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Alfred Russell Wallace Contributions to the theory of Natural Selection, 1870, and Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace , 'On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties' (The evolution Debate, 1813-1870 Ser.)
By Charles Darwin, Alfred Wallace, David Knight. 2003
Wallace noticed on expeditions to the Amazon and the Malay archipelego that mammals in Southeast Asia are more advanced than…
their Australian cousins. His suggestion was that the two continents had split before the better adapted mammals had evolved in Asia. The isolated Australian marsupials were able to thrive, whilst those in Asia were driven to extinction by competition from more advanced mammals. This led to his theory of natural selection, which he presented to the Linnean Society in 1858 with Charles Darwin. This volume reprints those papers presented to the Linnean Society.Ocean Life in the Time of Dinosaurs
By Peggy Vincent, Nathalie Bardet, Alexandra Houssaye, Stéphane Jouve. 2023
A richly illustrated introduction to the spectacular reptiles that swam the oceans when dinosaurs roamed the landDuring the Mesozoic era,…
252 to 66 million years ago, dinosaurs ruled the land, but the ocean deeps were roiling with equally spectacular reptiles—including giant predators. This richly illustrated, authoritative, and accessible book introduces readers to the world of these fascinating marine animals, whose predecessors returned to the seas a few million years after the first vertebrates emerged from the water. As we meet ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, and many others, we learn about the astonishing anatomical, physiological, and behavioral adaptations that enabled these reptiles to become ocean dwellers again. We also learn about their living descendants, including sea turtles and sea snakes. Featuring stunning artwork depicting these prehistoric ocean creatures and photographs of their fossil remains, this book invites readers to discover the enthralling past of marine reptiles in all their extraordinary diversity.Land of Hunters: Earth's Most Fearsome Predators
By Clive Gifford. 2023
Explore seas, swamps, deserts and mountains, from the earliest life on Earth to our present day, and get up close…
to our planet's all-time deadliest predators.Join the hunt with Velociraptor, defend your prey with mighty Smilodon, see how you measure up to the biggest shark of all time and take to the skies with some of the world's most incredible birds of prey.A stunning central gatefold opens to reveal a timeline of life on Earth and the size of these incredible hunters.After the Dinosaurs: The Age of Mammals (Life Of The Past Ser.)
By Donald R. Prothero. 2006
A fascinating study of the thousands of new animal species that walked in the footsteps of the dinosaurs—and the climate…
changes that brought them forth. The fascinating group of animals called dinosaurs became extinct some 65 million years ago (except for their feathered descendants). In their place evolved an enormous variety of land creatures, especially mammals, which in their way were every bit as remarkable as their Mesozoic cousins. The Age of Mammals, the Cenozoic Era, has never had its Jurassic Park, but it was an amazing time in earth&’s history, populated by a wonderful assortment of bizarre animals. The rapid evolution of thousands of species of mammals brought forth many incredible creatures―including our own ancestors. Their story is part of a larger story of new life emerging from the greenhouse conditions of the Mesozoic, warming up dramatically about 55 million years ago, and then cooling rapidly so that 33 million years ago the glacial ice returned. The earth&’s vegetation went through equally dramatic changes, from tropical jungles in Montana and forests at the poles. Life in the sea underwent striking evolution reflecting global climate change, including the emergence of such creatures as giant sharks, seals, sea lions, dolphins, and whales. Engaging and insightful, After the Dinosaurs is a book for everyone who has an abiding fascination with the remarkable life of the past.Ardipithecus kadabba: Late Miocene Evidence from the Middle Awash, Ethiopia (The Middle Awash Series)
By Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Giday Woldegabriel. 2023
The second volume in a series dedicated to fossil discoveries made in the Afar region of Ethiopia, this work contains…
the definitive description of the geological context and paleoenvironment of the early hominid Ardipithecus kadabba. This research by an international team describes Middle Awash late Miocene faunal assemblages recovered from sediments firmly dated to between 5.2 and 5.8 million years ago. Compared to other assemblages of similar age, the Middle Awash record is unparalleled in taxonomic diversity, composed of 2,760 specimens representing at least sixty five mammalian genera. This comprehensive evaluation of the vertebrates from the end of the Miocene in Africa provides detailed morphological and taxonomic descriptions of dozens of taxa, including species new to science. It also incorporates results from analyses of paleoenvironment, paleobiogeography, biochronology, and faunal turnover around the Pliocene-Miocene boundary, opening a new window on the evolution of mammals, African fauna, and its environments.The Little Book of Palaeontology: The Pocket Guide to Our Fossilized Past
By Rasha Barrage. 2023
