Book ID: CBB293277728

The Story of Life in 25 Fossils: Tales of Intrepid Fossil Hunters and the Wonders of Evolution (2018)

unapi

Prothero, Donald R. (Author)


Columbia University Press


Publication Date: 2018
Physical Details: 408 pages
Language: English

Every fossil tells a story. Best-selling paleontology author Donald R. Prothero describes twenty-five famous, beautifully preserved fossils in a gripping scientific history of life on Earth. Recounting the adventures behind the discovery of these objects and fully interpreting their significance within the larger fossil record, Prothero creates a riveting history of life on our planet. The twenty-five fossils portrayed in this book catch animals in their evolutionary splendor as they transition from one kind of organism to another. We witness extinct plants and animals of microscopic and immense size and thrilling diversity. We learn about fantastic land and sea creatures that have no match in nature today. Along the way, we encounter such fascinating fossils as the earliest trilobite, Olenellus; the giant shark Carcharocles; the "fishibian" Tiktaalik; the "Frogamander" and the "Turtle on the Half-Shell"; enormous marine reptiles and the biggest dinosaurs known; the first bird, Archaeopteryx; the walking whale Ambulocetus; the gigantic hornless rhinoceros Paraceratherium, the largest land mammal that ever lived; and the Australopithecus nicknamed "Lucy," the oldest human skeleton. We meet the scientists and adventurers who pioneered paleontology and learn about the larger intellectual and social contexts in which their discoveries were made. Finally, we find out where to see these splendid fossils in the world's great museums. Ideal for all who love prehistoric landscapes and delight in the history of science, this book makes a treasured addition to any bookshelf, stoking curiosity in the evolution of life on Earth.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB293277728/

Similar Citations

Thesis Rieppel, Lukas Benjamin; (2012)
Dinosaurs: Assembling an Icon of Science (/isis/citation/CBB001567402/)

Book Dingus, Lowell; Norell, Mark A.; (2010)
Barnum Brown: The Man Who Discovered Tyrannosaurus Rex (/isis/citation/CBB001023269/)

Book Ina Heumann; Holger Stoecker; Marco Tamborini; Mareike Vennen; (2018)
Dinosaurierfragmente: Zur Geschichte der Tendaguru-Expedition und ihrer Objekte, 1906-2018 (/isis/citation/CBB168836588/)

Article C.G.M. Paxton; D. Naish; (2019)
Did Nineteenth Century marine vertebrate fossil discoveries influence sea serpent reports? (/isis/citation/CBB528039835/)

Thesis Daniel Francis Zizzamia; (2015)
Making the West Malleable: Coal, Geohistory, and Western Expansion, 1800–1920 (/isis/citation/CBB915846070/)

Article Barry J. Cooper; James B. Jago; (2018)
Robert Bedford (1874-1951), the Kyancutta Museum, and a unique contribution to international geology (/isis/citation/CBB114084262/)

Book Ilja Nieuwland; (2019)
American Dinosaur Abroad: A Cultural History of Carnegie’s Plaster Diplodocus (/isis/citation/CBB424808631/)

Book Rich, Thomas H.; Vickers-Rich, Patricia; (2003)
A Century of Australian Dinosaurs (/isis/citation/CBB000950018/)

Thesis Marlena Briane Cameron; (2017)
Fossil Excavation, Museums, and Wyoming: American Paleontology, 1870-1915 (/isis/citation/CBB144188127/)

Article R. Bruce McMillan; (2016)
C. W. Beehler's Collection of Vertebrate Fossils: A Lost Legacy (/isis/citation/CBB008066555/)

Book Freeman, Michael J.; (2004)
Victorians and the Prehistoric: Tracks to a Lost World (/isis/citation/CBB000520147/)

Book Parsons, Keith M.; (2004)
The Great Dinosaur Controversy: A Guide to the Debates (/isis/citation/CBB000410994/)

Article Volkan Sarıgül; (2021)
A short history of paleontology in Turkey, Part II: Paleontology in the Republic of Turkey (/isis/citation/CBB163695996/)

Article Thomas Sharpe; (2022)
Henri De la Beche's 1829-1830 litograph, duria antiquior (/isis/citation/CBB971607561/)

Book Tom Sharpe; (2021)
The Fossil Woman: A Life of Mary Anning (/isis/citation/CBB900889395/)

Authors & Contributors
Charles G.M. Paxton
Tom Sharpe
Volkan Sarıgül
James B. Jago
Cameron, Marlena Briane
Fallon, Richard
Concepts
Paleontology
Fossils
Dinosaurs
Geology
Natural history
Earth sciences
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
20th century, early
Gilded Age (1870s-1900)
21st century
Places
United States
Great Britain
Australia
Wyoming (U.S.)
England
Tanzania (Tanganyika, Zanzibar)
Institutions
University of Wyoming
Museum für Naturkunde (Berlin)
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment