Abstract
In this 2018 New York Times Notable Book, Paige Williams "does for fossils what Susan Orlean did for orchids." (Book Riot) A story "steeped in natural history, human nature, commerce, crime, science, and politics." (Rebecca Skloot). In 2012, a New York auction catalogue boasted an unusual offering: "a superb Tyrannosaurus skeleton." In fact, Lot 49135 consisted of a nearly complete T. bataar, a close cousin to the most famous animal that ever lived. The fossils now on display in a Manhattan event space had been unearthed in Mongolia, more than 6,000 miles away. At eight-feet high and 24 feet long, the specimen was spectacular, and when the gavel sounded the winning bid was over