Product Description

Customer Reviews (21)

The Great Human Diasporas: The History of Diversity and Evolution
As indicated by Jared Diamond this fascinating tour-de-force weaves human history, biology, genes, and language together in one grand sweep.Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza,author of History and Geography of Human Genes (1994)and his son, Francesco, discuss such questions as: Did the first humans originate in Africa? - Christopher Stringer, "Out of Africa" model for the Origin of Modern Humans (Anatomically Modern Humans) or in several spots on the planet at about the same time (Milford Wolpoff's "Multiregional Theory of the Origin of Modern Humans" - and how did humans get onto North America, South America, and Australia?

An excellent book on human origins and modern genetics.

Rowlands Opinion 2
I bought this book to help me understand how the people spread across the World. It is very interesting.

Disjointed
The whole book has a kind of disjoined feel to it. The earlier chapters are about mainly biology and evolution. It's kind of familiar territory and seemed a bit dated. The middle chapters were about linguistic, which were pretty interesting. After the end, the book seemed to lose what focus it had.

The presentation is chopped up into small sections that don't always flow well (hence, the disjointed feel). It was frustrating to read and felt simplistic at times (as if the reader cannot keep up with an extensive analysis or something).

TGHD is not terrible, but I've read better books on the subject.

Not recommended.

A Fairly Good Read
Cavalli-Sforza offers a concise account of human genetic history.Using his own research as well as the work of others, he makes some pretty convincing conclusions about man's colonization of the world.

This book's real strength is its explanation and simplification of biological terms and concepts.So many such books bog the reader down in unnecessary technical jargon.Cavalli-Sforza, however, has chosen to illustrate his points with simple examples, graphs, and tables.Simply put: this book will not confuse a layperson.

Cavalli Sforza's interdisciplinary approach is refreshing as well.It is not, as some reviewers suspect, meant to offer an ultra-thorough analysis, but rather it attempts to present a broad view of the anthropological, lingustic, historical, and genetic evidence for Cavalli-Sforza's ideas.

The book has several weaknesses.At times it proselytizes and wanders off topic, discussing issues such as modern religion and politics.Nevertheless, the book's strengths far outweigh its shortcomings.

Good introduction to anthropology
This is a book covering a wide range of topics relating to anthropology. Cavalli-Sforza tells of his experiences with African Pygmies in the Congo, and relates these experiences to ideas as to what hunter-gatherer life was like. He explains the discovery and history of the theory of evolution, and explains the human tree. The spread and migration of humans since the dawn of their evolution is described in good detail. Molecular biology is easily explained. He also describes theories of agriculture's emergence and significance. Cavalli-Sforza juxtaposes what we know of human migrations from DNA with what we know from linguistic evidence. He also discusses cultural anthropology and the concept of race. It is impressive that Cavalli-Sforza has such a good command of a wide range of subjects.

The book is a good read, especially for the layman. Overall, it is an account of humanity's evolution viewed from a variety of fields. ... Read more

Product Description

Diese ungewöhnliche Einführung in die Evolutionsbiologie vermittelt in sehr verständlicher Form einen Überblick über die Grundlagen dieser Disziplin. Nicht Fossilien und Erdgeschichte stehen hier im Mittelpunkt, sondern die Prozesse und Mechanismen der Evolution und der konzeptionelle Rahmen, in dem man sie heute erklärt. Die Herausgeber Hynek Burda und Sabine Begall haben die Inhalte angepasst an hiesige Curricula und für die deutsche Ausgabe mit zahlreichen didaktischen Elementen angereichert.

