book will provide lots of good paleontological information about Tyrannosaurs and a good grounding in how to separate the scientific speculations about them from the nonsensical speculations (like whether they were carnivores or scavengers).

The book starts with a brief introduction to describe the various parts of a dinosaur scientifically. This is then followed by a brief introduction to dinosaurs in general followed by tyrannosaurs and how the tyrannosaurs fit into the family tree of dinosaurs. A great section then describes what makes a tyrannosaur different from the rest of the canivorous dinosaurs (like Allosaurus) and will greatly aid you in looking at the fossils of Tyrannosaurs.

The body of the Tyrannosaur is then described from head to toe, followed by a look at the biology of the Tyrannosaur; how they moved, ate and hunted and possibly mated. The environment the Tyrannosaur inhabited is then described.

The book closes with some speculation on the Tyrannosaurs, but always with reference to what is already known based on paleontology.

If you already know somethings about dinosaurs and are interested in getting to know them better, especially Tyrannosaurs, this is a good book to get. You will get a good understanding of what a Tyrannosaur is, why people like Dr. Hone study them and what we can learn about how they lived based on what paleontology tells us.

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly my takeaway from this work is that the author should stick with paleontology and put aside the writing. His passion for paleontology is clear, his writing is not. It was often difficult to pull from his lengthy ramblings what his overall point was in many parts. The book was a bit of a chore to get through.

I found a great deal of the book to be extremely dull because while it was about dinosaurs (tyrannosaurs), it really was just a biological breakdown of EVERY minute detail that has been discovered. It just was not compelling. There was also often far too much information in too confined a space. No one is going to recall all of the names and details the author throws at you rapidly. The book could have been on any other species and it would have been dull as well. Overall, I find it unlikely that this would be an inviting book for general dinosaur lovers, especially since I even found it dull and I have a biology degree and usually love this type of thing.

Disclosure: ARC received from Netgalley & publisher in exchange for an honest review. (They may regret this.) Any and all quotes were taken from an advanced edition subject to change in the final edition.

[Lois Merritt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great, thorough book on the great T-Rex... however, probably not the best to really have as an audiobook. If there are any pictures, you don't have those, and it's far easier to go back to revisit something you might want to see before moving on.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect follow up to my recent JP splurge and I still can't get enough! Also my first scientific read when it comes to dinosaurs and I think it was the perfect introduction because despite being specific in topic, the author placed the species in time and place and touched on other species in unexpected detail. I loved David Hone's sometimes sardonic tone and there's a great sense of humour running throughout the book.

[cosmic_truthseeker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that is dense with information. So going into it, you know you're going to learn a lot. You've just got to hope you'll hold onto the knowledge.

I would consider this book a summary of everything that was known about Tyrannosaurs at the time of writing, presented in a categorical manner.

That meaning it is not fed to you as a narrative. It is a series of essays on various elements of tyrannosaur biology, with the focus being on the larger, more famous example: Tyrannosaurus. With each chapter being so focused on one aspect, you will find that information is repeated several times in different sections, which isn't awful.

With a name like "Tyrannosaur Chronicles", though, I was expected something that was more like a "story of tyrannosaur evolution". An exploration of the earliest species we know, some speculation on their ancestry, and a play-by-play of how they went from crested Proceratosaurus and Guanlong to tyrant Tarbosaurus and Tyrannosaurus - a bit more about where they originated and where they travelled.

That said, I did find this very interesting, and even after reading several books on dinosaurs and palaeontology found myself learning some new things, especially in regards to animal behaviours and the means of ascribing them to prehistoric creatures.

I feel like this isn't one of the most accessible books on the subject I've read, though. As aforementioned, it is very dense, and I feel like I may have felt a bit lost had I not read other books beforehand. The author clearly tries to explain the information with the assumption that the reader will not have the same knowledge as a professional, but there's a feeling throughout of this book being written for students who have been studying the subject for a few years.

