Tyrannosaurid Paleobiology / Палеобиология тираннозаврид

Tyrannosaurus rex is assuredly the dinosaur with the greatest public visibility, and it has been cast as a heavy in countless fi lms dating back to Harry Hoyt’s (1925) adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s (1912) Lost World. However, as of 1980, only seven specimens of the dinosaur were known (Larson 2008). In the last three decades, this number has swelled at least sevenfold (Larson 2008), and our knowledge of the relationships, anatomy, and biology of T. rex and its close relatives has expanded dramatically both through new specimens coming to light and through a plethora of analytical studies. This volume had its genesis in a conference held in Rockford, Illinois, on September 16–18, 2005, titled “The Origin, Systematics, and Paleobiology of Tyrannosauridae,” and jointly sponsored by the Burpee Museum of Natural History and Northern Illinois University. The symposium was held in conjunction with the development of the Burpee’s new dinosaur hall, the centerpiece of which was a skeletal reconstruction of “Jane” (BMR P2002.4.1), a relatively complete and very well preserved specimen of a juvenile tyrannosaur recovered by the Burpee Museum in 2002 from Carter County, Montana, and now mounted on display at the museum <...>