Extinctions In The History Of Life

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Extinction

Author : Douglas H. Erwin
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691165653
Total Pages : 314 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis Extinction by : Douglas H. Erwin

Download or read book Extinction written by Douglas H. Erwin and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2015-03-22 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some 250 million years ago, the earth suffered the greatest biological crisis in its history. Around 95 percent of all living species died out—a global catastrophe far greater than the dinosaurs' demise 185 million years later. How this happened remains a mystery. But there are many competing theories. Some blame huge volcanic eruptions that covered an area as large as the continental United States; others argue for sudden changes in ocean levels and chemistry, including burps of methane gas; and still others cite the impact of an extraterrestrial object, similar to what caused the dinosaurs' extinction. Extinction is a paleontological mystery story. Here, the world's foremost authority on the subject provides a fascinating overview of the evidence for and against a whole host of hypotheses concerning this cataclysmic event that unfolded at the end of the Permian. After setting the scene, Erwin introduces the suite of possible perpetrators and the types of evidence paleontologists seek. He then unveils the actual evidence--moving from China, where much of the best evidence is found; to a look at extinction in the oceans; to the extraordinary fossil animals of the Karoo Desert of South Africa. Erwin reviews the evidence for each of the hypotheses before presenting his own view of what happened. Although full recovery took tens of millions of years, this most massive of mass extinctions was a powerful creative force, setting the stage for the development of the world as we know it today. In a new preface, Douglas Erwin assesses developments in the field since the book's initial publication.

Extinctions in the History of Life

Author : Paul D. Taylor
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139457977
Total Pages : 205 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (394 download)

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Book Synopsis Extinctions in the History of Life by : Paul D. Taylor

Download or read book Extinctions in the History of Life written by Paul D. Taylor and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2004-11-11 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extinction is the ultimate fate of all biological species - over 99 percent of the species that have ever inhabited the Earth are now extinct. The long fossil record of life provides scientists with crucial information about when species became extinct, which species were most vulnerable to extinction, and what processes may have brought about extinctions in the geological past. Key aspects of extinctions in the history of life are here reviewed by six leading palaeontologists, providing a source text for geology and biology undergraduates as well as more advanced scholars. Topical issues such as the causes of mass extinctions and how animal and plant life has recovered from these cataclysmic events that have shaped biological evolution are dealt with. This helps us to view the biodiversity crisis in a broader context, and shows how large-scale extinctions have had profound and long-lasting effects on the Earth's biosphere.

The Sixth Extinction

Author : Elizabeth Kolbert
Publisher : Henry Holt and Company
ISBN 13 : 0805099794
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (5 download)

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Book Synopsis The Sixth Extinction by : Elizabeth Kolbert

Download or read book The Sixth Extinction written by Elizabeth Kolbert and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2014-02-11 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR A major book about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. In The Sixth Extinction, two-time winner of the National Magazine Award and New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert draws on the work of scores of researchers in half a dozen disciplines, accompanying many of them into the field: geologists who study deep ocean cores, botanists who follow the tree line as it climbs up the Andes, marine biologists who dive off the Great Barrier Reef. She introduces us to a dozen species, some already gone, others facing extinction, including the Panamian golden frog, staghorn coral, the great auk, and the Sumatran rhino. Through these stories, Kolbert provides a moving account of the disappearances occurring all around us and traces the evolution of extinction as concept, from its first articulation by Georges Cuvier in revolutionary Paris up through the present day. The sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy; as Kolbert observes, it compels us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.

Extinction and Evolution

Author : Niles Eldredge
Publisher : Firefly Books
ISBN 13 : 9781770853591
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (535 download)

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Book Synopsis Extinction and Evolution by : Niles Eldredge

Download or read book Extinction and Evolution written by Niles Eldredge and published by Firefly Books. This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eldredge's groundbreaking work is now accepted as the definitive statement of how life as we know it evolved on Earth. This book chronicles how Eldredge made his discoveries and traces the history of life through the lenses of paleontology, geology, ecology, anthropology, biology, genetics, zoology, mammalogy, herpetology, entomology and botany. While rigorously accurate, the text is accessible, engaging and free of jargon.