Product Description
This new text provides an integrated view of the forces that influence the patterns and rates of vertebrate evolution from the level of living populations and species to those that resulted in the origin of the major vertebrate groups. The evolutionary roles of behavior, development, continental drift, and mass extinctions are compared with the importance of variation and natural selection that were emphasized by Darwin. It is extensively illustrated, showing major transitions between fish and amphibians, dinosaurs and birds, and land mammals to whales. No book since Simpson's Major Features of Evolution has attempted such a broad study of the patterns and forces of evolutionary change. Undergraduate students taking a general or advanced course on evolution, and graduate students and professionals in evolutionary biology and paleontology will find the book of great interest. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Evolution - the big picture
This reference starts off by noting problems in evolutionary theory, particularly that while short-term microevolution shows Darwinian characteristics, long-term macroevolution based on the fossil record does not, with species suddenly appearing and then persisting for long periods with few changes. Vertebrates are proposed as a model for studying evolution, noting that they are a monophyletic group, have sexual reproduction, share a similar body plan, and most importantly have an excellent fossil record. While the knowledgeable reader will find this reference interesting in its integration of the forces affecting vertebrate evolution, the more general reader will find a variety of topics from fundamentals of population genetics to evolutionary development to the origins of major vertebrate groups, useful reading. ... Read more

Product Description

Artiodactyls are diverse and successful hoofed mammals, represented by nearly two hundred living species of pigs, peccaries, hippos, camels, deer, sheep, cattle, giraffes, and other even-toed ungulates.

In the recent years, a tremendous amount of research has been conducted on this important order. The Evolution of Artiodactyls synthesizes this research into a single, comprehensive volume. Here Donald R. Prothero, Scott E. Foss, and a team of distinguished international experts explore a variety of topics, including molecular phylogeny of terrestrial artiodactyls phylogenetic relationships of cetaceans to terrestrial artiodactyls, and the earliest artiodactyls -- Diacodexidae, Dichobunidae, Homacodontidae, Leptochoeridae, and Raoellidae.

A landmark reference, The Evolution of Artiodactyls belongs in the library of every paleontologist, mammalogist, and evolutionary biologist.

Contributors: Jean-Renaud Boisserie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle; Edward Byrd Davis, University of Oregon; Stéphane Ducrocq, Université de Poitiers; Jörg Erfurt, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg; Jonathan H. Geisler, Georgia Southern University; Colin P. Groves, Australian National University; John M. Harris, George C. Page Museum; James G. Honey, University of Colorado, Boulder; Christine M. Janis, Brown University; Fabrice Lihoreau, Université de N'Djaména; Matthew R. Liter, Occidental College; Liu Li-Ping, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, China; Joshua A. Ludtke, San Diego State University; Jonathan D. Marcot, University of Colorado Museum; Grégoire Métais, Carnegie Museum of Natural History; Gertrud E. Rössner, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; Nikos Solounias, American Museum of Natural History; James Bowie Stevens and Margaret Skeels Stevens, Lamar University; Jessica M. Theodor, University of Calgary; Mark D. Uhen, Cranbrook Institute of Science; Inessa Vislobokova, Russian Academy of Sciences

Customer Reviews (2)

Glad I bought it!
This book is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in an overview of theArtiodactyls.My only complaint is the rather skimpy coverage of some groups like the Bovidae.Many other groups get wonderfully comprehensive coverage and this easily makes up for the rest making this a fantastic book for those interested in the subject.

The Evolution of Artiodactyls
A must have for any Paleo-enthusiast. It is packed with information and has many illustrations. A little pricey, but worth the money. ... Read more

Product Description
Expanded and updatedThis handsome book addresses the questions of what the fossil record tells us about the evolution and extinction of dinosaurs, what their relationship to the rest of the organic world was, and what we can learn from them about our own place in the history of life on our planet. This edition has been updated throughout, with a new final chapter that details exciting recent discoveries such as the feathered dinosaur fossils in China. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

What do we really know about dinosaurs?
After visiting the National Musuem of Natural History, I wondered about many of the claims that the museum made.So I decided to read a book about the "terrible lizards" and found out what I had guessed -- the study of dinosaurs and their fossils is not an exact science and many of the fundamental questions we have about them cannot be answered, including:

How old are they?How fast were they?How big were they?What did they look like?What color were they?What is their relation to birds?How are fossils aged?Do we have any dinosaur DNA?

The authors of this book do a good job at trying to answer many of these questions about dinosaurs, but in the end their explanations merely lay out the science of guesswork.The first part of this book is fifty questions about dinosaurs, and I would recommend this section to anyone interested in the subject.The next two sections are about dinosaurs digs and specific dinosaur species, and is a little bit extensive for the "casual dino reader." ... Read more

Product Description

Lassen Sie sich von einem weltberühmten Paläontologen auf eine spannende Reise über den ganzen Globus entführen: zu Fund- und Forschungsstätten, wo eine neue Wissenschaft Gestalt annimmt, die Science-Fiction-Fantasien Realität werden lässt - etwa den Traum, einen Dinosaurier wieder zum Leben zu erwecken.

Wir alle haben im Kino, in Büchern und Fernsehsendungen schon Dinosaurier gesehen - oder zumindest intelligenten Vermutungen darüber, wie diese Tiere wohl ausgesehen haben mögen. Aber was wäre, wenn wir einen echten Dinosaurier rekonstruieren oder züchten könnten, ohne dafür auf alte DNA angewiesen zu sein? Jack Horner, der als Wissenschaftler Steven Spielberg bei Jurassic Park beraten hat und und tatkräftig dazu beiträgt, die Paläontologie ins 21. Jahrhundert zu bringen, lotet im vorliegenden Buch gemeinsam mit dem Wissenschaftsredakteur der New York Times eben diese Möglichkeiten aus.

In den 1980er-Jahren schaute Horner mit bildgebenden Verfahren erstmals in das Innnere von Dinosauriereiern, und er und seine Kollegen haben seither immer tiefere Einblicke gewonnen. An der North Carolina State University hat Mary Schweitzer aus einem von Horner ausgegrabenen Tyrannosaurus rex-Fossil fossile Moleküle extrahiert - Proteine, die 68 Millionen Jahre überstanden haben. Und diese Proteine beweisen, dass T. rex und unser heutiges Huhn entfernte Verwandte sind. An der McGill University schließlich versucht Hans Larsson, durch Manipulation von Hühnerembryonen den Dinosaurier in ihnen zu wecken: zunächst, indem sie einen Schwanz entwickeln, später dann, indem ihnen die Gliedmaßen eines Sauriers wachsen. All dies geschieht, ohne dass die Forscher ein einziges Gen verändern.

Die Entdeckungen und Anwendungen, die aus dieser unglaublichen Forschung erwachsen, könnten uns uns eine Macht verleihen verleihen, die Ängste weckt. Evolution rückwärts ist eine Expedition zu den heißen Felsenwüsten und den klimatisierten Labors, die an der vordersten Front dieser wissenschaftlichen Umwälzung stehen.

Product Description

Wo kommen wir her? Wie ist der Mensch entstanden? Warum haben nur wir - der Homo sapiens - überlebt? Was geschah mit unseren Verwandten?

Zum ersten Mal können Sie in diesem Buch sämtlichen unserer ausgestorbenen Vorfahren in Form lebensnaher Rekonstruktionen Auge in Auge gegenübertreten. Die Abbildungen - spektakuläre, dreidimensionale, unter wissenschaftlichen Gesichtspunkten rekonstruierte Menschenvorfahren in ihrer natürlichen Umgebung - sind das Ergebnis der fruchtbaren Zusammenarbeit des physischen Anthropologen G. J. Sawyer vom American Museum of Natural History und des Paläokünstlers Viktor Deak, die sich dabei von zahlreichen internationalen Experten beraten ließen. Die Rekonstruktionen machen die Evolution des Menschen zu einem noch anschaulicheren Erlebnis als die üblichen Knochen- und Skelettpräsentationen. Anhand ausführlicher Beschreibungen kann sich der Betrachter in die jeweiligen Lebensbedingungen dieser 22 verschiedenen Vor- und Frühmenschen hineinversetzen.

