Tyrannosaurus rex is the world’s favorite dinosaur, adored by the public and the subject of intense study and debate by paleontologists. This stunningly illustrated book brings together everything we have learned about T. rex—the “King of the Tyrant Lizards”—since it was first given its famous name in 1905. It presents these creatures as science knows them rather than the version portrayed in movies, revealing them to be dramatically different, and far more amazing, than ever imagined. With numerous original paintings and diagrams by the author, King Tyrant draws on the latest discoveries to offer a modern understanding of Tyrannosaurus, pulling back the curtain of media hype that often obscures these extraordinary extinct animals while cementing their reputation as the most formidable carnivores of the Mesozoic.
As the world’s most popular dinosaur, Tyrannosaurus is virtually inescapable. What inspired you to write a book on a dinosaur that we’re all so familiar with?
Mark P. Witton: Would you believe me if I said that no one has written an accessible book dedicated to Tyrannosaurus for over 30 years? At least, not one for older readers wanting a deep-dive, “one-stop shop” overview of the research history, biology and ecology of T. rex. This was one of the main catalysts for writing King Tyrant. A few years ago, I became involved in predatory dinosaur research and assumed a big book on T. rex would exist, but I couldn’t find one! The T. rex name is so ubiquitous that perhaps we assume there must be dozens of books on it. Instead, the Tyrannosaurus name and iconography is often used like a brand, helping to sell books on general dinosaur biology, legal battles over fossils, and fossil hunter biographies. King Tyrant is thus a book that everyone expects to exist, but »ĺľ±»ĺ˛Ô’t—until now!
Was it difficult to write a book on just one species? Is there so much to say about Tyrannosaurus?
MPW: Dedicating a book to most dinosaur species would be a challenge, but T. rex is no ordinary dinosaur. It’s not only been popular with the public for over a century, but it has one of the best fossil records of any large dinosaurian predators. Combined academic and commercial interest has seen thousands of T. rex bones, ranging from isolated teeth to complete specimens, extracted from rocks in western North America. Research interest in these fossils has increased markedly in the last 35 years so we now know an enormous amount about T. rex and their Late Cretaceous world. It’s no exaggeration to say that we understand more about king tyrants than we do many modern animals, and we can regard them as “model organisms” for dinosaur palaeontology (as in, species that are studied so intensely that they provide superior insights into wider biological topics). Synthesising what we know of T. rex research history, evolution, anatomy, functionality, ecology and extinction thus requires a big, expansive book, and learning about Tyrannosaurus is a great introduction to modern understandings of dinosaur biology.
There are lots of ways one could approach a book about T. rex. What is the central theme of King Tyrant, and what do you hope readers take from it?
MPW: One consequence of T. rex being thrust into the public eye for over a century (and “thrust” is the right word, as few dinosaurs have the same history of manufactured celebrity that T. rex possesses) is that the public face of Tyrannosaurus is very different to the one known to scientists. The modern popular view of T. rex has been shaped largely by movies like Jurassic Park, which presents king tyrants as perpetually roaring, lipless dinosaurian warriors out to kill (and possibly eat) anything that moves. This works for a movie monster, but it’s not the far more complex, far more interesting T. rex animal we know from the fossil record. It’s easy to slip into hyperbole when discussing Tyrannosaurus biology, but the natural history of this species was genuinely awesome. They grew from small, sprinting juveniles to enormous, striding nine-tonne adults in just two decades. They had jaws strong enough to bite through giant dinosaur bones and pulled the heads off Triceratops carcasses to eat the thick neck muscles behind their frills. Even the most grounded, po-faced assessment of Tyrannosaurus has to conclude that they had anatomy, life histories and biomechanical performance unlike anything living on land today.
Cutting through the hype and mythologising about Tyrannosaurus to expose the “real” animal—or at least the version understood by modern science, which is as close as we can get to “real”—was the major goal of King Tyrant. I hope it gives readers a new appreciation for what is publicly a widely misunderstood and misrepresented species, and imparts that science and skepticism are essential to reconstructing the lives of long-extinct animals. T. rex research has shown time and again that saying something about dinosaur biology is less important than how that something was investigated. The hypotheses and interpretations about Tyrannosaurus that have stood the test of time are not necessarily the coolest, newest or most spectacular, but those that are based on robust investigative techniques and careful analysis. This point is often lost in discussions of exciting of extinct animals like dinosaurs, and T. rex in particular!
We regularly see press updates on debates concerning T. rex hunting behaviour, arm use, new Tyrannosaurus species and so on, seemingly with little agreement among scientists. How does King Tyrant navigate these controversies?
