You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Reveals how Darwin's study of fossils shaped his scientific thinking and led to his development of the theory of evolution. Darwin's Fossils is an accessible account of Darwin's pioneering work on fossils, his adventures in South America, and his relationship with the scientific establishment. While Darwin's research on Galápagos finches is celebrated, his work on fossils is less well known. Yet he was the first to collect the remains of giant extinct South American mammals; he worked out how coral reefs and atolls formed; he excavated and explained marine fossils high in the Andes; and he discovered a fossil forest that now bears his name. All of this research was fundamental in leading Da...
Driving evolution forward, the Earth's physical environment has challenged the very survival of organisms and ecosystems throughout the ages. With a fresh new perspective, Evolution on Planet Earth shows how these physical realities and hurdles shaped the primary phases of life on the planet. The book's thorough coverage also includes chapters on more proximate factors and paleoenvironmental events that influenced the diversity of life. A team of notable ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and paleontologists join forces to describe drifting continents, extinction events, and climate change -- important topics that continue to shape Earth's inhabitants to this very day. In a world where global change has become an international issue, this book provides a several billion-year evolutionary perspective on what the environment and environmental change means to life.* Provides thorough background information on each topic while introducing cutting-edge research* Features original material solicited from the leading minds in evolutionary biology and geology today* Emphasizes the influence of massive geological forces - continental drift, volcanic activity, sea and tides
Explore the world of mammoths with this illustrated guide, featuring photographs of skeletons, casts, tusks and preserved flesh from the world-famous collections of the Natural History Museum, London and the Field Museum in North America.
A dazzling visual record of one of Earth's most extraordinary species, this updated and revised edition of Mammoths: Giants of the Ice Age integrates exciting new research to piece together the story of mammoths, mastodons, and their relatives, icons of the Ice Age. Incorporating recent genetic work, new fossil finds, new extinction theories, and more, Mammoths is a captivating exploration of how these mighty creatures evolved, lived, and mysteriously disappeared. The book features a wealth of color illustrations that depict mammoths in their dramatic Ice Age habitats, scores of photographs of mammoth remains, and images of the art of prehistoric people who saw these animals in the flesh. Ha...
The Living Elephants is the authoritative resource for information on both Asian and African elephants. From the ancient origins of the proboscideans to the present-day crisis of the living elephants, this volume synthesizes the behavior, ecology and conservation of elephants, while covering also the history of human interactions with elephants, all within the theoretical framework of evolutionary biology. The book begins with a survey of the 60-million year evolutionary history of the proboscideans emphasizing the role of climate and vegetation change in giving rise to a bewildering array of species, but also discussing the possible role of humans in the late Pleistocene extinction of masto...
The fascinating story of how the fossils of dinosaurs, mammoths, and other extinct animals influenced some of the most spectacular creatures of classical mythology Griffins, Centaurs, Cyclopes, and Giants—these fabulous creatures of classical mythology continue to live in the modern imagination through the vivid accounts that have come down to us from the ancient Greeks and Romans. But what if these beings were more than merely fictions? What if monstrous creatures once roamed the earth in the very places where their legends first arose? This is the arresting and original thesis that Adrienne Mayor explores in The First Fossil Hunters. Through careful research and meticulous documentation,...
The British Palaeolithic provides the first academic synthesis of the entire British Palaeolithic, from the earliest occupation to the end of the Ice Age. It fills a major gap in teaching resources as well in research by providing a current synthesis of the latest research on the period.
If you were exploring in the Ice Age, would you be able to recognize the tracks of a sabre tooth tiger, the droppings of a woolly rhinoceros or the call of the giant deer? If not, this unique book would be the essential guide to have with you for quick, on-the-spot reference. For anyone fascinated by long-extinct creatures, this is a guide to how twelve Ice-Age animals would have lived, eaten and hunted. Vivid illustrations are accompanied by notes on size, body shape fur, food, behaviour and the sort of habitat in which you might have found each animal. Additional notes and illustrations indicate 'signs' to look out for when tracking each animal such as dung and tracks. And there are even warnings to prepare would-be trackers for the dangers that some ice-age animals presented.
Contains expert information on the natural history and characteristics of mammoths, telling where and how they lived, what they ate and why they died. Includes information on the latest research and fossil discoveries around the world.
Dinosaur memories are hard to forget! Most who revel in the current renaissance in dinosaur science, art, fiction and movies, or who enjoy the other appealing prehistoric animals so well popularized by the media have fond recollections of what it was like “growing up dinosaur.” Together with wife Diane and his father Allen G. Debus, Allen A. Debus unveils treasured dinosaur memories and stories about prehistoric animals and paleo-people, spanning from the cold-blooded dinosaur ‘era,’ to the modern wave dinosaur renaissance. Beginning with fondly recalled roadtrips to prehistoric places where T. rex still reigns, Dinosaur Memories ventures into the realm of thunder beasts and explores the rich ‘pop-cultural’ appeal of prehistoric animals. If you’ve ever collected dinosaurs, enjoyed fossil hunting or visits to see the old bones in museums, Dinosaur Memories is a book you’ll still recall years from now! Thirty-five chapters are grouped into seven sections titled, “Roads Into Prehistory,” “Thunder Beasts,” “Dinosaur Worlds,” “Fantasy Dinosaurs,” “Fossil Trickery,” “Paleo-people,” and “Rustlin’ up Dinos.”