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• Introduction
• Beginnings
• The end-Ordovician mass extinction
• The late Devonian mass extinction
• The end-Permian mass extinction
• The end-Triassic mass extinction
• The end-Cretaceous mass extinction
• The end-Pleistocene mass extinction
• The near future
• The last extinction.

"As new groundbreaking research suggests that climate change played a major role in the most extreme catastrophes in the planet's history, award-winning science journalist Peter Brannen takes us on a wild ride through the planet's five mass extinctions and, in the process, offers us a glimpse of our increasingly dangerous future."-- From publisher's website.
"A vivid tour of Earth's Big Five mass extinctions, the past worlds lost with each, and what they all can tell us about our not-too-distant future. Was it really an asteroid that killed the dinosaurs? Or carbon dioxide-driven climate change? In fact, scientists now suspect that climate change played a major role not only in the end of the age of dinosaurs, but also in each of the five most deadly mass extinctions in the history of the planet. Struck by the implications of this for our own future, Peter Brannen, along with some of the world's leading paleontologists, dives into deep time, exploring each of Earth's five dead ends, and in the process, offers us a glimpse of what's to come. Using the visible clues these extinctions have left behind in the fossil record, The Ends of the World takes us inside the "scenes of the crime," from South Africa's Karoo Desert to the New York Palisades, to tell the story of each extinction. Brannen examines the fossil record--which is rife with fantastic creatures like dragonflies the size of seagulls and guillotine-mouthed fish--and introduces us to the researchers on the frontlines who, using the forensic tools of modern science, are piecing together what really happened at the sites of Earth's past devastations. As our civilization continues to test the wherewithal of our climate, we need to figure out where the hard limits are before it's too late. Part road trip, part history, and part cautionary tale, The Ends of the World takes us on a tour of the ways that our planet has clawed itself back from the grave, allowing us to better understand our future by shining a light on our past."--Jacket.

• Altered State
• Under the Mountain
• An Accident of Geography
• Clam Broth and Beer
• The Floating World
• Spiking Out
• Before the Storm
• Faults
• Shaken
• Stunned
• The Barnacle Line
• Rebuilding
• Deep Thinking
• Acceptance
• Epilogue.

On March 27, 1964, at 5-36 p.m., the biggest earthquake ever recorded in North America--and the second biggest ever in the world, measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale--struck Alaska, devastating coastal towns and villages and killing more than 130 people in what was then a relatively sparsely populated region. In a riveting tale about the almost unimaginable brute force of nature, New York Times science journalist Henry Fountain, in his first trade book, re-creates the lives of the villagers and townspeople living in Chenega, Anchorage, and Valdez; describes the sheer beauty of the geology of the region, with its towering peaks and 20-mile-long glaciers; and reveals the impact of the quake on the towns, the buildings, and the lives of the inhabitants. George Plafker, a geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey with years of experience scouring the Alaskan wilderness, is asked to investigate the Prince William Sound region in the aftermath of the quake, to better understand its origins. His work confirmed the then controversial theory of plate tectonics that explained how and why such deadly quakes occur, and how we can plan for the next one.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• 1. Introduction.-
• 2. The Origin of Life Was Brought to You in Part by Silicate Rocks.-
• 3. The Making of Humankind: Silica Lends a Hand (and Maybe a Brain). -
• 4. Mystical Crystals of Silica.-
• 5. Glass Houses.-
• 6. Chicks Need Silica, Too.-
• 7. Of Fields, Phytoliths, and Hippo Poo.-
• 8. Silica, Be Dammed!.-
• 9. No Such Thing as Normal.-
• 10. Geoengineering, aka Silica to Save the World.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Do you know silica, the tetrahedra of silicon and oxygen constituting the crystals of New Agers and the desiccant in a box of new shoes? It's no mere mundane mineral. As chemically reacting silicate rocks, silica set off the chain of events known as the origin of life. As biomineralized opal, it is the cell wall, skeleton, spicules, and scales of organisms ornamenting numerous lobes of the tree of life. Cryptocrystalline silica made into stone tools helped drive the evolution of our hands and our capability for complex grammar, music, and mathematics. As quartz crystals, silica is impressively electric and ubiquitous in modern technology (think sonar, radios, telephones, ultrasound, and cheap but precise watches). Silica is inescapable when we take a drink or mow the lawn and it has already started to save the Earth from the carbon dioxide we're spewing into the atmosphere. This book tells these scientific tales and more, to give dear, modest silica its due.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

