A dinosaur enthusiast since birth, Tyler Lyson grew up scouring his uncle’s ranch in North Dakota for fossils. In 2000, while still a teenager, he found something that would change the face of paleontology forever—a hadrosaur dinomummy dating back 65 million years.
Much more than bones, Tyler’s discovery was a mummified dinosaur—a rare specimen containing fossilized soft tissue. He contacted the celebrated paleontologist Dr. Phil Manning, and together they named the dinosaur “Dakota” and started an extensive excavation.
Using state-of-the-art technology and a team of experts, they transported portions of the specimen to labs for closer study. With up-to-the-minute research and dramatic illustrations, Dinomummy brings the excitement of this important discovery alive for young readers.
Dr. Phil Manning takes readers back in time to the floodplains of Hell Creek during the late Cretaceous Period, when Dakota lived alongside dinosaurs such as the triceratops, the ankylosaurus, the pachycephalosaur, and the Tyrannosaurus rex.
Facts about Dakota:
- This is the most important and complete mummified dinosaur ever discovered.
- Because Dakota is not just a skeleton, scientists can determine its live weight and actual size—something they have never done before.
- The presence of soft-tissue anatomy, including muscles, provides scientists with information about how this hadrosaur moved and offers clues about the locomotion of other dinosaurs.
Dinomummy chronicles one of the century’s most important dinosaur finds. It is fitting that this remarkable discovery, made by such a young scientist, is described for the first time in a book for young readers. Tyler’s excavations of dinosaur remains and the remarkable results of his dedication will inspire other budding explorers, inventors, and scientists to continue with their own pursuits. Full of scientific facts, photographs, and illustrations, Dinomummy is as educational as it is entertaining. Moreover, it is an inspirational story about how one child’s passion led to a great scientific discovery.
On Sunday, December 9, the National Geographic channel will broadcast a television program on the discovery of Dakota called Dino Autopsy. This program takes the audience deep into Hell Creek and Tyler’s amazing find, as well as Dr. Manning’s struggle to unearth and subsequently study the dinomummy. For more information, visit www.ngcdinos.com
Dr. Phil Manning is a paleontology lecturer and a research fellow at the University of Manchester in England. He has appeared and consulted on numerous television shows, and he presents public lectures and exhibitions at schools, universities, and science festivals around the world. He regularly writes for academic journals and the media.
Tyler Lyson has a degree in biology and is currently studying for a PhD in paleontology at Yale University. For as long as he can remember, he has hunted for dinosaurs on his uncle’s ranch in North Dakota. He is the founder of the Marmouth Research Foundation, an organization dedicated to the excavation, preservation, and study of dinosaurs. Visit the foundation’s site at www.mrfdigs.com