MEGA REX

A paleontologist introduces the largest T. rex fossil ever found along with some of its relatives and neighbors.

Discovered by an amateur dinosaur hunter (and named “Scotty” after what some of the excavators were drinking in celebration), the reassembled monster now resides in Saskatchewan, where it was found. Persons surrounds the story of how it was discovered and conserved with imagined reconstructions of the beast’s Cretaceous-era setting, anatomical descriptions of tyrannosaurids and tyrannosauroids (including an observation that no one has yet found a way to tell a “He-Rex” from a “She-Rex” from fossilized evidence), and a gallery of other notable dinos found in Canada, from fleet Struthiomimus to “Power Muncher” Edmontosaurus (“a shrub’s worst nightmare”). As he goes, he adds nods to several associated museum workers and researchers. Paleoartist Zaiken fleshes out the prehistoric cast in realistic detail, giving some predators and prey flashy feathers, and, along with the customary views of a toothy T. rex on the prowl, includes a tender parent-hatchling moment. Her painted scenes are interspersed with generous arrays of field and specimen photos, maps, diagrams, and charts. Chapters are subdivided into one- or two-page topical segments, clearly demarcated by frequently amusing headings (“Lizard Lips”). Human figures all appear to be White.

Regional in focus but lively, authoritative, and fun.