"From the frozen tundra of Siberia to the cutting-edge genetics labs of Harvard University, a group of young scientists--under the guidance of Dr. George Church, the most brilliant geneticist of our time--is working to make the impossible happen. Their task? To bring the Woolly Mammoth, a creature that has been extinct for three thousand years, back into our world. How will they do it? By sequencing the DNA of a frozen Woolly Mammoth harvested from above the Arctic Circle, and then splicing elements of it into the DNA of a modern elephant. Through this process, they hope to turn the hybrid cells into a functional embryo and bring the extinct creatures to life in our modern world ..."--Jacket.

• Preface
• Introduction / H. Gregory McDonald, John M. Harris, Emily Lindsey
• The Owls (Aves: Strigiformes) of Rancho La Brea / Kenneth E. Campbell, Jr., and Zbigniew M. Bochenski
• Microevolution of Jaw Shape in the Dire Wolf, Canis dirus, at Rancho La Brea / Alexandria L. Brannick, Julie A. Meachen, and F. Robin O'Keefe
• A Pathological Timber Wolf (Canis lupus) Femur from Rancho La Brea Indicates Extended Survival After Traumatic Amputation Injury / Eric Scott, Elizabeth Rega, Kim Scott, Bryan Bennett, and Stuart Sumida
• Dental Microwear Textures of Carnivorans from the La Brea Tar Pits, California, and Potential Extinction Implications / Larisa R. G. DeSantis, Blaine W. Schubert, Elizabeth Schmitt-Linville, Peter S. Ungar, Shelly L. Donohue, and Ryan J. Haupt
• The Bacula of Rancho La Brea / Adam Hartstone-Rose, Robert G. Dundas, Bryttin Boyde, Ryan C. Long, Aisling B. Farrell, and Christopher A. Shaw
• Last Years of Life and Season of Death of a Columbian Mammoth from Rancho La Brea / Joseph J. El Adli, Michael D. Cherney, Daniel C. Fisher, John M. Harris, Aisling B. Farrell, and Shelley M. Cox
• Equus occidentalis Leidy from "Asphalto," Kern County, California / Kristen E. Brown, William A. Akersten, and Eric Scott
• The Addition of Smilodon fatalis (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) to the Biota of the Late Pleistocene Carpinteria Asphalt Deposits in California, with Ontogenetic and Ecologic Implications for the Species / Christopher A. Shaw and James P. Quinn
• Perusing Talara: Overview of the Late Pleistocene Fossils from the Tar Seeps of Peru / Kevin L. Seymour
• "Tar Pits" of the Western Neotropics: Paleoecology, Taphonomy, and Mammalian Biogeography / Emily L. Lindsey and Kevin L. Seymour
• A New Mammal Assemblage from the Late Pleistocene El Breal de Orocual, Northeast of Venezuela / Andrés Solórzano, Ascanio D. Rincón, and H. Gregory McDonald
• Sample Preparation for Radiocarbon Dating and Isotopic Analysis of Bone from Rancho La Brea / Benjamin T. Fuller, John M. Harris, Aisling B. Farrell, Gary Takeuchi, and John R. Southon
• New Technique to Remove Asphalt from Microfossil-rich Matrix from Rancho La Brea / Karin Rice, Alex Sessions, Katherine Lai, and Gary T. Takeuchi

"Describes the original avifauna of North Canterbury as revealed by the fossil evidence in the Pyramid Valley site and other sites in the area, gives the history of the Pyramid Valley site and its environment, and relates the past environment and avifauna to the present landscape"--Publisher information.

