Book Description
^IGenetics, Paleontology, and Macroevolution ^R describes the patterns and processes that lead to evolutionary changes of large magnitude. It outlines a strategy for the study of large-scale evolutionary processes and summarizes critically the work that has been done. The author integrates all evolutionary processes, from those on the molecular level to large-scale historical approaches taken by paleontologists, and relates systematics, developmental biology, population genetics, and paleontology.^LUnlike any other book on the subject of evolution, this treatise argues many points that form the basis of lively and unresolved discussions. Primarily intended for a graduate level course, this book will stimulate the thoughts of everyone interested in evolutionary biology and paleontology.Download Description
An engaging area of biology for more than a century, the study of macroevolution continues to offer profound insight into our understanding of the tempo of evolution and of the evolution of biological diversity. What regulates biological diversity and its historical development? Can it be explained by natural selection alone? Has geologic history regulated the tempo of diversification? This expanded and updated second edition offers a comprehensive look at macroevolution and its underpinnings, with a primary emphasis on animal evolution. From a Neodarwinian point of view, it integrates evolutionary processes at all levels to explain the diversity of animal life. It examines a wide range of topics including genetics and speciation, development and evolution, the constructional and functional aspects of form, fossil lineages, and systematics, and it takes a hard look at the Cambrian explosion. It delves into the age of molecular science, and integrates important recent contributions made to our understanding of evolution. Researchers and graduate students will find this insightfulbook a most comprehensive and up-to-date examination of macroevolution. ... Read more

Book Description

This volume was cited as Best Seller in Geology according to Library Journal Academic Newswire, November 2006!

Book Description
"The focus is the most severe mass extinction known in earth's history….The science on which the book is based is up-to-date, thorough, and balanced. Highly recommended."—Choice

Today it is common knowledge that the dinosaurs were wiped out by a meteorite impact 65 million years ago that killed half of all species then living. Far less known is a much greater catastrophe that took place at the end of the Permian period 251 million years ago: ninety percent of life was destroyed, including saber-toothed reptiles and their rhinoceros-sized prey on land, as well as vast numbers of fish and other species in the sea.

This book documents not only what happened during this gigantic mass extinction but also the recent rekindling of the idea of catastrophism. Was the end-Permian event caused by the impact of a huge meteorite or comet, or by prolonged volcanic eruption in Siberia? The evidence has been accumulating through the 1990s and into the new millennium, and Michael Benton gives his verdict at the end of the volume.

From field camps in Greenland and Russia to the laboratory bench, When Life Nearly Died involves geologists, paleontologists, environmental modelers, geochemists, astronomers, and experts on biodiversity and conservation. Their working methods are vividly described and explained, and the current disputes are revealed. The implications of our understanding of crises in the past for the current biodiversity crisis are also presented in detail. 46 illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Like a detective story
together with the author we sift through the sientific evidence.
There is no simple solution, but the questionmarks are clear answers for themselves.

Specialized vocabulary
The author hangs on to too much specialized knowledge and vocabulary for this to be interesting enough for general readers.

I was looking forward to a being led by an expert into a new area of knowledge related to geologic timescales. But I couldn't find much of the excitement that you often find in equivalent popularized science discussions by experts in astronomy or physics for example.

I think the potential is there, but this was not the author for it. The author however is clearly capable, competent, well-informed.

If you remember the times when the neighbor kid went on for hours about his rock collection and you liked it, this book is for you.

Meanwhile, I'm still looking for the author who will open the door for me to geology and other like topics.

Your guide to the Permian extinction
This is a masterfully written book on a little-known topic, the Permian "event" that caused the extinction of perhaps 90% of terrestrial and marine metazoa 251 million years ago. And what was that "event"? The author, Michael J. Benton, comes down on the side of the "Siberian Traps" a long episode of volcanism in what is now Siberia. I was sort of cheering for the asteroid, but we must go where the evidence leads, and it leads toward the traps. This is the best and most comprehensive book I have encountered on the subject of the Permian extinction. Much of the research the author cites is very recent and the work is still being conducted. Stay tuned.

Excellent Book on Evolution, Plate Tectonics, Catastrophic Events and Scientific History
There's nothing I can really say about this book which hasn't been more elequently stated elsewhere.Suffice it to say that the reader will become familiar with many of the early scientists which formulated current theory and recent advances in theories once thought absurd but are now considered pro forma, such as plate tectonics and catastrophism.While the title does imply unique focus on the Permian extinction (still its primary focus), it actually deals with the 5 largest extinction events.The book is not technical in nature at all, and should appeal to anyone who has a lay interest in the Permian period and similar epochs.

A Masterpiece
The best book yet written on the Permian extinction, "When Life Nearly Died" explores all of the possible mechanisms, and then provides the only quantifiable theory ever put forward. Benton's description and data on a rapid global warming followed by an enormous polar methane release of multi-billion tonnage is actually supported by some math that looks sound.

The meteor theory of the Permian extinction is unequivocally dismantled and others like continental drift are given deft handling.The relevance of the Permian extinction is startling to us now.If we warm the planet too much more, a huge gaseous release could erupt from beneath the oceans and wipe out 90% of all life. ... Read more

Book Description
This addition to the successful series of Elsevier wall charts will be especially welcomed by students and palaeontologists needing an authoritative overview of invertebrate fossils. The attractive and logical presentation of information makes the chart an excellent teaching and study aid, as well as a colourful wall decoration.

Superbly detailed line drawings are a valuable feature of the chart. The most important fossil invertebrate phyla are illustrated and the distinguishing features of 700 major genera are clearly shown for ease of identification. Phyla represented in the chart include: Porifera (sponges), Cnidaria (jellyfishes, corals), Bryozoa, Brachiopoda, Mollusca (snails, clams, ammonites), Arthropoda (insects, crustaceans) and Echinodermata (starfishes, urchins).

The stratigraphical distributions of the phyla become immediately clear from the organisation of the chart. The brightly coloured age-ranges of the phyla and their subdivisions are printed over the stratigraphic periods, which form horizontal bands spanning the chart from left to right. The taxonomy follows the most current classification.

In addition to students of palaeontology and academics requiring a handy visual overview of the subject, this chart will be much in demand by natural history museums, oil companies, evolutionary biologists and amateur collectors. ... Read more

Amazon.com
In Gorgon, geologist Peter Ward turns his attention reluctantly away from the asteroid collision that killed all the dinosaurs and instead focuses on a much older extinction event. As it turns out, the Permian extinction of 250 million years ago dwarfs the dino's 65-million-year-old Cretaceous-Tertiary armageddon. Ward's book is not a dry accounting of the fossil discoveries leading to this conclusion, but rather an intimate, first-person account of some of his triumphs and disappointments as a scientist. He draws a nice parallel between the Permian extinction and his own rather abrupt in research focus, revealing the agonizing steps he had to take to educate himself about a set of prehistoric creatures about which he knew almost nothing. These were the Gorgons, carnivorous reptiles whose ecological dominance preceded that of the more pop-culture-ready dinosaurs.

They would have had huge heads with very large, saberlike teeth, large lizard eyes, no visible ears, and perhaps a mixture of reptilian scales and tufts of mammalian hair.... The Gorgons ruled a world of animals that were but one short evolutionary step away from being mammals.

In Gorgon, Ward examines the strange fate of this little known prehistoric animal and its contemporaries, the ancestors of the turtle, the crocodile, the lizard, and eventually dinosaurs. He offers provocative theories on these mass extinctions and confronts the startling implications they hold for us. Are we vulnerable to a similar catastrophe? Are we nearing the end of human domination in the earth’s cycle of destruction and rebirth? Gorgon is also a thrilling travelogue of Ward’s long, remarkable journey of discovery and a real-life adventure deep into Earth’s history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

Now I want to be a geologist
I ordered this book used but it came in perfect condition. I had been reading a library copy but it was two weeks overdue. This book has captured my intrest like no other non-fiction book ever has. I want to be a geologist or a paleontolgist now!

Monsters of the Permian
By now, almost everyone must be familiar with the discovery of the iridium concentrations at the K-T (Cretaceous-Tertiary) boundary, and the Chicxulub impact crater, first reported in 1981, that appears to exactly the right age and the right size to have terminated most of the life on Earth, sixty-five million years ago.The author of "Gorgon" began his career with field work on the proof of the quick and terrible extinction at the K-T boundary--the death knell of the dinosaurs.

However, Dr. Ward found himself more and more intrigued by an even great extinction event that occurred 250 million years ago at the boundary of the Permian and the Triassic (P/T).Was it caused by another comet or meteor strike?Did the elimination of 95 % of Earth's marine life and 70% of all land species proceed as quickly as at the K-T termination, or did it take place in pulses over a much longer period of time?

According to the author (and others), there is no credible, unambiguous evidence for an impact as is the case for the K-T extinction.What is more likely is that massive greenhouse gas emissions reduced oxygen availability, ultimately resulting in the collapse of marine ecosystems, and most of the land-based systems as well.This was possibly caused by volcanic eruptions on the supercontinent of Pangea, in what is now Siberia (the Siberian Traps).

In the final chapter of his book, "Resolution," the author puts forth two interesting observation-based theories:(1) the abundance of oxidized, reddish rock in the Triassic beds above the P/T boundary (about 50 million years worth) implies "...the oxygen in our atmosphere plunged to very low levels as it became tied up in the rocks...so low, in fact, that any poor human...would very quickly suffer from altitude sickness, even at sea level."; (2) on land at least, the near extinction of animals that didn't use oxygen efficiently, including most but not all of the mammal-like reptiles that dominated the Permian."Heat [greenhouse effect] and asphyxiation [were] the two agents of the long mysterious mass extinction."

Except for the last chapter, "Gorgon" is light on theory and heavy on field work and proof-of-concept.Here is how geologists, paleontologists, and other scientists interact in the field, braving the heat of South Africa's Karoo Desert, the omnipresent ticks, flies, and puff adders, and the digestive challenges of bad water and mystery-meat pizza.Dr. Ward takes his readers not only on a trip through the lost world of the Permian, but also through an African culture that seems to be on the brink of chaos.He is a sensitive and at times acerbic observer of both present and deep past."Gorgon" is a compelling, thoroughly readable story.

"Why do we do what we do?"
I used to do a bit of Fossil Hunting about 30 years ago and read a fair bit about fossils and the Fossil Record. Most of what I did was searching for Belemnites,shark teeth,and hopefully some bones in Cretaceous marl and an adjacent stream bed in New Jersey.At that time there were great discussions going on as to what caused the great extinction of the huge creatures that roamed the earth.The Cretaceous Period was 60-120 million years ago. I can't recall any discussions about creatures the size of lions roaming around 250 million years ago called Gorgons;and a possible extinction at the end of the Permian Period. So,when I saw this book ,I figured it would make interesting reading.
As other reviewers have already stated,the book is pretty short on data and provides very little proof. However,it is well worth reading for anyone who has ever searched for fossils and all the mud,muck,heat,cold,wet and just plain hard dirty work that is involved. However,the rewards come when your hunches or bull work pay off;and you find something good.What a thrill it is, when you unearth a fossil and realize that this thing lived over 100 million years ago and has been waiting there for you to find.
I found this book to be a great read and shows how people can devote years of their lives pursuing an interest or obsession.
It is well written and the author reveals himself and his associates ;and I think that is more what one should look for in this book ; rather than the answer;because the search will continue and the theories will be put forward and debated as long as there are people with the desire to find those answers.Just imagine,if every question could be answered,what a dull world it would be.The excitement of the journey often surpasses the destination.

Eye-opening
As a high school student who doesn't particularly care about much anything and who reads fantasy books right and left-- i was skeptical about this book. i found it on the bargain shelf and thought "what the hell?". Just having finished Seabiscuit, i was on a bit of a roll with the whole non0fiction genre. i was caught completely unprepared by this book; it was nothing i expected. instead of some dry account about an extinction long ago, i found a book that read like a novel. it had a point. it had pitfalls and triumphs. i found i couldn't put it down. would he find the cause of the extinction? would he survive the desert climate and roiling political situations? i got sucked into his real-life story and read it during english, calculus, history, biology, etc. you catch the drift. the sedimentary drift that is. despite it's mostly personal accounts, the book possesses surprisingly good insights and background about both the extinction and paleontology in general.
if i had to sum it up in one word: fascinating. definitely worth the wasted school periods...

Worth the Effort
The author was a bit self indulgent in his personal observations (I could do without the mudwrestling) but there is some good stuff here too.I learned something about the Permian extinction, the geology of South Africa, and some of the techniques in the modern paleontologist's toolbox.I learned more than I needed to about the life of this particular paleontologist in the field, but so be it.An easy and informative read. ... Read more

Book Description

Winner of the Colbert Award for the best adult book about dinosaurs

Louis Jacobs reopened paleontologists' eyes to the African continent when he uncovered a major fossil site in the hills of Malawi in the 1980s. During five digging seasons in Malawi and three in Cameroon, Jacobs found the remains of two meat-eating theropods, two herbivorous sauropods, an odd crocodile about the size of a Chihuahua, and rare early mammals. Now in paperback, Quest for the African Dinosaurs includes Jacobs' new introduction, which discusses recent developments in paleontological research in Africa.

Customer Reviews (2)

The Crocodile's Nose??
A enterprising editor might have boosted sales of this fine book using a different title.Steve Gould's Panda's Thumbs and Flamingo's Smiles do well.Jacobs' depiction of his search for African dinosaur fossils deserves no less.Along with a fine account of his field work in Malawi and Cameroon, Jacobs' assessment of fossil composition and what it tells us about past life is illuminating.As it happens, the structure of a crocodile's nose tells us whether it lived on land or water.This seemingly dry fact relates to how our own skulls are organized, and why.Deftly woven into his story of seeking dinosaur fossils, tracing the movement of continents over the face of the globe and the status of Malawi's culture in today's world, are the threads of his research.Evolution's had a busy time of it, and Jacobs explains how to read the record of its workings.

Jabobs' travels and observations demolish the image of the austere scientist who cares only for his research and status within his guild.The title isn't "The Dinosaurs of Africa" -he's done that before.Here, he's relating his journey to make those finds, updating information on what he's found.The broader approach means learning of the travails experienced in locating the fossils, what it's like to work a dig, and how he and his team dealt with their host countries.He leaves a valid image of a broadly caring person, untrammeled by his own cultural heritage.Jacobs is adept at bringing the reader into his world.That world has a long time span, with unceasing change the only constant.He traverses millennia more easily than countries.Justly so - there're no border guards at century boundaries.

African dinosaur fossils are elusive in popular science writing.The notoriety given "the Bone Wars" in 19th Century North America have kept interest and funding largely curtailed to that region until recently.Jacobs was among the first to bring the African fossil picture into view.Although finds are being announced from that continent with increasing frequency, few of the scientists have produced a record as readable as Quest for the African dinosaurs.Nor has there come to light other examples of the follow-up in developing local expertise Jacobs has undertaken in Malawi.It's an inspiring story and one of interest far beyond fossil analysis.The final chapter, "The Good of Dinosaurs" demonstrates how a serious scientist can express awareness of his host country and act to improve desperate conditions, even if only marginally."One small step . . . "

As a reissue, this book requires an editor for more than just a title.Jacobs has a propensity for short, choppy sentences, or else some editor has betrayed him.As it stands, many of these random statements break up the idea he's conveying.Perhaps it's a trick to get the reader to review the prior material. Sometimes it works.Fortunately, it doesn't detract from Jacobs efforts to convey a picture of a shifting, changing Mesozoic world and its inhabitants.He covers ground [more than geographical] rarely addressed by others.He's a good read and a valuable human being.More of you should learn about him from this book.[stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Where's the dinos?
I was really excited to find this book had been rereleased, and grabbed it the minute I saw it. It has a good reputation, and I had liked Jacob's "Lone Star Dinosaurs".Unfortunately, only about half the book is actually about dinosaurs.

A person writing about dinosaurs may have a scientific duty to make the point that dinosaurs were not alone in their world and a moral obligation to discuss the indigenous population if they're describing a dig in a third world country.I can even sympathise with the fact that Jacobs found the giant crocodile and early mammals his expeditions found as fascinating as the dinosaurs but knew that he'd have less of an audience if he didn't push the dinosaurs.But he (or his publishers) should have bitten the bullet and been more honest with the book's title once these other considerations were given as much paper as they were.