MPW: A challenge of tackling a topic as large as Tyrannosaurus science is the diversity of opinion among researchers. Some aspects of the genus, such as the function of their arms, have been discussed continually for the last century, while other controversies are more ephemeral. The taxonomic content of the species is something that has come and gone a few times, for example. In other instances, topics that are portrayed as hotly contested by the press, like the presence of lips hiding their teeth, or their capacity to live and operate as pack hunters, are not actually that contentious among experts. Virtually everyone who has published an informed opinion about dinosaur facial tissues considers them to have lips, and the evidence for Tyrannosaurus living in groups is not considered especially strong. This is not to say they »ĺľ±»ĺ˛Ô’t, but there is little compelling evidence to suggest that they did.
Regardless of the level of controversy, King Tyrant aims to give a fair and even handed assessment of where we’re at with Tyrannosaurus research. Even in matters where I consider certain interpretations more likely than others, I’ve tried to present opposing views with equal standing before explaining why some proposals seem better supported than others. I also emphasise that some debates are beyond resolution with our current understanding of T. rex or dinosaurs in general. Determining the sexual identities of Tyrannosaurus specimens, for instance, is far more difficult than has been implied by some. We cannot simply look at T. rex bones to identify males and females: we just don’t know enough about their intraspecific variation to do that. There are possibly ways to determine dinosaur sex from bone tissues, but these remain rare insights. On this and many other topics, we simply need more data, in the form of new specimens and new studies, before we can gain even tentative insights. But King Tyrant readers needn’t take my word on these matters: the book is extensively referenced, so they can check that I’ve accurately represented the current status quo and disagree with me as they choose!
King Tyrant is such a visual book, with hundreds of paintings, photos and diagrams. Can you offer some insight into these?
MPW: Because images of Tyrannosaurus are so ubiquitous, it felt important for King Tyrant to have a unique visual identity, full of new, exciting images that will be refreshening even for veterans of T. rex media. I spent a lot of time on new art and diagrams, and travelled to eight research institutions in the UK and US—and one cathedral!—to get new photographs of Tyrannosaurus skeletons and fossils. I’m biased, obviously, but I think it’s a nice looking book! It isn’t just a bunch of recycled content, despite the familiar subject matter. You’ve not seen this stuff anywhere else before.
Also complementing the text are my paintings, and I needed these to match my prose by presenting a contemporary, hype-free view of king tyrant appearance. I went back to basics to ensure I got their anatomy right, building up my own skeletal reconstructions of adults, juveniles and hatchlings. I then executed muscle studies and looked at details of their skulls for guidance about aspects of their facial organs and skin. This wasn’t just “behind the scenes” research, either: there’s a whole section on what T. rex may have looked like, so readers will know why my Tyrannosaurus appear as they do.
My images of Tyrannosaurus in their world were also based on primary research, not stereotypes and cliches. My palaeobotanist friend Jules Kiely gave advice on appropriate plants for Late Cretaceous North America, and I researched Tyrannosaurus habitats to show them in their full diversity, from forests to barren plains and even volcanic uplands. Their behaviour, too, was informed by modern science and a desire to avoid convention. Readers may not realise it at first, but the cover art actually shows T. rex bellowing—a classic art motif for the species—but it’s rumbling like an alligator, with an inflated throat and closed mouth. You’ll see them running, but only as juveniles, when their bodies and muscle structure permitted rapid locomotion, and see T. rex not only as an formidable predator, but also vulnerable to predation and intimidation itself. Of course, the book wouldn’t be complete without some scenes of adult king tyrant predatory behaviour, and I tried to make these realistic and factual, not fantastical. Tyrannosaurus predation doesn’t need embellishment—it was probably horrific enough to witness as it was!
What aspect of T. rex biology that you think might be most surprising to readers?
MPW: I hope there will be surprises throughout. But if I had to pick one, it’s probably how much Tyrannosaurus changed with growth. Fossils of juvenile T. rex show that they had slender, shallow skulls, incredibly long legs, (relatively) long arms and overall slim body plans. They were probably fast runners when young, but were not powerful biters, which might be why their arms were longer and possibly capable of greater reach, at least at the shoulder. They lived with this build for ten years before, at puberty, they rocketed to enormous size and bulk, gaining hundreds of kilos of mass a year to become hulking adults by their early twenties. Some researchers have termed this a metamorphosis, and there’s some validity to this claim: it really is a remarkable amount of change. In turn, this factors into considerations of T. rex ecology, as different growth stages probably functioned as distinct predatory “species” in Late Cretaceous habitats. Tyrannosaurs lived in ecosystems devoid of other large dinosaur carnivores and they seem to have filled that ecological “space” themselves with different ages and body forms adapted to chasing different prey. Tyrannosaur growth may seem mundane compared to their size or bite force, but understanding this facet of their lives is essential to understanding them as animals and components of dinosaur ecosystems.
Mark P. Witton is a paleontologist, author, and artist based at the University of Portsmouth. He designs and advises on extinct creatures for films and documentaries, including the hit Apple TV+ series Prehistoric Planet and the IMAX film T.REX, and his artwork is widely featured in books and museums around the world. His books include Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy (91ĚŇÉ«).