If you want to know your ichthyosaur from your iguanodon, and your belemnites from your brachiopods, strap in for this…
whirlwind tour of the highlights of palaeontology Life as we know it now has a long history, buried beneath the ground. Palaeontology is the science of fossilized animals and plants, using discoveries of ancient lifeforms to uncover secrets of the past. From giant dinosaurs, to ammonites, to the first ever humans, explore the greatest findings in palaeontology in this pocket-sized introduction. The Little Book of Palaeontology includes:- The key palaeontological discoveries over the past 400 years, including the dinosaur found complete with intricate scales, and the largest fossil ever uncovered- Profiles of influential palaeontologists such as Jack Horner, Dong Zhiming and Mary Anning- What we have learnt about the lives of ancient creatures and how they became extinct- The big questions about the prehistoric world that palaeontologists are trying to answer todayThis illuminating little book will introduce you to the key thinkers, themes and theories you need to know to understand how life evolved. Look through this window to the past and learn about our prehistoric ancestors and the creatures of a bygone age.Islands in Deep Time: Ancient Landscapes Lost and Found
By Markes E. Johnson. 2023
Hilltops surrounded by farmland in southern Wisconsin turn out to be the eroded remnants of an ancient archipelago. An island…
in the Yellow Sea where Korean tourists flock is the peak of a flooded mountain rising from a drowned continental shelf. From a mountaintop shrine to Genghis Khan in Inner Mongolia, the silhouette of a Silurian seascape can be spotted. On the shores of Hudson Bay, where polar bears patrol the Arctic tundra, a close look unveils what was a tropical coastline encrusted with corals nearly 450 million years ago.The geologist Markes E. Johnson invites readers on a journey through deep time to find the traces of ancient islands. He visits a dozen sites around the globe, looking above and below today’s waterlines to uncover how landscapes of the past are preserved in the present. Going back 500 million years to the Cambrian through the Pleistocene 125,000 years ago, this book reconstructs how “paleoislands” appeared under different climatic conditions and environmental constraints. Finding vestiges of prehistoric ecologies, Johnson emphasizes the complexity of island ecosystems and the importance of preserving these significant sites.Inviting and accessible, this book is a travelogue that takes readers through time as well as space. Islands in Deep Time shares the adventure of exploring striking locations across geologic eras and issues a passionate call for their conservation.Dinosaur Behavior: An Illustrated Guide
By Michael J. Benton. 2023
A stunningly illustrated guide to these extraordinary creatures from a world-renowned paleontologistPaleobiology has advanced from a speculative subject to a…
cutting-edge science. Today, researchers are applying the latest forensic technologies to the fossil record, revealing startling new insights into the lives of dinosaurs. This illustrated guide explores the behavior, evolution, physiology, and extinction of dinosaurs, taking readers inside the mysterious world of these marvelous animals. With specially commissioned illustrations by Bob Nicholls, Dinosaur Behavior explains how the dinosaurs lived and courted, fought and fed, signaled and interacted with each other, and much more.Features a wealth of breathtaking illustrations throughoutOffers new perspectives on the prehistoric world inhabited by dinosaursSheds light on how dinosaurs actually looked, how they moved, and how fast they ranExplains the feeding habits of carnivores, herbivores, scavengers, and solitary huntersDiscusses sight, hearing, smell, spatial orientation, and intelligenceBrings to life the social behavior of dinosaurs, from mating and parenting to herd dynamics and migrationTakes readers behind the scenes of the latest, most thrilling discoveriesBeasts of Eden: walking whales, dawn horses, and other enigmas of mammal evolution
By David Rains Wallace. 2004
Naturalist examines ancient mammal fossils and the paleontological battles about evolution that followed their discoveries. Discusses such scientists as Georges…
Cuvier, Richard Owen, Edward D. Cope, George Gaylord Simpson, and Stephen Jay Gould and describes their ideas and controversies. 2004The ape in the tree: an intellectual and natural history of Proconsul
By Alan Walker. 2005
Anthropologists describe their adventures in East Africa hunting for the fossils of Proconsul, the last common ancestor between apes and…
humans. Discusses the original Proconsul skeleton discovered by Mary Leakey. Hypothesizes about the origins and life histories of various species of the ancient ape. 2005In The Last Days of the Dinosaurs, Riley Black walks readers through what happened in the days, the years, the…