Die Texte liefern zudem alles Wissenswerte zu den einzelnen Arten: Wo und wann haben sie gelebt? Welche anatomischen Besonderheiten zeichneten sie aus? Wie sah ihre Umwelt aus, und wie waren sie daran angepasst? Wo stehen sie im großen Stammbaum des Homo sapiens? Und warum haben sie nicht überlebt? Wie sind ihnen die Paläoanthropologen überhaupt auf die Spur gekommen? Dieses Werk, das eine Zeitspanne von sieben Millionen Jahren überstreicht, ist eine Art Bestimmungsführer zu unserer Vergangenheit und ein erstaunliches „Familienalbum".

Sawyer und Deak bezeichnen ihre Methode als "Sezieren im Rückwärtsgang": Sie gehen von vorzeitlichen, fossilen Schädeln aus und fügen nacheinander Muskeln, Drüsen, Haut und Haare hinzu, bis sie die Gesichter unserer ausgestorbenen Vettern neu erschaffen haben. Mit der modernen Zauberei digitaler Bildbearbeitung stellen sie die Gesichter in rekonstruierte Umgebungen, die nach den neuesten Erkenntnissen über Lebensräume und Lebensweise unserer Vorfahren gestaltet wurden. Die so entstandenen Porträts machen unsere prähistorischen Ahnen für den heutigen Betrachter hautnah lebendig.

Wir, die Vertreter des Homo sapiens, sind heute die einzige Menschenspezies auf der Erde, und diese „Alleinstellung" halten wir, wenn es um eine Spezies wie die unsere geht, instinktiv für normal. Wir neigen dazu, im Homo sapiens den Endpunkt einer einzigen Evolutionslinie zu sehen, die sich durch natürliche Selektion langsam, aber stetig verbessert hat. In Wirklichkeit lebten aber bis vor sehr kurzer Zeit mehrere Hominidenarten nebeneinander, manchmal sogar in den gleichen Landschaften. Der lange Weg zum Menschen rückt das Bild zurecht: Homo sapiens ist ein kleiner, überlebender Zweig eines breiten, vielgestaltigen Stammbusches, der durch zahlreiche Verästelungen und vielfaches Aussterben gekennzeichnet ist. Wenn wir uns mit unseren Verwandten, mit ihren Fähigkeiten und Schwächen beschäftigen, erfahren wir auch, warum wir heute als Hominiden allein, also die „letzten Menschen" sind.

Product Description

Donald R. Prothero's science books combine leading research with first-person narratives of discovery, injecting warmth and familiarity into a profession that has much to offer nonspecialists. Bringing his trademark style and wit to an increasingly relevant subject of concern, Prothero links the climate changes that have occurred over the past 200 million years to their effects on plants and animals. In particular, he contrasts the extinctions that ended the Cretaceous period, which wiped out the dinosaurs, with those of the later Eocene and Oligocene epochs.

Prothero begins with the "greenhouse of the dinosaurs," the global-warming episode that dominated the Age of Dinosaurs and the early Age of Mammals. He describes the remarkable creatures that once populated the earth and draws on his experiences collecting fossils in the Big Badlands of South Dakota to sketch their world. Prothero then discusses the growth of the first Antarctic glaciers, which marked the Eocene-Oligocene transition, and shares his own anecdotes of excavations and controversies among colleagues that have shaped our understanding of the contemporary and prehistoric world.

The volume concludes with observations about Nisqually Glacier and other locations that show how global warming is happening much quicker than previously predicted, irrevocably changing the balance of the earth's thermostat. Engaging scientists and general readers alike,Greenhouse of the Dinosaurs connects events across thousands of millennia to make clear the human threat to natural climate change.

Customer Reviews (7)

rather stunning
Ok, you may be saying, same last name.Suspicious.Yes, Don is my older brother and I got this for a Christmas present.Still, I think this is quite a work and something to throw on the fire if one is tempted to debate a doctrinaire Global-Warming-Denier.There's a lot more heat than light in this debate.So get the facts and they are here.Yes, we're warming.Yes, we probably would anyway, but not this fast.Here is the science, and I can attest my bro is not bought and sold by any political faction.If there's one thing that is true of him, he is dedicated to objective science and letting the chips fall where they fall, even if it doesn't happen to suit him.This IS the facts.Plus, this book does a couple of other things rather well.If you had any doubts about extinction or climate change over the last few million years and you want to know, right down to the grassroots source, all the studies are cited here.This is one vast hotlink into the subject if you're itching to read up right to the sources and know all the controversies and all the certainties.Plus, I found out all sorts of interesting things about my brother's career I didn't know and some of the adventures he's had kicking up dust from the Oregon coast to New England in search of fossil and paleomagnetic evidence.He's far more the Indiana Jones than even I knew.And last really good reason to read this is that Sarah Palin won't, and considering her reading level, probably can't.

Climatic changes over time...understanding the process
First off, I truly enjoyed this book from a paleontological point of view and as one who enjoys reading of the history and experiences of other paleontologists - especially of their discoveries throughout many parts of the world that are unavailable to me.Yet, this book is not for those wanting a light hearted read of the developments leading up to the determination of climatic changes over time and how it affected prehistoric life, particularly since the demise of the dinosaurs up to the Eocene-Oligocene cooling period.It is full of details that truly flesh out the history of life from early times to the present, even speculating on the future. Its strong focus on describing the efforts of those before us in the field, kept me focused on the book and reevaluate what I had previously known about these scientists.I strongly recommend this book to paleontologists and those well versed in scientific reads.And as the author, Prothero, states, he wanted to focus on the human aspect of this field.Well he succeeded quite well.

It is a timely book due to the enormous discussion of modern and future climatic changes (warming).Everyday one reads or watches some topic related to this phenomenon and this book can provide the tools for everyone to understand the methods used to analyze past climate to what the future may hold for the planet.The thorough discussion of paleomagnetism and how it is used to interpret the data is extremely well done, based on the author's own work as a graduate student to much later as even he re-evaluates his own (previous) work and uses new information to re-write paleohistory.

A negative for me was the small and faint type used within the book. Is this a sign of age?No, I believe it to be a poor choice by the editors in my opinion. The small size of the book is handy to carry around and read at one's leisure, which is what I did over the period of time I read the book.

Therefore, I would still rate this book at 5 stars due to the quality of detail and history of an extremely important and timely subject despite the small font size.Having a good bibliography and index was also an enormous plus.So even though it is not all about dinosaurs - but more so the changes in climate from the time of dinosaurs to much later in Earth history (including future), I believe that many - both amateur and professional - can enjoy this book for what it provides and either learn and/or refresh themselves in what other scientists brought forth in this fascinating field of paleontology/earth history and the possible intpretations of climatic conditions in the future.

Last, I felt the author did a great service to those interested in becoming paleontologists in the final chapter of his book.Many young people believe it is a breeze to get through an intense program in this field and get a great job...not so.Prothero lays down the difficulties ahead for students, using his own experiences (as he does throughout the book) as excellent examples.(I loved the field work expeditions and the trials he and his students went through at times...a factor still common today in many remote areas.) I applaud him on being clear on this aspect for I have known too many students thinking this a "Jurassic Park" sort of lifestyle.It is not...as Prothero has described his dedication and perserverance, especially when analyzing samples pertinent to his dissertation and continued research (work 12-16 hrs at night).It is hard work, but extremely rewarding by those who work hard and try to understand the earth, its life (past and present), and possible future.

Excellent from several perspectives
This book is a fascinating update of North American paleontology, with a clear overview of paleoclimatology with lucid presentation of some of the inherent controversies given our current state of knowledge. I've referred back to this volume several times since I finished it, an indication of its quality as a source.

