Bigger Than T-Rex

by Don Lessem, Greg Wenzel (Illustrator)

In 1993, a giant bone was discovered by an amateur fossil hunter in the badlands of central Argentina. The two paleontologists who were summoned to the site thought it was the thigh of a plant-eating dinosaur, but further examination showed it to be the shin of a previously unknown species of predatory dinosaur. Bigger Than T-Rex is an account of the excavation of the fossil and the subsequent reconstruction of a dinosaur thought to have been bigger, heavier, and fiercer than the reigning "king" of the meat-eaters, Tyrannosaurus rex . In clear, easy-to-follow language, dinosaur expert Don Lessem explains how the scientists drew conclusions about the size and habits of the new species, how they came to give it its name- Giganotosaurus -and how it compared to other dinosaurs. Illustrated with color photographs of the excavation and meticulously painted reconstructions of Giganotosaurus and other species, here is up-to-the-minute news about dinosaur discoveries for dinophiles of all ages.  

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 1997

Reviews

[Sol · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you want a large late Cretaceous theropod, but T. rex is just too mainstream, there's Giganotosaurus. Mostly about the discovery by an amateur fossil hunter in 93, with a couple of reconstructions of Giganotosaurus and other theropods. It includes Deinocheirus, which was a staple of kid's dinosaur books, since it illustrated the partial state of all dinosaur knowledge: it was known only from two large arms. The book reconstructs it as a large ornithomimid, which it eventually turned out to be, albeit with different proportions.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I confess I thought this was going to be more narrative than it was, but it was still about dinosaurs so I wasn’t too disappointed! It’s a bit old at this point (from the 90s), so I’m sure there’s some information that needs to be updated, but I the story of how Giganotosarus was discovered and researched shouldn’t have changed. The information in the back that expounds on other dinosaurs is probably also a little out dated but was still informative. Every time I read about dinosaurs, I want to learn more.