• Introduction / D. Paddy Sleeman and Jens Carlsson
• Ireland, an unexpected focus for genetic biodiversity and the ecological implications / D. Paddy Sleeman
• The use of genetics to infer the origins of the terrestrial and freshwater element of the Irish fauna / Jens Carlsson, Tom F. Cross, Philip McGinnity, Paulo A. Prodöhl, and Allan D. McDevitt
• Ireland's native mammals : a survey of the archaeological record / Peter C. Woodman
• The origin of the Irish avifauna : a perspective from island biogeography theory / Thomas C. Kelly, Patrick Smiddy, and Conor T. Graham
• The Eurasian crane (Grus grus) in Ireland : another extinct bird or a key species for an ancient belief system? / Lorcán O'Toole
• Post-glaciation plant colonization of Ireland : fresh insights from An Loch Mór, Inis Oírr, western Ireland / Karen Molloy and Michael O'Connell
• Breeding birds in Ireland : success and failure among colonists / Patrick Smiddy
• What Ireland's soil macroinvertebrate fauna can tell us about postglacial colonization / Ruth Roland and Thomas Bolger
• Never mind the gap : climate, rather than insularity, may limit Ireland's species richness / Simon Harrison
• Did melting ice sheets create temporary low-salinity corridors that facilitated the natural colonization of Ireland by stenohaline fishes? / Declan T.G. Quigley
• Origin of the Holocene mammals of these islands / W. Ian Montgomery.

Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions of life on earth. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. Elizabeth Kolbert combines brilliant field reporting, the history of ideas and the work of geologists, botanists and marine biologists to tell the gripping stories of a dozen species - including the Panamanian golden frog and the Sumatran rhino - some already gone, others at the point of vanishing. The sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy and Elizabeth Kolbert's book urgently compels us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• The geological context of Ediacaran and Cambrian events
• The environmental context of the Ediacaran and early Cambrian
• The Metazoan tree of life
• Dawn of animals : the Ediacara biota
• Metazoan architectures of the Cambrian explosion
• The origin and evolution of Metazoan ecosystems
• The evolution of the Metazoan genome an dthe Cambrian explosion
• Ghostly ancestors
• Constructing the Cambrian.

"The Cambrian Period records one of the most extraordinary transitions in the history of life. Although animals may have first appeared nearly 700 million years ago, with the earliest sponges, their initial diversifications appear to have been modest until a richly diverse fossil fauna appeared relatively abruptly about 170 million years later. In The Cambrian Explosion, Erwin and Valentine synthesize research from many fields to explain why there was such remarkable novelty of animal forms"-- Provided by publisher.

• Paleozoic fossil plants
• "Algae" and fossil marine plants
• Psilophytes and other early vascular plants
• True and seed ferns of the Late Paleozoic
• Scale trees (Lycopodophytes)
• Arthrophytes (Calamites)
• Primitive conifers
• Glossopteris, puzzling "plant" fossils, and paleobotanical "musings"
• Forests in transition.

Over 670 color photos reveal the Paleozoic plants that covered the earth from 500 to 260 million years ago, well before the dinosaurs roamed the world. These plants provide some of the earliest records to the greening of planet earth. They also make fascinating, very attractive fossils, which can be considered as "nature's artwork." The fossil record provides a window into the first "forests" of the Devonian Period, followed by the peculiar plants of the Lower Carboniferous. These plants, in turn, were followed by those of the Upper Carboniferous, abundant vegetation that is responsible for almost half of the planet's coal seams. Coal swamp vegetation is followed by the more sparse Permian floras, which preceded what was the earth's most profound extinction event. Marine plants also make their appearance in the world during this period, as do various puzzling fossil tracks and burrows previously thought to be marine plant fossils. This book is for all who are curious about the ancient earth.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

