Beasts Before us : : the Untold Story of Mammal Origins and Evolution

Locations
Call Number: 599 Pa, Adult Book / Nonfiction / Science & Nature / Animals / Mammals
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	599 Pa	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Science & Nature / Animals / Mammals	4-week checkout	Due 03-27-2024

Isle of mists and lagoons -- A thoroughly modern platypus -- Like a hole in the head -- The first age of mammals -- Hot-blooded hunters -- A total disaster -- Milk tooth -- Digital bones -- Chinese revelations -- Time of revolt -- The journey home -- Triumph of the little guy.
"For most of us, the story of mammal evolution starts after the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs, but over the last 20 years scientists have uncovered new fossils and used new technologies that have upended this story. In Beasts Before Us, palaeontologist Elsa Panciroli charts the emergence of the mammal lineage, Synapsida, beginning at their murky split from the reptiles in the Carboniferous period, over three-hundred million years ago. They made the world theirs long before the rise of dinosaurs. Travelling forward into the Permian and then Triassic periods, we learn how our ancient mammal ancestors evolved from large hairy beasts with accelerating metabolisms to exploit miniaturisation, which was key to unlocking the traits that define mammals as we now know them"--provided by publisher.

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Good one submitted by sissyboodles on March 28, 2024, 8:11pm I love a good non-dinosaurian pop paleontology book and rank this with Gould's "Wonderful Life," Ward's "Gorgon" and Fortey's "Trilobite" as a favorite. After reading one of AADL's copies I bought myself a secondhand copy so I could spend more time with it.