The Rise of Mammals

The Rise of Mammals PDF Author: Matthew Rake
Publisher: Hungry Tomato ®
ISBN: 1467791199
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description
Team up with Ackerley the Acanthostega to travel back 66 million years to the Tertiary and Quaternary periods of prehistoric Earth, when mammals came to dominate the planet. Many of them are now extinct—but not the most powerful of all: humans! Discover the facts, fossils, and fun science of behind the intriguing mammals of this time period, including killer pigs, the largest land mammal ever, and the earliest humans. The fourth part of the exciting story of life on Earth unfolds through amazing lifelike illustrations and fascinating diagrams, all narrated by a friendly prehistoric guide.

The Rise of Mammals

The Rise of Mammals PDF Author: Matthew Rake
Publisher: Hungry Tomato ®
ISBN: 1467791199
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 36

Get Book Here

Book Description
Team up with Ackerley the Acanthostega to travel back 66 million years to the Tertiary and Quaternary periods of prehistoric Earth, when mammals came to dominate the planet. Many of them are now extinct—but not the most powerful of all: humans! Discover the facts, fossils, and fun science of behind the intriguing mammals of this time period, including killer pigs, the largest land mammal ever, and the earliest humans. The fourth part of the exciting story of life on Earth unfolds through amazing lifelike illustrations and fascinating diagrams, all narrated by a friendly prehistoric guide.

The Rise and Reign of the Mammals

The Rise and Reign of the Mammals PDF Author: Steve Brusatte
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062951521
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 568

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Book Description
New from the author of the acclaimed bestseller The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs (“A masterpiece of science writing.” —Washington Post) and “one of the stars of modern paleontology” (National Geographic), a sweeping and revelatory history of mammals, illuminating the lost story of the extraordinary family tree that led to us. National Bestseller • Top 10 Nonfiction of 2022: Kirkus • Best Science Books of 2022: The Times UK We humans are the inheritors of a dynasty that has reigned over the planet for nearly 66 million years, through fiery cataclysm and ice ages: the mammals. Our lineage includes saber-toothed tigers, woolly mammoths, armadillos the size of a car, cave bears three times the weight of a grizzly, clever scurriers that outlasted Tyrannosaurus rex, and even other types of humans, like Neanderthals. Indeed humankind and many of the beloved fellow mammals we share the planet with today—lions, whales, dogs—represent only the few survivors of a sprawling and astonishing family tree that has been pruned by time and mass extinctions. How did we get here? In his acclaimed bestseller The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs—hailed as “the ultimate dinosaur biography” by Scientific American—American paleontologist Steve Brusatte enchanted readers with his definitive history of the dinosaurs. Now, picking up the narrative in the ashes of the extinction event that doomed T-rex and its kind, Brusatte explores the remarkable story of the family of animals that inherited the Earth—mammals— and brilliantly reveals that their story is every bit as fascinating and complex as that of the dinosaurs. Beginning with the earliest days of our lineage some 325 million years ago, Brusatte charts how mammals survived the asteroid that claimed the dinosaurs and made the world their own, becoming the astonishingly diverse range of animals that dominate today’s Earth. Brusatte also brings alive the lost worlds mammals inhabited through time, from ice ages to volcanic catastrophes. Entwined in this story is the detective work he and other scientists have done to piece together our understanding using fossil clues and cutting-edge technology. A sterling example of scientific storytelling by one of our finest young researchers, The Rise and Reign of the Mammals illustrates how this incredible history laid the foundation for today’s world, for us, and our future.

Extinction and Radiation

Extinction and Radiation PDF Author: J. David Archibald
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 0801898056
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 121

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Book Description
This study identifies the fall of dinosaurs as the factor that allowed mammals to evolve into the dominant tetrapod form. It refutes the single-cause impact theory for dinosaur extinction and demonstrates that multiple factors--massive volcanic eruptions, loss of shallow seas, and extraterrestrial impact--likely led to their demise. While their avian relatives ultimately survived and thrived, terrestrial dinosaurs did not. Taking their place as the dominant land and sea tetrapods were mammals, whose radiation was explosive following nonavian dinosaur extinction. The author argues that because of dinosaurs, Mesozoic mammals changed relatively slowly for 145 million years compared to the prodigious Cenozoic radiation that followed. Finally out from under the shadow of the giant reptiles, Cenozoic mammals evolved into the forms we recognize today in a mere ten million years after dinosaur extinction.

Beasts Before Us

Beasts Before Us PDF Author: Elsa Panciroli
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472983971
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
For most of us, the story of mammal evolution starts after the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs, but over the last 20 years scientists have uncovered new fossils and used new technologies that have upended this story. In Beasts Before Us, palaeontologist Elsa Panciroli charts the emergence of the mammal lineage, Synapsida, beginning at their murky split from the reptiles in the Carboniferous period, over three-hundred million years ago. They made the world theirs long before the rise of dinosaurs. Travelling forward into the Permian and then Triassic periods, we learn how our ancient mammal ancestors evolved from large hairy beasts with accelerating metabolisms to exploit miniaturisation, which was key to unlocking the traits that define mammals as we now know them. Elsa criss-crosses the globe to explore the sites where discoveries are being made and meet the people who make them. In Scotland, she traverses the desert dunes of prehistoric Moray, where quarry workers unearthed the footprints of Permian creatures from before the time of dinosaurs. In South Africa, she introduces us to animals, once called 'mammal-like reptiles', that gave scientists the first hints that our furry kin evolved from a lineage of egg-laying burrowers. In China, new, complete fossilised skeletons reveal mammals that were gliders, shovel-pawed Jurassic moles, and flat-tailed swimmers. This book radically reframes the narrative of our mammalian ancestors and provides a counterpoint to the stereotypes of mighty dinosaur overlords and cowering little mammals. It turns out the earliest mammals weren't just precursors, they were pioneers.

The Rise of Mammals

The Rise of Mammals PDF Author: Thom Holmes
Publisher: Chelsea House Pub
ISBN: 9780816059638
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 163

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Book Description
Highlights fundamental principles of scientific inquiry while detailing the early evolution of birds and mammals.

The Princeton Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals

The Princeton Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals PDF Author: Donald R. Prothero
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691156824
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
The ultimate illustrated guide to the lost world of prehistoric mammals After the mass extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, mammals became the dominant terrestrial life form on our planet. Roaming the earth were spectacular beasts such as saber-toothed cats, giant mastodonts, immense ground sloths, and gigantic giraffe-like rhinoceroses. Here is the ultimate illustrated field guide to the lost world of these weird and wonderful prehistoric creatures. A woolly mammoth probably won't come thundering through your vegetable garden any time soon. But if one did, this would be the book to keep on your windowsill next to the binoculars. It covers all the main groups of fossil mammals, discussing taxonomy and evolutionary history, and providing concise accounts of the better-known genera and species as well as an up-to-date family tree for each group. No other book presents such a wealth of new information about these animals—what they looked like, how they behaved, and how they were interrelated. In addition, this unique guide is stunningly illustrated throughout with full-color reconstructions of these beasts—many never before depicted—along with photographs of amazing fossils from around the world. Provides an up-to-date guidebook to hundreds of extinct species, from saber-toothed cats to giant mammoths Features a wealth of color illustrations, including new reconstructions of many animals never before depicted Demonstrates evolution in action—such as how whales evolved from hoofed mammals and how giraffes evolved from creatures with short necks Explains how mass extinctions and climate change affected mammals, including why some mammals grew so huge

The Rise of Marine Mammals

The Rise of Marine Mammals PDF Author: Annalisa Berta
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 142142326X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 213

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Book Description
A compelling look at the evolutionary history of marine mammals over the past 50 million years. Marine mammals have long captured the attention of humans. Ancient peoples etched seals and dolphins on the walls of Paleolithic caves; today, engineers develop microprocessors to track these denizens of the deep. This groundbreaking book from highly respected marine mammal paleontologist Annalisa Berta delves into the story of the extraordinary adaptations that gave the world these amazing animals. The Rise of Marine Mammals reveals remarkable fossil record discoveries that shed light on the origins, relationships, and diversification of marine mammals. Focusing on evolution and paleobiology, Berta provides an overview of marine mammal species diversity, enhanced with gorgeous life restorations by Carl Buell, Robert Boessenecker, William Stout, and Ray Troll and extensive line drawings by graphics editor James L. Sumich. The book also considers ongoing conservation challenges, demonstrating how the fossil record of adaptation in response to past environmental shifts may illuminate the way that marine mammals respond to global climate change. This invaluable evolutionary framework is essential for helping us understand how best to protect and conserve today’s polar bears, whales, dolphins, seals, and fellow warm-blooded ocean dwellers. The Rise of Marine Mammals also describes exciting breakthroughs that rely on new techniques of study, including 3-D imaging, and molecular, finite element, and morphometric analyses, which have enhanced scientists’ understanding of everything from the anatomy of fetal whales to the genes behind limb loss in cetaceans. Mammalogists, paleontologists, and marine scientists will find Berta’s insights absorbing, while developmental and molecular biologists, geneticists, and ecologists exploring integrative research approaches will benefit from her fresh perspective.

Out of the Blue

Out of the Blue PDF Author: Elizabeth Shreeve
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN: 153622880X
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 33

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Book Description
Graceful, succinct prose and engaging illustrations trace the evolution of life on Earth out of the blue and back again. Clear and inviting nonfiction prose, vetted by scientists--together with lively illustrations and a time line--narrate how life on Earth emerged "out of the blue." It began in the vast, empty sea when Earth was young. Single-celled microbes too small to see held the promise of all life-forms to come. Those microbes survived billions of years in restless seas until they began to change, to convert sunlight into energy, to produce oxygen until one day--Gulp!--one cell swallowed another, and the race was on. Learn how and why creatures began to emerge from the deep--from the Cambrian Explosion to crustaceans, mollusks to fishes, giant reptiles to the rise of mammals--and how they compare to the animals we know today, in a lively and accessible outing into the prehistoric past that boils a complex subject down to its lyrical essence.

When Giant Mammals Thundered

When Giant Mammals Thundered PDF Author: Jean F. Blashfield
Publisher: Heinemann-Raintree Library
ISBN: 9781403476616
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 88

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Book Description
Imagine the blooming of the very first flower. Or a 3-ton sloth with massive claws standing as tall as a giraffe. And horses the size of small dogs that have toes instead of hooves. This is not a dream or vision of an artist or author. This is North America over 20 million years ago! Journey into the distant past with this book and witness the earliest events in North America; when mammals rose from the shadows of the extinct dinosaurs to fill the land, and the first flowers and grasslands bloomed.

Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea

Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea PDF Author: John A. Long
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801872235
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Diagrams showing skeletal features and tooth structure and a glossary of technical terms are included.