This volume comprises papers presented to Wietske Prummel on the occasion of her retirement from the Groningen Institute of Archaeology (University of Groningen) in 2012. The contributions cover a wide range of topics from all realms of archaeozoology, such as animal husbandry and mobility, bird exploitation and fishery. The papers are dedicated to Wietske in celebration of her scientific career.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Series foreword.- Series preface.- Dedication.- Preface.- Introduction.- Authors, their addresses and contributions.- Articles of a general nature.- -Phanerozoic marine biodiversity: a fresh look at data, methods, patterns and processes.- -Coordinated stasis reconsidered: a perspective after fifteen years.- -Whilst this planet has gone cycling on: what role for periodic astronomical phenomena in large-scale patterns in the history of life?.- -Climate change through time.- -Development of intertidal biotas through Phanerozoic time.- -Marine sclerobiofacies: encrusting and endolithic communities on shells through time and space.- -Brachiopods and their auloporid epibionts in the Devonian of Boulonnais (France).- -Fossil fish taphonomy and the contribution of microfossils to documenting Devonian vertebrate history.- -The Messel Pit fossil site - the legacy of the environment and life of the Eocene.- Evolution exemplified by specific phyla or classes.- -Evolutionary scenario of the early history of the Animal Kingdom: evidence from Precambrian (Ediacaran) Weng'an and Early Cambrian Maotianshan biotas, China.- -The Ordovician Radiation: macroevolutionary crossroads of the Phanerozoic.- -Phylogeny of Palaeozoic gastropods inferred from their ontogeny.- -Palaeozoic innovations in the micro- and megafossil plant record: from the earliest plant spores to the earliest seeds.- -Tentaculitids - an enigmatic group of Palaeozoic fossils.- -Palaeozoic ammonoids - diversity and development of conch morphology.- -Quantitative approach to diversity and decline in Late Palaeozoic trilobites.- -Devonian cladid crinoid evolution, diversity, and first and last occurrences: summary observations.- -Palaeoecology, aerodynamics and the origins of avian flight.- Global extinction events and biocrises.- -The Ireviken Event in the Boree Creek Formation, New South Wales, Australia.- -Isotope geochemistry and plankton response to the Ireviken (earliest Wenlock) and Cyrtograptus lundgreni events, Cape Phillips Formation, Arctic Canada.- -Late Ludfordian (Silurian) correlations and the Lau Global Extinction Event.- -The late Middle Devonian (Givetian) global Taghanic Biocrisis in its type area (northern Appalachian Basin): geologically rapid faunal transitions driven by global and local environmental changes.- -The Permian - a time of major evolutions and revolutions in the history of life.- -Millennial physical events and the end-Permian mass mortality in the western Palaeo-Tethys: timing and primary causes.- -Chicxulub Impact, Deccan Traps and the K-T mass extinction.- -After mass extinction but no recovery: new tales of 'Dead Clade Walking' from Austral and Boreal post-K-Pg (Danian) assemblages.- -Fungi, a driving force in normalization of the terrestrial carbon cycle following the end-Cretaceous extinction.- Palaeobiogeography.- -Changes in the pattern of brachiopod biogeography in northern Asia through Early and Middle Devonian times.- -The paleogeography of Pennsylvanian crinoids and blastoids.- -Biogeography of Jurassic and Early Cretaceous ostracods from Western Australia and what they reveal about the evolution of the Indian Ocean.- -Cretaceous continental bridges, insularity, and vicariance in the southern hemisphere: which route did dinosaurs take?.- -Palaeobiogeography of Mesozoic mammals--revisited.- Cenozoic era.- -Cenozoic environmental shifts.- -Miocene asteroid impacts: proposed effects on the biogeography and extinction patterns of eastern North American gastropods.- -The rise of Australian marsupials: a synopsis of biostratigraphic, phylogenetic, palaeoecologic and palaeobiogeographic understanding.- A Perspective.-.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

This volume focuses on the increasing of biodiversity through time and on recurrent events of minor and major ecosphere reorganization. Special attention paid to physical, sedimentary and biotic circumstances through time intervals when life crises occurred.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