The Dinosaurs done gone long ago
Greenhouse of the Dinosaurs is a meaningless title. The dinosaurs are long since gone and the major portion of this book deals with the dating of the dramatic change from the Eocene hot greenhouse earth to the cold Oligocene snow ball earth. A better title would be "Greenhouse after the Dinosaurs (and a clutter of other unrelated things)". This volume seems to have been written with no master plan or aim. It is a collection of after thoughts, anecdotes and dropped sections from the authors voluminous and generally top grade other writings. That is what is so frustrating in trying to review the present volume. Some sections are excellent and relevant to understanding questions of the day in evolutionary biology and paleogeology. These include one of the best discussions yet of "Punk Eek" puctuated equilibrium and it's tremendous effect on evolutionary theory today, plus a meaningful and incisive examination of the events in the "last days" of the dinosaurs and the impact of the bolide out of the sky on the Cretaceous Tertiary Extiction, together with a fine and comprehensible presentation on the revolution in classic taxonomic methodologies brought about by the "invasion" of the standard historic principles by the new field of cladistics. All these sections are presented with a history of the individuals involved, "the Young Turks vs. the Old Guard", the personalities of the players often with the authors personal obervations. There is so much good information and insightful observation here that makes the book worthwhile reading through more than once. But there is also a lot of clutter; the search for paleomagnetic dates and who made the coffee on that trip gets to be a little tedious. This along with other side issues seems like deliberate filler. Yes but --I'm glad I have the scholarly volume warts and all.

Pop science with teeth!
Prothero has done it again - by adding personal stories, opinions, and photos, he takes a comprehensive discussion of the science around climate change & extinction and makes it fun to read!I must disclose that Don is a personal friend of mine, and I was lucky enough to work with him in the field several summers collecting paleomag samples.I can say that Don's style, which is so well characterized in his book, is what got me into geology as a profession.

Don's encyclopedic knowledge of his subjects lets him show how a topic is connected to other topics, and throw in the spice of "behind the scenes" trivia as well.I never fail to be amused (and a little horrified) at how the insanely competitive personalities of the early 20th-century fossil collectors in the western US defined paleontological study for the rest of the century!But Prothero never leaves you scratching your head; his explanations are clear, and include the actual data needed to draw conclusions (my pet peeve with many pop-science books these days.)

One thing Don makes clear is that science can be messy, and our understanding of past extinction & climate change episodes is far from complete.What we do know, however, is critical for confronting the human-induced warming we are experiencing now on planet Earth. ... Read more

Product Description
This engaging and accessible volume draws on the most recent historical archeological scholarship to tell the stories of human evolution, "gathering and hunting" societies, and the distinct breakthroughs that led to the emergence of the earliest cities, states, and civilizations. Highlighting both the separate paths and the intersecting journeys of diverse human communities, In the Beginning provides the essential but often neglected foundation on which all subsequent historical development was constructed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent Book on Pre-History
In the beginning, according to all our western civilization textbooks, the dawn rose on the towering zigurats of Sumer, a thriving civilization, fully formed with irrigated agriculture and distinctive cuneiform script.This premise begs a lot of questions about what precisely happened during prehistory that led to the emergence of complex human societies and all of the associated accouterments.

Ristvet fills this pedagogical gap with her excellent book. She synthesizes the most current anthropological research using a multi-regional approach (both Old World and New World) addressing essential topics such as early religions, the development of technologies and material culture, and the origins of agriculture and literacy.Most importantly the author manages to present these complex topics in a prose that is engaging, straight-forward, and current.

I highly recommend this text to instructors of ancient history, western civilization, anthropology, and archaeology courses.Though, I bought it simply because I thought it would be a fascinating and enjoyable read.I was not disappointed.