A New History of Life

Author : Peter Ward
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 1608199088
Total Pages : 401 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (81 download)

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Book Synopsis A New History of Life by : Peter Ward

Download or read book A New History of Life written by Peter Ward and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2015-04-07 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of life on Earth is, in some form or another, known to us all--or so we think. A New History of Life offers a provocative new account, based on the latest scientific research, of how life on our planet evolved--the first major new synthesis for general readers in two decades. Charles Darwin's theories, first published more than 150 years ago, form the backbone of how we understand the history of the Earth. In reality, the currently accepted history of life on Earth is so flawed, so out of date, that it's past time we need a 'New History of Life.' In their latest book, Joe Kirschvink and Peter Ward will show that many of our most cherished beliefs about the evolution of life are wrong. Gathering and analyzing years of discoveries and research not yet widely known to the public, A New History of Life proposes a different origin of species than the one Darwin proposed, one which includes eight-foot-long centipedes, a frozen “snowball Earth”, and the seeds for life originating on Mars. Drawing on their years of experience in paleontology, biology, chemistry, and astrobiology, experts Ward and Kirschvink paint a picture of the origins life on Earth that are at once too fabulous to imagine and too familiar to dismiss--and looking forward, A New History of Life brilliantly assembles insights from some of the latest scientific research to understand how life on Earth can and might evolve far into the future.

Tempo and Mode in Evolution

Author : George Gaylord Simpson
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (319 download)

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Book Synopsis Tempo and Mode in Evolution by : George Gaylord Simpson

Download or read book Tempo and Mode in Evolution written by George Gaylord Simpson and published by . This book was released on 1965 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth

Author : Henry Gee
Publisher : St. Martin's Press
ISBN 13 : 1250276667
Total Pages : 142 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (52 download)

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Book Synopsis A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth by : Henry Gee

Download or read book A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth written by Henry Gee and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2021-11-09 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Royal Society's Science Book of the Year "[A]n exuberant romp through evolution, like a modern-day Willy Wonka of genetic space. Gee’s grand tour enthusiastically details the narrative underlying life’s erratic and often whimsical exploration of biological form and function.” —Adrian Woolfson, The Washington Post In the tradition of Richard Dawkins, Bill Bryson, and Simon Winchester—An entertaining and uniquely informed narration of Life's life story. In the beginning, Earth was an inhospitably alien place—in constant chemical flux, covered with churning seas, crafting its landscape through incessant volcanic eruptions. Amid all this tumult and disaster, life began. The earliest living things were no more than membranes stretched across microscopic gaps in rocks, where boiling hot jets of mineral-rich water gushed out from cracks in the ocean floor. Although these membranes were leaky, the environment within them became different from the raging maelstrom beyond. These havens of order slowly refined the generation of energy, using it to form membrane-bound bubbles that were mostly-faithful copies of their parents—a foamy lather of soap-bubble cells standing as tiny clenched fists, defiant against the lifeless world. Life on this planet has continued in much the same way for millennia, adapting to literally every conceivable setback that living organisms could encounter and thriving, from these humblest beginnings to the thrilling and unlikely story of ourselves. In A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth, Henry Gee zips through the last 4.6 billion years with infectious enthusiasm and intellectual rigor. Drawing on the very latest scientific understanding and writing in a clear, accessible style, he tells an enlightening tale of survival and persistence that illuminates the delicate balance within which life has always existed.

Tempo and Mode in Evolution

Author : for the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309552672
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (95 download)

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Book Synopsis Tempo and Mode in Evolution by : for the National Academy of Sciences

Download or read book Tempo and Mode in Evolution written by for the National Academy of Sciences and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1995-02-09 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since George Gaylord Simpson published Tempo and Mode in Evolution in 1944, discoveries in paleontology and genetics have abounded. This volume brings together the findings and insights of today's leading experts in the study of evolution, including Ayala, W. Ford Doolittle, and Stephen Jay Gould. The volume examines early cellular evolution, explores changes in the tempo of evolution between the Precambrian and Phanerozoic periods, and reconstructs the Cambrian evolutionary burst. Long-neglected despite Darwin's interest in it, species extinction is discussed in detail. Although the absence of data kept Simpson from exploring human evolution in his book, the current volume covers morphological and genetic changes in human populations, contradicting the popular claim that all modern humans descend from a single woman. This book discusses the role of molecular clocks, the results of evolution in 12 populations of Escherichia coli propagated for 10,000 generations, a physical map of Drosophila chromosomes, and evidence for "hitchhiking" by mutations.