The moa were the most unusual and unique family of birds that ever lived, a clan of feathered monsters that developed in isolation for many, many millions of years. They became extinct reasonably quickly after the arrival of the Maori, and were a distant memory by the time European explorers arrived. So the discovery and identification of their bones in the 1840s was a worldwide sensation, claimed by many to be the zoological find of the century. This book begins by recounting the story of discovery, which was characterised by an unbelievable amount of controversy and intrigue. Since then there has been an unbroken chain of new discoveries, culminating with intriguing revelations in recent years about the moa's biology, that have come to light through DNA testing and radio-dating. This is a fascinating and important book that richly recounts the life and death of our strangest bird. Packed with a fantastic range of illustrations, Moa fills an important gap in our natural history literature, a popular but serious book on this national icon.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Preface, H. B. Guo and A. S. Barnard Naturally Occurring Inorganic Nanoparticles: General Assessment and a Global budget for One of Earth's Last Unexplored Major Geochemical Components, M. F. Hochella Jr., D. Aruguete, B. Kim, and A. S. Madden Uncovering the Physical and Chemical Properties of Nanominerals and Mineral Nanoparticles, R. L. Penn Nanostructures of Natural Iron Oxide Nanoparticles, H. Konishi, H. F. Xu, and H. B. Guo Thermodynamic Modeling of FeS2, S. P. Russo and A. Hung Noble Metal Nanoparticles in Ore Systems, R. Hough, M. Reich, and R. Noble Diamondoids, C. Bostedt, L. Landt, T. Moller, J. E. Dahl, and R. M. K. Carlson Role of Nanopores in Regulating Reactivity and Transport of Uranium in Subsurface Sediments, H. F. Xu Biomineralization of Natural Nanomaterials, J. Wu, J. M. Yao, and Y. R. Cai Magnetic Nanoparticles in Magnetosomes, A. Kornig and D. Faivre Nanoscale Magnetoreceptors in Birds, I. A. Solov'yov and W. Greiner Nucleation and Growth of Biomaterials: the Role of Simulations for Understanding, J. H. Harding, C. L. Freeman, D. Quigley, and P. M. Rodger Photonic Crystals in Beetles, A. E. Seago and V. Saranathan Nanoparticles That Are Out of This World, F. J. M. Rietmeijer and J. A. Nuth Large Molecules and Nanograins in Space, A. G. G. M. Tielens Nanoparticles in the Solar System, I. Mann Formation and Growth of Atmospheric Aerosol Particles, T. Petaja, M. Dal Maso, M. Sipila, I. Riipinen, Veli-Matti Kerminen, and M. Kulmala Engineered Nanoparticles and the Environment: Inadvertently and Intentionally Produced, P. Biswas, W.-J. An, and W.-N. Wang Ultrafine Particles on and Near Roadways, Y. F. Zhu Allophane and Imogolite Nanoparticles in Soil and Their Environmental Applications, G. D. Yuan and S.-I. Wada Transformation of Engineered Nanostructures in the Natural Environment, P. Bhattacharya, E. Salonen, and P. C. Ke.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Natural nanomaterials and nanotechnologies are all around us, which inevitably leads to these questions: What are these natural nanomaterials made of? Where can we find them? What can they do? Answering these questions will facilitate new and environmentally friendly ways of creating and manipulating nanoscale materials for the next generation of new technologies. A truly multidisciplinary resource, this book brings together studies from astronomy, physics, chemistry, materials science, engineering, geology and geophysics, environmental science, agricultural science, entomology, molecular biology, and health and provides an invaluable resource for learning how various scientists approach similar problems.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• v. 1. Geology, geochronology, paleoecology, and paleoenvironment
• v. 2. Fossil hominins and the associated fauna.

• v. 1. Laetoli revisited : renewed paleontological and geological investigations at localities on the Eyasi Plateau in northern Tanzania / Terry Harrison
• Paleontological localities on the Eyasi Plateau, including Laetoli / Terry Harrison and Amandus Kweka
• Sedimentology, lithostratigraphy and depositional history of the Laetoli area / Peter Ditchfield and Terry Harrison
• ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of Laetoli, Tanzania / Alan L. Deino
• Petrology, geochemistry and age of Satiman, Lemagurut and Oldeani : sources of the volcanic deposits of the Laetoli area / Godwin F. Mollel ... [et al.]
• Geochemistry and mineralogy of Laetoli area tuffs : Lower Laetolil through Naibadad Beds / Lindsay J. McHenry
• Geochemical and mineralogic characterization of Middle Stone Age tools of Laetoli, Tanzania, and comparisons with possible source materials / Katherine A. Adelsberger ... [et al.]
• The ecology and biogeography of the Endulen-Laetoli area in northern Tanzania / Peter Andrews ... [et al.]
• Phytoliths and pollen, the microscopic plant remains in Pliocene volcanic sediments around Laetoli, Tanzania / Lloyd Rossouw and Louis Scott
• Fossil woods / Marion K. Bamford
• Fossil leaves, fruits and seeds / Marion K. Bamford
• Serengeti micromammal communities and the paleoecology of Laetoli, Tanzania / Denné N. Reed
• The taphonomy and paleoenvironmental implications of the Laetoli micromammals / Denné N. Reed and Christiane Denys
• Coprolites : taphonomic and paleoecological implications / Terry Harrison
• Stable isotopic analyses of Laetoli fossil herbivores / John D. Kingston
• Feeding ecology and niche partitioning of the Laetoli ungulate faunas / Thomas M. Kaiser
• Paleoenvironments of Laetoli, Tanzania as determined by antelope habitat preferences / Laura C. Bishop ... [et al.]
• Environmental change within the Laetoli fossiliferous sequence : vegetation catenas and bovid ecomorphology / Kris Kovarovic and Peter Andrews
• Large mammal evidence for the paleoenvironment of the Upper Laetolil and Upper Ndolanya Beds of Laetoli, Tanzania / Denise F. Su.

