I thought the set up sounded fishy too, however it is, or was, for real.
The details are avaliable from Houghton Mifflin Publishing
http://tolkien.hmco.com/hmco/trade/hmi/index.html
Erik
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Cretaceous liability: Tyrannosaurus wrecks.
Desmostylus: one weird mammal.
Erik Pauls
erik@uclink.berkeley.edu