And though I'm sure it's something others have highlighted, I do need to mention that I encountered my fair share of spelling and grammatical errors that I feel should have been caught easily enough, which only makes me feel that the editor was overwhelmed by the density of information and lost interest during their work.

Still, a good, informative (though challenging at times) read.

[Sutton Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dinosaurs are pretty mind blowing. They were the largest terrestrial animals, occupied the planet for millions of years and yet there’s still so little we know. But the stuff we do know from the limited data is extraordinary. It’s hard to imagine a world where humans were not the dominant species but it was in fact run by the largest reptiles in history. The fact that these fossils are just here under our feet and have been preserved for MILLIONS of years is hard to wrap your head around when you can’t keep the bread from going stale after a week. I really liked how this book focused a lot on evolution and the differences between the different groups of Tyrannosaurs. Contrary to other reviews I found the book pretty accessible and not overloaded with “jargon.” It gives a great foundation and clearly explains the terms used so there should be little confusion. I can understand how it gets out of control with all the different species and anatomy though. Anyways, Dinosaurs are awesome and this book is oddly shaped.

[Simon Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll hold my hand up and say I’d planned to initially give this book less starts on the grounds that the first third felt at times a little daunting and difficult to read with what felt like quite a lot of scientific jargon which generally weighs heavily on someone who needs explanations in layman’s terms.

The reality is I needed to be giving this book more of my time than I was doing the short snippets weren’t adding together to form anything I could understand, so I dedicated more time to it and straight away I was riding the crest of a wave of joy and discovery.

If you love Tyrannosaurs you’ll enjoy this book there’s a lot to pick up and I specifically felt like it answered my questions on the speculative Nanotyranus species, I also learned how more widespread throughout the world different types of Tyrannosaurs were and how they likely behaved.

Every need to give this book a five star rating as it turned out such a superb reading experience.

[J.S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very detailed look at what is known (and believed) about the Tyrannosaur dinosaurs - not just Tyrannosaurus rex but the whole family tree, beginning in the middle Jurassic until the end of the Cretaceous. It looks specifically at the morphology of the dinosaurs - skull, body, and limbs, as well as what is known of the insides and outsides of them. Also covered is how they lived: reproduction, growth, prey, competition, and their environments. Like I said, it’s very detailed.

And while it’s pretty in-depth, it’s written in an easy-to-read manner that doesn’t exclude those of us who wish we had studied paleontology in college. But for all the detail and readability, it’s still a pretty dense read. I enjoyed it, but it was honestly more than I was looking for. Although, perhaps if it had focused just on T. rex...?

[emnello · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Hone’s books are so interesting and accessible (The Future of Dinosaurs, released this year, is great). This one, focusing solely on Tyrannosaurs, is also very good. I always find it particularly interesting to learn about the Tyrannosaurs that were in the UK. It’s hard to imagine.

If you have an interest in dinosaurs the podcast he co-hosts, ‘Terrible Lizards’ is also super accessible and fun!

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would - I learned a lot, managed to get through terms and aspects of biology I don't know enough about, and found myself a bit excited about what the future may show us about the tyrant dinos.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting.

[Lewis Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

even if rawrxd means i love you in dinosaur, i dont know if i'd want any tyrannosaurine saying it to me. plus this has a fun paragraph about moths!

[John Park · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars

This is laid out rather like a text book—it opens with with primers on nomenclature and anatomy, rather than personal anecdotes or catchy news items—but is written in an easy colloquial style that mostly works very well. The transposition of Figures 7a and 7b is apparently fixed in the paperback edition.

Since I last took a serious interest in these matters a number of things have changed, starting with the classification of dinosaurs. Under the present scheme T. Rex is a member of the tyrannosaurines, which are included in the tyrannosaurids, themselves a group within the tyrannosauroids. (I don't expect to remember this.) The name T. rex is effectively synonymous with Tyrannosaurus because, like all but one of the twenty-odd tyrannosaur genera, the genus contains only a single species.