Good Book
I studied under this Prof at Georgia State University and she knows what she is talking about. I loved the book and bought it because she does excellent work. ... Read more

Product Description
Rather survey of the extensive data, this book focuses on the ideas, methodology and scope of contemporary palaeobiology.It devotes four chapters to the central principles of the field and then describes in detail five areas of current research: fossils and phylogenetic inference, the mechanism of speciation, taxonomic turnover on the geological time-scale, mass-extinctions, and the origin of new taxa. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Pattern and Process
This is a very good and not too technical summary by an expert in the Darwinian field not only of the current state of evolutionary theory, but of the real difficulties, stated with a succinct clarity often absent in other such works. A sort of Neo-Neo-Darwinian Synthesis emerges from the presentation of the complexities of the pattern and process debate, with good treatments of many issues, from cladistics, to punctuated equilibrium, and much else. The book is very clear, and, without parting ways with conventional Darwinism, highlights the complexities of the 'epistemological gap'as revealed in the actual state of our knowledge of the fossil record. As the author notes, there is "no single universally applicable theory of the cause of evolution that all agree explains all aspects of all cases". Such statements are more effective in the Darwin debate than the blank wall of massive denial that attends too many treatments.Veryclear, rigorous, and with excellent references. Good book to get one's bearings in a changing field, whatever one's views of evolution. ... Read more

Product Description
First appearing about 40 million years ago in North America, rhinoceroses diversified into an incredible array of taxa, with a variety of ecologies that don't resemble any of the five living species. They ranged from delicate long-legged dog-sized forms, to huge hippo-like forms that apparently lived in rivers and lakes. Including a complete systematic review, and discussions of biogeography, evolution and paleoecology, this book summarizes our current knowledge of North American rhinos and constitutes the most complete reference available. ... Read more

Product Description
"The journey our ancestors made from the sea to dry land is one of the greatest transformation in the history of life, and Gaining Ground documents it magnificently. This should come as no surprise, since Jennifer Clack has been revolutionizing our understanding of this crucial evolutionary episode for years now. In Gaining Ground, she decodes a wonderful tale encrypted in fossils, genes, and flesh." --Carl Zimmer, author of At the Water's Edge

Around 370 million years ago, a distant relative of a modern lungfish began the most exciting adventure the world had ever seen: it emerged from the sea and lay claim to the land. Over the next 70 million years, this tentative beachhead had become of worldwide colonization by any ever-increasing variety of four-limbed life. These first ãtetrapodsä are the ancestors of all vertebrate life on land.This book tells the story of their emergence and evolution. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

basic human anatomy book needed
Clack's book is well written and extremely informative but if you do not understand basic human skeletal anatomy, you'll get lost easily
So before diving into this book get a layman's book on human anatomy

One Layman's Experience of
Other reviews on this page describe the contents well, so I'll focus on my own experience in the hope that it will be helpful to others with similar backgrounds.I have no formal education in science past the high-school level.I learn about science by reading and Scientific American is my favorite source, although I sometimes read more technical material.Gaining Ground falls into the "more technical" category.

One thing I found is that I can't keep track of all the terminology.For example, Clack describes changes in the structures of skulls and that involves a lot of bones I had never heard of before.But by concentrating on the things that I could keep track of, I could follow her basic points.For example, as our ancestors moved to land, where the buoyancy of water no longer kept their heads from sagging, the many skull bones were consolidated into a smaller number for strength.I'll never remember the names of all the bones, but I'll always remember why they changed.The same is true of the separation of the skull from the shoulder girdle and the formation of the neck, and of various other changes.I was content with the fact that there was much I couldn't follow because there was much that I could follow and learn from.And I enjoyed reading it.

Since I read the book, an article by Clack appeared in Scientific American (Dec. 2005) giving an overview of the origin of tetrapods, without most of the technical detail.It is excellent and I will tuck a copy into the book before I read it the next time.If you're unsure about buying the book, read the article.Then tuck a copy into the book as soon as you get it.

[...].

A humerus tale . . .
. . . along with some ribs, vertebrae and shoulder bones.But it's the skull that captures themost attention.The multitude of variations that occurred as animals moved in delicate steps from water onto land that make the story most interesting.And Jenny Clack's story of our four-legged forebears is a wondrous tale.Ever since Charles Darwin explained the nature of life's evolution, the question of how sea creatures moved to the land has been an enigma.Consider the many issues involved: walking, breathing air instead of filtering water, hearing in air instead of water, how to feed - and where, and protecting eggs.Clack shows how these topics were addressed by slow, incremental changes in body plan, with changes in one area integrated with those in another.

