Following one of the great "rules" of paleontological fieldwork, a team of paleontologists and volunteers from the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, Illinois, came across the toe bones of a theropod dinosaur at the very end of their field season. With no time to dig out the specimen, they reluctantly had to cover the remains up and hope that no one else would come across the fossil before they could get to it the next year. Fortunately for them, the specimen was still intact and proved to be one of the most amazing fossil finds of recent years; a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex named "Jane." Written for children, but enjoyable regardless of age, The Discovery and Mystery of a Dinosaur Named Jane by Judith Williams chronicles the journey of Jane from the Montana rock to Rockford Illinois.
There are plenty of dinosaur books out there, whole rows of lavishly (if not always accurately) illustrated children's books lining public and elementary school library shelves. Many of these don't offer much about dinosaurs other than they were big, ferocious, and are now extinct, but Williams' book is one that I wish I had read when I was a young, wanna-be paleontologist. Rather than reproducing page after page of dinosaurian favorites, ending the book with a chaotic scene of an asteroid impact and paleontologists digging up bones a page later, Williams starts off with the discovery of Jane, noting the anxiety the paleontologists felt at leaving the fossil for a whole year. She then moves through removing the fossil from the ground, transport, reconstruction, and the titular "mystery"; does Jane represent a new species, an adult of the controversial Nanotyrannus, or a young Tyrannosaurus rex?
Indeed, William's book does not skimp on details and is filled with plenty of color photographs, including a quarry map of Jane in the ground that I found most interesting. The straightforward, engaging prose and behind-the-scenes photography is further strengthened by original artwork by Michael Skrepnick, a skilled paleo-artist who created art for the "Jane's World" exhibit at the Burpee museum. Even if you already know about Jane and would rather skip William's description, the illustrations are top-notch and are definitely worth a look.
With so much paleo-pop out there, it is sometimes difficult to find a good children's book that both revels in the wonder children have for dinosaurs, but also respects that joy for fantastic extinct creatures. Even rarer is a book that effectively introduces children to what paleontologists do and how a skeleton is discovered, removed from the ground, and set up at the museum. The Discovery and Mystery of a Dinosaur Named Jane is such a rare book, though, and it certainly belongs on the bookshelf of every young dino fan.
[Thanks to Enslow Publishers for providing me a review copy of this book, and to Michael Skrepnick for suggesting that I write this review.]
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Which side of the fence does Williams come down on, Brian? I'm on the Tyrannosaurus rex side.
Zach; She doesn't really "come down" on either side being that this is a children's book and she mostly acts as a narrator to the story. The issue is certainly brought up, and Williams goes with the decision of Mike Henderson that Jane is a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex (which I agree with as well).
One thing I found curious about Jane was the disparity between the size of "her" teeth; what we would call incisors are small and closely packed, but they are immediately bordered (in the "canine" position) with absolutely huge teeth, giving the skull a saber-toothed appearance.
Brian - Thanks for the thoughtful review of this book! It was a project both Judy and I enjoyed working on together. The specimen is of course, outstanding, and the people at the Burpee were very forthcoming, helpful and fun to work with.
Zach - "Williams" (writers maiden name /a.k.a. my wife) took on the project, as she is an established childrens book author, after we decided to pitch the idea to one of our publishers (Enslow / New Jersey). She collaborated with Scott and Mike at the Burpee, and in spite limitations of language/vocabulary level requirements acceptable by the publisher for younger readers, was successfully able to articulate scientific procedure and methodology in a way that is still engaging to kids. [I simply threw in some illustrations to offset the photography.]
In constructing the story, Judy followed Mike Hendersons interpretation and conclusions in accordance to the paper. While I agree that most anatomical features in Jane appear to be what one would anticipate in a juvenile rex, there are a few details that cast a lingering doubt in my mind as to whether the type of "Nano T" (and by extension, Jane)remains potentially valid as a distinct taxon. There is however, more to come on this story via the Burpee (that I'm not at liberty to discuss). Stay tuned...
Darnit, Mike! You can't just trail off with a big teaser like that! It's like when somebody at Darren's blog commented that there's some news coming soon about Deinocheirus! You must let me know what YOU know, when you can tell me. :-)
Zach - Suffice it to say, there is more work to be done and more information to be gleaned. . . not something that happens overnight, but such is the nature of paleontology after all !