Generic tyrannosaurs have been found (to date) in North America, Europe and East Asia. They can be traced back 100 million years from the Cretaceous extinction, to animals a couple of metres in size. Their subsequent evolution was marked by a trend towards greater overall mass with an increasingly large head, but a reduction in the relative size of the arms.

T. rex itself had an exceptionally powerful bite, with strong teeth for piercing or crushing rather than slicing. Weight estimates seem to have converged on the five-to-ten–tonne range. The legs were built for economical and efficient if not ultra-fast motion; over a distance, Tyrannosaurus may have been able to chase down prey it could not catch in a sprint. (Elsewhere Hone has suggested T. Rex could have matched an Olympic sprinter for speed—indefinitely.) It had exceptional eyesight, with binocular vision and extremely large eyes, and a good sense of smell. Judged from its relatives, it may well have been partly covered in feathery fuzz.

So, was T. rex a scavenger or a predator? Probably not. Modern experience suggests there is no strict division between the two modes; and there is fossil evidence that T. Rex did indeed both scavenge and hunt. (Hone gives a quick survey of competing predators and possible prey.) But the once-stereotypical T. Rex vs. Triceratops battle is probably mostly myth: prima facie, no successful predator would voluntarily tackle something as formidable as an adult Triceratops; and the fossil evidence suggests T. Rex favoured hadrosaurs—in particular juvenile hadrosaurs.

There are still plenty of outstanding questions. What were the small (and shrinking) arms used for? In the absence of better suggestions, maybe to help get up off the ground (assuming tyrannosaurs slept on their chests like chickens). How did tyrannosaurs have sex (a general uncertainty about large dinosaurs given given the anatomical and geometrical constraints)? Hone suggests a (possibly elaborate) "intromittent organ" may have been necessary (compare ducks, he says). Can we tell male tyrannosaurs from female? Occasionally. Female reptiles and birds preparing to lay eggs produce a special "medullary" bone that will supply the calcium needed when the eggshells are formed. If a dinosaur dies and is fossilised when the medullary bone is present it can be recognised as female, and at least one female tyrannosaur has been identified in this way. (The parallel and apparently groundbreaking work from the same lab on preserved tyrannosaur soft tissues is cited a bit cautiously by Hone.) The limited results provide no evidence as to size differences between male and female.

Hone is happy to speculate on such matters, but careful to emphasise that usually actual evidence is lacking. At the end he looks forward to further discoveries—we currently have no Tyrannosaurus eggs, nests, embryos or confirmed juveniles, for instance—bringing both clarification and surprises.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 'Tyrannosaur Chronicles', is a well researched book on the latest palaeontological research in the field of tyrannosaurids, with an exceptionally eye-catching front cover. There are few adults who didn't feel a mixture of fear and wonder seeing casts of the impressive T-rex in museums, or for adults closer to my age, whilst watching Jurassic Park for the first time. It was in respect for my inner child that I picked up this book, being intrigued by the amount of research that has gone into understanding this prehistoric animal.

The first half of the book is dedicated to tyrannosaurid anatomy. As I have a background in human and primate osteology I was able to understand the bones and adaptations discussed, but still needed to look at a T-rex skeleton cast at my local museum to see skeletal elements such as the pubic boot and furcula properly, as the diagrams did no suffice. Anyone without a decent knowledge of skeleton anatomy may have been thoroughly lost at this point, as the book expects a higher level of prior knowledge than an average popular science book, yet is not aimed at specialists in the field.

It would be a shame to have lost readers at the half way point as many of the interesting scientific discussions on tyrannosaur behavioural ecology are in the latter half of the book. The new evidence of feathering along with the clever interpretations of both predation and scavenging were particularly interesting. There is also detailed discussion of contemporaneous animals, both potential competitors and prey. Sadly, the lack of diagrams made it difficult to note which dinosaur was which without a quick google. I would be surprised if any non-specialist had a strong anatomical image in their mind of every animal that is mentioned in this book and is another reason why many people interested in the subject would be turned off.