That being said, a chapter about Malawisaurus is currently the best source for the general public about Titanosaurid sauropods.As for African dinosaurs in general, this and Phillipe Taquet's interesting "Dinosaur Impressions" are our choices at the moment unless and until we get a book about the turn-of-the-century German expeditions or - more likely - Paul Sereno's recent work.A good, up-to-date work on the dinosaurs of Africa has yet to be written. ... Read more

Book Description
Contributions to this volume detail paleontologic research inManonga Valley, and shed important light on the evolutionarydevelopment of eastern Africa. Chapters provide novel insights intothe taxonomy, paleobiology, ecology, and zoogeographic relationshipsof African faunas, as well as lay the foundation for futuregeological, paleontological, and paleoecological studies in thisimportant area. The book concludes with a discussion of the importanceof investigations on broader geographical sites, including the ManongaValley, for human evolution research. The text is supported by 143illustrations. ... Read more

Product Description
The Wild West provided the setting for some famous battles, but the gunfight at O.K. Corral doesn't hold a candle to the Bone Wars. Following the Civil War, the (Re-)United States turned its attention to the unexplored territories between the Mississippi and the Pacific. The railroads led the way, and to build them we blasted through mountains and leveled valleys and exposed rock that hadn't seen the light of day for millions of years. This is the story of Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, two scientists who found and fought for those bones, and the artist Charles R. Knight who almost single-handedly brought dinosaurs back to life for an awestruck public. Guest starring Chief Red Cloud and hundreds of his Indian Braves, the gun-totin' and gamblin' Professor John Bell Hatcher, colossal and stupefying Dinosauria of the New World, and featuring special appearances by The Cardiff Giant, P.T. Barnum, Buffalo Bill Cody, Ulysses S. Grant, Alexander Graham Bell, and a plentiful supporting cast of Rogues and Gallants from the Eastern Scientific Establishment and The Old West, the colorful supporting cast makes for a rich blend of history, adventure, science, and art. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Hoping for more
This is a mostly made up version of the famous "Bone Wars" between Marsh and Cope and would have been more interesting if they had stuck to the facts (see "The Gilded Dinosaur" by Mark Jaffe). More art work of the dinosaurs would have been a bonus. One of the few dinosaur books I've given away rather than kept.

Could have been much, much better
Ottaviani has good ideas and an interesting narrative sense, and his attempts to bring to popular notice via graphic novels some of the less well-known people in the recent history of science are certainly laudable, but his execution never seems to be up to his intentions. Here he recounts the history of the infamous "Bone Wars" of the late 19th century between rival American paleontologists Othniel Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope, which greatly entertained and greatly annoyed their colleagues (and sold lots of papers for James Gordon Bennett). The competition was virulent, with vituperative personal attacks, "salting" of scientific digs, bribery of workers, spying, and violations of Indian lands. Marsh, the first American professor of paleontology (at Yale), could be brilliant, but also was capable of dynamiting sites to keep other researchers from exploring them. Cope, probably the better scientist of the two, was also brash, melodramatic, and a bit paranoid. Together, the two men gave American paleontology a bad reputation elsewhere in the world that took several generations to undo. Ottaviani's story isn't nearly that clear, however. The book would have benefitted from a "dramatis personae" at the front, to give the reader a sporting chance at following things.

Fun book
this is longer than i expected(~165 pgs), but in a good way: perfect for a preteen to get into but not finish in 1 sitting. i love the sepia graphics but just wish there was a fling of color once in a while (its all sepia toned between the colorful covers). overall, very nice.

Believe It Or Not - The Bone Wars
In the graphic novel Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards, Jim Ottaviani and the folks at G.T. Labs take on E.D. Cope and O.C. Marsh and the Bone War.In the last third of the 1800's, geologists were exploring the West, and two of those geologists, Cope and Marsh, were looking for dinosaur bones.These rivals discovered and named many of the most famous dinosaurs while carrying on the most famous [sometimes violent] feud in geology.Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards is a fine book, but didn't impress me to the level that the earlier graphic novels Fallout and Suspended In Language did.I still highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in history, the old West, dinosaurs, and is willing to give the graphic novel format a try. ... Read more