centuries, and the million years after the impact, tracking the sweeping disruptions that overtook this one spot, and imagining what might have been happening elsewhere on the globe. Life’s losses were sharp and deeply-felt, but the hope carried by the beings that survived sets the stage for the world as we know it now.Picture yourself in the Cretaceous period. It’s a sunny afternoon in the Hell Creek of ancient Montana 66 million years ago. A Triceratops horridus ambles along the edge of the forest. In a matter of hours, everything here will be wiped away. Lush verdure will be replaced with fire. Tyrannosaurus rex will be toppled from their throne, along with every other species of non-avian dinosaur no matter their size, diet, or disposition. They just don’t know it yet.The cause of this disaster was identified decades ago. An asteroid some seven miles across slammed into the Earth, leaving a geologic wound over 50 miles in diameter. In the terrible mass extinction that followed, more than half of known species vanished seemingly overnight. But this worst single day in the history of life on Earth was as critical for us as it was for the dinosaurs, as it allowed for evolutionary opportunities that were closed for the previous 100 million years.From Stardust to First Cells: The Origin and Evolution of Early Life
By Sankar Chatterjee. 2023
This book presents a groundbreaking hypothesis to answer one of the greatest scientific mysteries: How did life begin? Like a…
detective piecing together seemingly disparate bits of evidence, Dr. Sankar Chatterjee combines the most recent discoveries in cosmology, geology, chemistry, information systems, and biology, weaving a vast tapestry from the threads of current research. Dr. Chatterjee convincingly argues that the odyssey of life first began when the fundamental building blocks were brought to Earth by meteorites. These cosmic compounds concentrated and simmered like a soup in hydrothermal crater-caldrons. Through a system of subterranean vent networks, a biosynthetic-rich variety of organic compounds mixed and matched into a recipe of rich biomolecules guided by prebiotic information systems. Through symbiosis, these complex biopolymers gradually assemble into membrane-bound protocells. At each stage of this evolutionary progression, through natural selection, they refined with increasing stability and complexity, ultimately leading to the emergence of the first cells about four billion years ago. In this book, Dr. Chatterjee tells this story in rigorous detail in language that is both accessible and engaging.After the dinosaurs: mammoths and fossil mammals (I Can Read Bks.)
By Charlotte Lewis Brown. 2006
Dinosaur tracks (Let's-read-and-find-out Science 2 Ser.)
By Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld. 2007
Explains that fossils of dinosaur footprints found today are the result of tracks made and preserved millions of years ago.…
Includes an activity for making your own fossil handprints or footprints. For grades 2-4. 2007The discovery and mystery of a dinosaur named Jane (Prime)
By Judith Williams. 2008
Describes the hard work and excitement of the Illinois Burpee Museum employees, from hunting for fossils in the Montana badlands…
in 2001 to the opening of the dinosaur exhibit in 2005 that features their discovery, a young Tyrannosaurus rex. For grades 3-6. 2008Dinosaurs of Darkness: In Search of the Lost Polar World (Life of the Past)
By Thomas H. Rich, Patricia Vickers-Rich. 2020
&“A valuable volume detailing an underexplored region of the world of dinosaurs . . . essential reading for any dino-devotee.&” —ForeWordDinosaurs of Darkness…
opens a doorway to a fascinating former world, between 100 million and 120 million years ago, when Australia was far south of its present location and joined to Antarctica. Dinosaurs lived in this polar region. How were the polar dinosaurs discovered? What do we now know about them? Thomas H. Rich and Patricia Vickers-Rich, who have played crucial roles in their discovery, describe how they and others collected the fossils indispensable to our knowledge of this realm and how painstaking laboratory work and analyses continue to unlock the secrets of the polar dinosaurs. This scientific adventure makes for a fascinating story: it begins with one destination in mind and ends at another, arrived at by a most roundabout route, down byways and back from dead ends. Dinosaurs of Darkness is a personal, absorbing account of the way scientific research is actually conducted and how hard—and rewarding—it is to mine the knowledge of this remarkable life of the past. The award-winning first edition has now been thoroughly updated with the latest discoveries and interpretations, along with over 100 new photographs and charts, many in color.Dinosaur eggs discovered!: unscrambling the clues (Discovery!)
By Lowell Dingus. 2008
Three scientists discuss their 1977 discovery in Argentina of dinosaur eggs, embryos, and fossilized bones. They explain their methods for…
identifying which dinosaurs laid the eggs and present evidence of what conditions killed the embryos and preserved the nesting grounds. For grades 6-9 and older readers. 2008Danger in the desert: true adventures of a dinosaur hunter (Sterling Point Bks.)
By Roger Cohen. 2008
Traces the life and career of American paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews (1884-1960), whose 1922 expedition discovered an enormous dinosaur fossil…
trove in the Flaming Cliffs of Mongolia's Gobi Desert. Recounts Andrews's death-defying escapes from dangerous animals, terrain, and people while on the pursuit of scientific artifacts. For grades 6-9. 2008How to build a dinosaur: extinction doesn't have to be forever
By James Gorman, John R. Horner. 2009
Paleontologist Horner and science editor Gorman explore the feasibility of re-creating dinosaurs without prehistoric DNA by manipulating genetic codes found…
in the embryos of modern birds, descendants of dinosaurs. Discusses principles of evolutionary developmental biology, scientific techniques, and ethical issues. 2009