That said it seems the perfect introduction to the subject for first year palaeontology students and a great stepping stone before heading into the complex scientific literature. The book has also been an education in the difficulty of finding the right level for non-specialists. I generally pick up science books in my field and skim over the basics to get to the interesting research or new hypothesis. This was the first time looking in as an outsider and creating an engaging popular science book really is an artform.

[Brendan McKee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a fun, easy read. It is dense and filled with technical information. However, if you want to learn a lot about every aspect of tyrannosaurs then this is the best book to read!

[Fudgy · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting but dry at times and literally swam my way through

[Emma Davison (A Cup Of Books)]

It breaks my heart to DNF this book but after a month of slogging to the half way point, I think its time to throw in the towel. I adore dino books and this should be right up my alley but its just too dry! It turns out I really need that quintessential blend of quirky dad style humour and cute anecdotes about different digs alongside my dino facts to make a pop paleo book readable for me. Steve Brusatte does that style great, so does Anthony Martin. David Hone sadly leaves me cold. The Tyrannosaur isn't really my favourite dino either, being a bit too hyped for my liking and I think that hasn't helped the book.

What I will say is David does an amazing podcast called Terrible Lizards with a wonder co-host who he can riff off that creates a much more digestible format. So if you want to consume content from him about all things dino, I'd check that out over this book instead.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tyrannosaurs are arguably the most studied dinosaur since the very first fossils of 'terrible lizards' began to pique human imaginations, and scientists now know (with relative confidence) enough about them to fill a 300-page book. One need not be an expert in paleontology to enjoy this read, only to have retained a childlike wonder that these amazing creatures ever existed at all. I look forward to a day when, as the wheels of research continue to turn, full-length books are possible about many other favorite prehistoric personalities.

[Cloak88 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything you wanted to ever know about T-Rex and all his relatives.

The Tyrannosaur Chronicles is THE book to read if you are interested in the more serious side of Jurassic Park. David Hone effectively summarizes and explains the history of Tyrannosaurus, their different species, habitats, habits and much more. He manages to both give an entertaining read, but keep as much scientific accuracy as possible. Up to including uncertainties, scientific debates or the limitations of the 'state of the art' of today's science.

Recommended for any Dino-Enthusiast who likes a bit of science.

[zack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was both entertaining and educating (even if I'll admit that I did feel rather lost once or twice). I have been saving this one for a while, and the wait was definitely worth it.

[Herman Diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly good, part 1 ( www.amazon.com/review/R1BGIKWL90PWZD/... ): 4/5

Hone's "The Tyrannosaur Chronicles: The Biology of the Tyrant Dinosaurs" (henceforth TC) is mostly good, especially when it comes to describing key scientific concepts (E.g. Classification in Part 1). I say that b/c, unlike most of my positive reviews, this 1 is about TC's problems.

1) The paleoart is seriously lacking: For 1, most of the illustrations (I.e. Hartman's skeletal reconstructions) are great, but too small for good comparisons; For another, said illustrations are few & far between (I.e. Most of the chapters have only 1 illustration, 3 at most, & 5 of them have none); For yet another, there's only 1 life reconstruction in TC's entirety (I.e. Hartman's T. rex). This is especially problematic because, according to Hone, TC is meant for casual readers, yet it's laid out more like an enthusiast's book (I.e. Mostly black-&-white pages with a series of color plates). To put this in perspective, Sampson's "Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life" is an enthusiast's book of similar length & layout, yet it has at least 3 illustrations per chapter, more in most, including a multi-species scene by Skrepnick at the beginning of every chapter.