Lost Creatures of the Earth

Author : Jon Erickson
Publisher : Infobase Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1438109652
Total Pages : 273 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (381 download)

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Book Synopsis Lost Creatures of the Earth by : Jon Erickson

Download or read book Lost Creatures of the Earth written by Jon Erickson and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents an examination of possible phenomena that caused dramatic changes in the earth's surface that could explain periodic mass extinctions and the evolution of new species.

The Great Extinctions

Author : Norman MacLeod
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780565092788
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (927 download)

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Book Synopsis The Great Extinctions by : Norman MacLeod

Download or read book The Great Extinctions written by Norman MacLeod and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to extinctions and their many causes and impacts.

The History of Life: A Very Short Introduction

Author : Michael J. Benton
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199226326
Total Pages : 185 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (992 download)

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Book Synopsis The History of Life: A Very Short Introduction by : Michael J. Benton

Download or read book The History of Life: A Very Short Introduction written by Michael J. Benton and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-11-27 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Very Short Introduction presents a succinct and accessible guide to the key episodes in the story of life on earth - from the very origins of life four million years ago to the extraordinary diversity of species around the globe today.

Scatter, Adapt, and Remember

Author : Annalee Newitz
Publisher : Anchor
ISBN 13 : 0385535929
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (855 download)

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Book Synopsis Scatter, Adapt, and Remember by : Annalee Newitz

Download or read book Scatter, Adapt, and Remember written by Annalee Newitz and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2013-05-14 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In its 4.5 billion–year history, life on Earth has been almost erased at least half a dozen times: shattered by asteroid impacts, entombed in ice, smothered by methane, and torn apart by unfathomably powerful megavolcanoes. And we know that another global disaster is eventually headed our way. Can we survive it? How? As a species, Homo sapiens is at a crossroads. Study of our planet’s turbulent past suggests that we are overdue for a catastrophic disaster, whether caused by nature or by human interference. It’s a frightening prospect, as each of the Earth’s past major disasters—from meteor strikes to bombardment by cosmic radiation—resulted in a mass extinction, where more than 75 percent of the planet’s species died out. But in Scatter, Adapt, and Remember, Annalee Newitz, science journalist and editor of the science Web site io9.com explains that although global disaster is all but inevitable, our chances of long-term species survival are better than ever. Life on Earth has come close to annihilation—humans have, more than once, narrowly avoided extinction just during the last million years—but every single time a few creatures survived, evolving to adapt to the harshest of conditions. This brilliantly speculative work of popular science focuses on humanity’s long history of dodging the bullet, as well as on new threats that we may face in years to come. Most important, it explores how scientific breakthroughs today will help us avoid disasters tomorrow. From simulating tsunamis to studying central Turkey’s ancient underground cities; from cultivating cyanobacteria for “living cities” to designing space elevators to make space colonies cost-effective; from using math to stop pandemics to studying the remarkable survival strategies of gray whales, scientists and researchers the world over are discovering the keys to long-term resilience and learning how humans can choose life over death. Newitz’s remarkable and fascinating journey through the science of mass extinctions is a powerful argument about human ingenuity and our ability to change. In a world populated by doomsday preppers and media commentators obsessively forecasting our demise, Scatter, Adapt, and Remember is a compelling voice of hope. It leads us away from apocalyptic thinking into a future where we live to build a better world—on this planet and perhaps on others. Readers of this book will be equipped scientifically, intellectually, and emotionally to face whatever the future holds.

Patterns and Processes in the History of Life

Author : D.M. Raup
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 3642708315
Total Pages : 448 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (427 download)

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Book Synopsis Patterns and Processes in the History of Life by : D.M. Raup

Download or read book Patterns and Processes in the History of Life written by D.M. Raup and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hypothesis testing is not a straightforward matter in the fossil record and here, too interactions with biology can be extremely profitable. Quite simply, predictions regarding long-term consequences of processes observed in liv ing organisms can be tested directly using paleontological data if those liv ing organisms have an adequate fossil record, thus avoiding the pitfalls of extrapolative approaches. We hope to see a burgeoning of this interactive effort in the coming years. Framing and testing of hypotheses in paleon tological subjects inevitably raises the problem of inferring process from pattern, and the consideration and elimination of a broad range of rival hy is an essential procedure here. In a historical science such as potheses paleontology, the problem often arises that the events that are of most in terest are unique in the history of life. For example, replication of the metazoan radiation at the beginning of the Cambrian is not feasible. How ever, decomposition of such problems into component hypotheses may at least in part alleviate this difficulty. For example, hypotheses built upon the role of species packing might be tested by comparing evolutionary dy namics (both morphological and taxonomic) during another global diversi fication, such as the biotic rebound from the end-Permian extinction, which removed perhaps 95% of the marine species (see Valentine, this volume). The subject of extinction, and mass extinction in particular, has become important in both paleobiology and biology.

Mass Extinctions and Their Aftermath

Author : A. Hallam
Publisher : Oxford University Press, UK
ISBN 13 : 0191588393
Total Pages : 334 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (915 download)

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Book Synopsis Mass Extinctions and Their Aftermath by : A. Hallam

Download or read book Mass Extinctions and Their Aftermath written by A. Hallam and published by Oxford University Press, UK. This book was released on 1997-09-11 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first book to review all the evidence concerning both the dinosaur extinctions and all the other major extinctions - of plant, animal, terrestrial, and marine life - in the history of life. All the extinction mechanisms are critically assessed, including meteorite impact, anoxia, and volcanism. - ;Why do mass extinctions occur? The demise of the dinosaurs has been discussed exhaustively, but has never been out into the context of other extinction events. This is the first systematic review of the mass extinctions of all organisms, plant and animal, terrestrial and marine, that have occurred in the history of life. This includes the major crisis 250 million years ago which nearly wiped out all life on Earth. By examining current paleontological, geological, and sedimentological evidence of environmental changes, the cases for explanations based on climate change, marine regressions, asteroid or comet impact, anoxia, and volcanic eruptions are all critically evaluated. -

Extinctions

Author : Michael Hannah
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108843530
Total Pages : 263 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (88 download)

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Book Synopsis Extinctions by : Michael Hannah

Download or read book Extinctions written by Michael Hannah and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-09-16 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mass extinctions, the fossil record, and whether we can avoid a disastrous human-made mass extinction event.

Evolutionary Catastrophes

Author : V. Courtillot
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521891189
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis Evolutionary Catastrophes by : V. Courtillot

Download or read book Evolutionary Catastrophes written by V. Courtillot and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2002-03-07 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mass extinction and cataclysmic volcanic activity: will fascinate everyone interested in the history of life and death on our planet.

Extinction

Author : Ashley Dawson
Publisher : OR Books
ISBN 13 : 1682190412
Total Pages : 132 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (821 download)

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Book Synopsis Extinction by : Ashley Dawson

Download or read book Extinction written by Ashley Dawson and published by OR Books. This book was released on 2016-08-01 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some thousands of years ago, the world was home to an immense variety of large mammals. From wooly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers to giant ground sloths and armadillos the size of automobiles, these spectacular creatures roamed freely. Then human beings arrived. Devouring their way down the food chain as they spread across the planet, they began a process of voracious extinction that has continued to the present. Headlines today are made by the existential threat confronting remaining large animals such as rhinos and pandas. But the devastation summoned by humans extends to humbler realms of creatures including beetles, bats and butterflies. Researchers generally agree that the current extinction rate is nothing short of catastrophic. Currently the earth is losing about a hundred species every day. This relentless extinction, Ashley Dawson contends in a primer that combines vast scope with elegant precision, is the product of a global attack on the commons, the great trove of air, water, plants and creatures, as well as collectively created cultural forms such as language, that have been regarded traditionally as the inheritance of humanity as a whole. This attack has its genesis in the need for capital to expand relentlessly into all spheres of life. Extinction, Dawson argues, cannot be understood in isolation from a critique of our economic system. To achieve this we need to transgress the boundaries between science, environmentalism and radical politics. Extinction: A Radical History performs this task with both brio and brilliance.