palaeontology

This title is not held in stock but we are happy to supply on special order. Please contact us. Vertebrate palaeontology is a lively field, with new discoveries being reported every week. This new edition reflects the international scope of vertebrate palaeontology, with a special focus on exciting new finds from China. Completely revised, the cladistic framework is strengthened, and new functional and developmental spreads are added. Study aids include: key questions, research to be done, and recommendations of further reading and web sites. The book is designed for palaeontology courses in biology and geology departments. It is also aimed at enthusiasts who want to experience the flavour of how the research is done. The book is strongly phylogenetic, and this makes it a source of current data on vertebrate evolution.

For 150 million years the skies belonged to the pterosaurs. These flying reptiles, which include the pterodactyls, shared the world with the nonavian dinosaurs until their extinction 65 million years ago. Some pterosaurs, such as the giant azhdarchids, had wingspans exceeding thirty feet and standing heights comparable to modern giraffes. This richly illustrated book takes an unprecedented look at these astonishing creatures, presenting the latest findings on their anatomy, ecology, and extinction. After decades of mystery, palaeontologists have finally begun to understand how pterosaurs are related to other reptiles, how they functioned as living animals, and, how, despite their size, they managed to become airborne. Here you can explore the fossil evidence of pterosaur behaviour and ecology, learn about the skeletal and soft-tissue anatomy of pterosaurs, and consider the newest theories about their cryptic origins. This one-of-a-kind book covers the discovery history, paleobiogeography, anatomy, and behaviours of more than 130 species of pterosaur, and also discusses their demise at the end of the Mesozoic. The most comprehensive book on pterosaurs ever published.

In this engrossing and accessible book, Macdougall explores the causes and effects of ice ages that have gripped our planet throughout its history, from the earliest known glaciation to the present. Following the development of scientific ideas about these dramatic events, Macdougall traces the lives of many of the brilliant and intriguing characters who have contributed to the evolving understanding of how ice ages come about. As it explains how the great Pleistocene Ice Age has shaped the earth’s landscape and influenced the course of human evolution, Frozen Earth also provides a fascinating look at how science is done, how the excitement of discovery drives scientists to explore and investigate, and how timing and chance play a part in the acceptance of new scientific ideas. Macdougall describes the awesome power of cataclysmic floods that marked the melting of the glaciers of the Pleistocene Ice Age. He probes the chilling evidence for “Snowball Earth,” an episode far back in the earth’s past that may have seen our planet encased in ice from pole to pole. He discusses the accumulating evidence from deep-sea sediment cores, as well as ice cores from Greenland and the Antarctic, that suggests fast-changing ice age climates may have directly impacted the evolution of our species and the course of human migration and civilization.  Frozen Earth also chronicles how the concept of the ice age has gripped the imagination of scientists for almost two centuries. It offers an absorbing consideration of how current studies of Pleistocene climate may help us understand earth’s future climate changes, including the question of when the next glacial interval will occur.

This book provides the first historical account of the origin, rise, and importance of palaeobiology, from the mid-nineteenth century to the late 1980s. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, Sepkoski shows how the movement was conceived and promoted by a small but influential group of palaeontologists – including Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge, among others – and examines the intellectual, disciplinary, and political dynamics involved in the ascendancy of palaeobiology. By emphasizing the close relationship between palaeobiology and other evolutionary disciplines, this book writes a new chapter in the history of evolutionary biology, while also offering insights into the dynamics of disciplinary change in modern science.

With his groundbreaking new findings and extensive research, palaeontologist and dino hunter Dr Phil Currie challenges the very foundations of traditional dinosaur theories. Seventy million years ago the Mongolian desert was home to the world’s biggest, most dangerous carnivores – 5 meters tall, 12 meters long and weighing over 4 tonnes, the Tyrannosaurs were the most formidable hunters to walk the earth. Now, new research emerges that threatens to challenge the foundation of many traditional theories on the biology of these fascinating creatures. Palaeontologist and dino hunter Dr Phil Currie is out to prove how dinosaurs actually lived. He and his team have been searching for the fossilised truth about dinosaurs in the most extreme conditions; searing 40 degree heat, intense sandstorms and the constant threat of illegal poachers. Currie’s groundbreaking investigation takes him from Mongolia to Canada and Patagonia in search of new evidence.
He is looking for one dinosaur in particular, the ‘Tarbosaurus bataar’ which he believes will lead him to prove that the world’s first pack hunters existed millions of years ago, but he also stumbles upon the many new truths behind these mythical animals. This book contains their exclusive, groundbreaking scientific research that has finally resolved the extraordinary biology of these awe-inspiring creatures.