2) The "scaly Tyrannosaurus" & "larger females" hypotheses are very misrepresented. Depending on the context, I don't mind as much if 1 or 2 non-major hypotheses are misrepresented once or twice.* My Riddle review shows what happens when many major hypotheses are misrepresented on many levels ( www.goodreads.com/review/show/3474612358 ). However, while not as major as "Birds Are Dinosaurs", "scaly Tyrannosaurus" & "larger females" do have major implications for tyrannosaur biology, among other things (See the Willoughby & Bakker quotes, respectively). In reference to the former, the evidence for it is "essentially" ignored, while "a liberal coating of feathers" is taken as a given. Yes, said evidence hadn't yet been described in detail, but it had been mentioned in the technical literature. In reference to the latter, see "Review #45" in "Review updates #45 and 52 (Repost)!" ( https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/art... ).

In short, I recommend reading TC in conjunction with 1) GSPaul's "The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs" for larger skeletal reconstructions & more life reconstructions, & 2) the Neal & Peter Larson chapters in Larson/Carpenter's "Tyrannosaurus rex, the Tyrant King" for more pre-TC info about T. rex skin & sexual dimorphism.

*E.g. In Chapter 10, Hone claims that "Richard Owen[...]regarded dinosaurs as giant lizards" in terms of physiology. That's not right (Quoting Owen: "The Dinosaurs, having the same thoracic structure as the Crocodiles, may be concluded to have possessed a four-chambered heart; and, from their superior adaptation to terrestrial life, to have enjoyed the function of such a highly-organized centre of circulation to a degree more nearly approaching that which now characterizes the warm-blooded Vertebrata"). Also, in Chapter 14, Hone claims that "the discovery of multiple remains of the famous dromaeosaurid Deinonychus with bones of the ornithischian Tenontosaurus[...]is mostly the limit of the evidence in support of the[...pack hunting large prey...]hypothesis". Depending on what he means by "large prey", that's not right either (For more info: https://web.archive.org/web/202503310... ) (Also for more info: www.naturalhistorymag.com/htmlsite/12... ).

Quoting Willoughby ( www.amazon.com/review/R4VJXNM6VVEIV/r... ): "Kenneth Carpenter (1997) has pointed out evidence of Gorgosaurus scale imprints that have been known for at least twenty years, but have never been formally published. Research can of course take many years to publish for a myriad of reasons, but it seems highly likely that had these imprints been of feathers, they'd been published almost immediately. It seems like there is something fundamentally wrong with a system that more readily publishes research that is exciting and interesting because it conforms so smoothly with the dominant paradigm, when conflicting research that challenges some of these established lines of thinking might ultimately result in a more robust and less flawed theory overall."

Quoting Bakker (See "Raptor Red"): "Female dominance is a powerful piece of evidence that permits us to reconstruct the private lives of Cretaceous predatory dinosaurs. A family structure built around a large female is rare in meat-eating reptiles and mammals today, but it's the rule for one category of predatory species[...]carnivorous birds. Owls, hawks, and eagles have societies organized around female dominance, and we can think of tyrannosaurs and raptors as giant, ground-running eagles."

[Natacha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dinosaurs always fascinated me and how could they not? They were huge, ruled the world for so many years and we know so little about them. It just grasps my curiosity. After a thorough research on books on this subject, I found the “The Tyrannosaur Chronicles” written by David Hone. The reviews were great so I decided to have a look. I was not disappointed. David Hone shares many interesting and up-to-date facts about Tyrannosaurus and other tyrannosaurs where he addresses aspects such as the origin, evolution, diversity, ecology, behaviour, anatomy, functional morphology and extinction of these fascinating giant animals. I did not find it a dense reading or too technical, as stated in some reviews, but I do believe that my professional background as a researcher may have influenced my perception considering that I spend a significant amount of time reading technical articles. The information is provided in a straightforward and organized manner. The only remark I would like to make is that the book could benefit from an increased number of illustrations.