A new book called Vertebrate Evolution has retold the story of complex animals on Earth in a way we have never seen before. Beginning with the earliest and most distant ancestors of vertebrates in the Cambrian and working his way up to modern humans, renowned professor and geologic storyteller Donald Prothero guides readers through the Age of Fishes and the largest coral reefs ever, through dinosaur-infested jungles, and the world of wooly beasts during our last Ice Age.
At each juncture, he highlights key evolutionary shifts which took animals from simple and small to complex and colossal, such as cephalization: the process through which animals evolved a distinct head, tetrapods: the four-limbed beasts who climbed out of the sea and became the reptiles and mammals, and amniotes, which started as hard eggshells but also include the mammalian placenta. Though its rich content offers the scholarly merit of a college textbook, Vertebrate Evolution is accessible and conversational for anyone, regardless of level of experience in biology.
If this expert narrative were not enough, the book is exquisitely illustrated by famed paleoartist Nobumichi Tamura, whose masterful digital sculpts grace almost every page and do unmatched justice to the almost-unbelievable biodiversity of the last half-billion years. Vertebrates are some of the most complex, intelligent, and diverse life forms on Earth, and they include the creatures we regard as the most similar to ourselves. They include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
Key Features
Provides an up-to-date account of evolution of vertebrates
Includes numerous beautiful color reconstructions of prehistoric vertebrates
Describes extinct vertebrates and their evolutionary history
Discusses and illustrates the first vertebrates, as well as familiar lineages of fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals
Reviews mass extinctions and other important events in the diversification of vertebrates
Media Contact
Company Name: Donald R. Prothero and Nobumichi Tamura
Contact Person: Donald R. Prothero
Email: Send Email
Country: United States
Website: https://www.amazon.com/Vertebrate-Evolution-Origins-Dinosaurs-Beyond/dp/036747316X/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=4RZ40&content-id=amzn1.sym.a5eaa569-8a45-4530-84d2-2dcf8023272a&pf_rd_p=a5eaa569-8a45-4530-84d2-2dcf8023272a&pf_rd_r=NYRZKTJDSEZCNZ73HHFA&pd_rd_wg=0qgT5&pd_rd_r=6db55488-93a2-451f-adc3-598bfefd2113&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mi&asin=0367651769&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1
