Rex Appeal: The Amazing Story of Sue, the Dinosaur That Changed Science, the Law, and My Life

Paleontologist Peter Larson recalls the discovery that made him and his colleagues at the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research instant stars and in trouble with the law in his memoir Rex Appeal: The Amazing Story of Sue, the Dinosaur That Changed Science, the Law, and My Life. In 1990, his team discovered the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton that the world had seen. Almost immediately, however, the team (which is unaffiliated with any university) became embroiled in a dispute with the U.S. government about who owns the fossil, during which the skeleton was seized by the National Guard. Co-written with his wife, journalist Kristin Donan, the book recounts the heated legal battles but focuses primarily on Larson's adventures in South Dakota, where his group eventually found six more T. rex fossils.