• v. 2. Introduction : The Laetoli hominins and associated fauna / Terry Harrison
• Rodents / Christiane Denys
• The lower third premolar of Serengetilagus praecapensis (Mammalia: Lagomorpha: Leporidae) from Laetoli, Tanzania / Alisa J. Winkler and Yukimitsu Tomida
• Macroscelidea / Alisa J. Winkler
• Galagidae (Lorisoidea, Primates) / Terry Harrison
• Cercopithecids (Cercopithecidae, Primates) / Terry Harrison
• Hominins from the Upper Laetolil and Upper Ndolanya beds, Laetoli / Terry Harrison
• Carnivora / Lars Werdelin and Reihaneh Dehghani
• Proboscidea / William J. Sanders
• Orycteropodidae / Terry Harrison
• Rhinocerotidae / Elina Hernesniemi ... [et al.]
• Equidae / Miranda Armour-Chelu and Raymond L. Bernor
• Suidae / Laura C. Bishop
• Giraffidae / Chris A. Robinson
• Bovidae / Alan W. Gentry
• Amphibia and Squamata / Jean-Claude Rage and Salvador Bailon
• Tortoises (Chelonii, Testudinidae) / Terry Harrison
• Aves / Antoine Louchart
• Beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera) / Frank-T. Krell and Wolfgang Schawaller
• Lepidoptera, Insecta / Ian J. Kitching and S. Sadler
• Trace fossils interpreted in relation to the extant termite fauna at Laetoli, Tanzania / Johanna P.E.C. Darlington
• Gastropoda / Peter Tattersfield.

This volume 1 and its companion volume 2 present the results of new investigations into the geology, paleontology and paleoecology of the early hominin site of Laetoli in northern Tanzania. The site is one of the most important paleontological and paleoanthropological sites in Africa, worldrenowned for the discovery of fossils of the early hominin Australopithecus afarensis, as well as remarkable trails of its footprints. The first volume provides new evidence on the geology, geochronology, ecology, ecomorphology and taphonomy of the site. The second volume describes newly discovered fossil hominins from Laetoli, belonging to Australopithecus afarensis and Paranthropus aethiopicus, and presents detailed information on the systematics and paleobiology of the diverse associated fauna. Together, these contributions provide one of the most comprehensive accounts of a fossil hominin site, and they offer important new insights into the early stages of human evolution and its context.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

An awe-inspiring journey through the eons of time and across the globe, in search of visible traces of evolution in living creatures which have survived from earliest times and whose stories speak to us of seminal events in the history of life. 'Reading Richard Fortey is always pure pleasure' BILL BRYSON The history of life on Earth is far older -- and far odder -- than many of us realise. In this book, acclaimed author Richard Fortey traces this history not through fossil records, but in the living stories of organisms that have survived nearly unchanged for hundreds of millions of years and whose existence today affords us tantalising glimpses of landscapes long vanished. For evolution has not obliterated its tracks. Scattered across the globe, strange and marvellous plants and animals have survived virtually unchanged since life first began. They range from humble algal mats dating back almost two billion years to hardy musk oxen, which linger as the last vestiges of Ice Age fauna. Following in Fortey's questing footsteps, Survivors takes us on fascinating journey to these ancient worlds. On a moonlit beach in Delaware where the horseshoe crab shuffles its way through a violent romance, we catch a glimpse of life 450 million years ago, shortly after it diversified on the ocean floor. Along a stretch of Australian coastline, we bear witness to the sights and sounds that would have greeted a Precambrian dawn. Finally, in the dense rainforests of New Zealand where the secretive velvet worm burrows into the rotting timber of the jungle floor, we marvel at a living fossil which has survived unchanged since before the dissolution of the Gondwana supercontinent. Written with Fortey's customary sparkle and gusto, this wonderfully engrossing exploration of the world's oldest flora and fauna brilliantly combines the best science writing about the origins of life with an explorer's sense of adventure and a poet's wonder at the natural world. Utterly compelling, eye-opening and awe-inspiring, this is a book for anyone with an interest in evolution, in nature, in the remarkable scope of geological time and our own modest interaction with it -- in short, in life itself.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)