  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 11/15/2013 Move over, T. rex! You now have a growing family of ancestors. In three chapters, Sloan presents recent developments about the tyrannosaur family. In chapter 1, we learn the difference between tyrannosaur-oids and tyrannosaur-ids. The recently found smaller tyrannosauroids lived much earlier than the giant tyrannosaurids. The clever use of a chart shows the lineage of the tyrannosaurs from their beginnings in the Jurassic period, through the giant tyrannosaurids in the Cretaceous, and ending with modern-day birds. Chapter 2 introduces all of the known tyrannosaurs (-ids and -oids) including the much-acclaimed feathered ones. The last chapter presents a fine overview of the research laboratories and their work scanning ancient bones to learn their secrets. Photographs, drawings, pronunciation guides, a glossary, biographical sketches, resources, and a detailed index complete this finely crafted book on a highly popular (and complex) subject. - Copyright 2013 Booklist. School Library Journal - 12/01/2013 Gr 5–7—Having a rock star like T. rex in one's family tree pretty much ensures that other tyrannosaurids will find themselves languishing in the wings like amp-toting roadies, but Sloan's new genealogical work certainly pops the spotlight on some nifty critters. The readable text investigates the evolutionary path of this predatory family, providing both a general "Dinosaur Family Tree" as well as a more specific "Tyrannosaur Family Tree"—from the Jurassic through the Cretaceous—to that final line in the rock above which no dino fossils have been found. From that point, Sloan delves into particular "branches." A global location map (including continental-drift insets) is provided, and some nine species are given facing-page units. These are graced with information boxes, size comparisons, a "Dino Database," and, more importantly, a clear presentation of what is known about that dinosaur, including its discovery and physical attributes, and what its existence means on the evolutionary tree. Included are such "new" finds as agile little Guanlong and the 30-foot-long Yutyrannus, surprisingly covered in "long, thick, hairlike feathers." All this is accompanied by some eye-catching, realistic artwork—informative in its own right. Slim, readable, informative, and with a feathery, toothy Yutyrannus clomping through a snowy landscape on the cover, this title will spend a good part of its life out in circulation.—Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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