Walking on land meant not only building bones strong enough to support the body, but muscles to drive them.The humerus, the single bone in your upper arm, not only had to be stronger, it had to have joints for a new form of movement.A stride is far different from the flapping of a fin, so the paddling fin had to change.Clack discounts the older, simpler views that the "lobe-finned" fish just developed better "legs".Moving from the sea requires more than just crawling up the beach.There had to be an intermediate step.Clack finds that step in brackish lagoons and shallow, meandering rivers.There, the new four-legged creatures learned to walk on silty soils and learn to mix air and water breathing methods.

It was a reinforcing cycle as the change in surroundings developed new capacities.Diet went from fish to insects.No longer able to simply swallow prey as fish do, tetrapods began feeding on insects and their own smaller cousins.That meant biting and chewing, requiring stronger jaws and specialised teeth.Skulls once short and narrow became wide and flat.Thisreorganising of the entire skull required new musclature for support.The more time on land, Clack shows, meant not only stronger legs, but a sturdier backbone.Ribs developed that held muscles for breathing.Although the earliest tetrapods likely gulped air as a fish gulps water, before long they were using their nostrils to fill lungs.

As should be obvious, this isn't a simple narrative.The fossil bones are meticulously detailed - when they are available.Clack's task is rendered more difficult by the paucity of fossils.She has been lucky in her own finds in Greenland and Scotland.Others have encountered Carboniferous fossils in the Ohio Valley, Nova Scotia and Australia.The real treasures should be in coal seams where plant remains have become burnable stone.However, mining operations leave little opportunity for discovery.What has been found has often been misinterpreted.In order to depict whathappened to tetrapod bodies over time, she is meticulous in describing individual bone types and how they changed.She helps the description with photographs and a wealth of line drawings.Still, this isn't a book for the uninitiated.It requires careful reading and no little back-flipping of the pages.The endeavour is well worth the effort, however.Clack has established an new foundation for understanding where and how creatures like ourselves originated.[stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Fills a Large Gap in Early Tetrapod Evolution
Dr. Clack has really come up with a winning book.I envy her personal experiences finding Paleozoic fossils in Greenland.She goes into considerable detail with fish and amphibian osteology which is difficult to non-existent to find in popular literature.But this book is no dry scientific text.It is an exciting subject and she does an excellent job of handling the task.I found her understanding of chemistry a little weak in a couple of places but the other information is superb.I had to give this book five stars because it is well presented and it is alone in its class.I am glad I purchased the book because it will make a great reference for my library.Thank you Jennifer Clack for a wonderful book!

2007 Update:My wife and I attended the 2007 SVP convention in Austin and we went on the field trip to North Texas to visit the very places where many of the early Permian fossils were found.My wife and I were present at the Author's presentation and got Dr. Clack to sign our book!

First step on land
This is the book to be read. There's no reason to hesitate, neither to read the commentaries to decide. As far as books of prehistoric animals are concerned, those of dinosaurs occupy most of them. And maybe this is the first, and the best I insist, to be written on the primitive form of tetrapods. Detailed investigations show us before and after the first members of tetrapods including their environmental conditions, soft tissues such as respiratory, sensory and reproductive systems and interpretation inferred based on the existent animals whose morphological character is insinuating. And, of course, their relationship analysed by cladistics comes in later chapter.
The most important point the author puts emphasis on is to urge our public image or concept on the early members of tetrapods. She intentionally avoids the word "amphibians" for them. You'll see why through the text. This is a superb book! Why don't you take a close look at their intriguing story? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

what is evolution/
EVOLUTION IS BASICALLLY ABOUT THE STUDY OF NATURE AND WHAT'S IN IT. ... Read more