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Mammals first evolved at about the same time as dinosaurs, and their story is perhaps the more fascinating of the two-in part because it is also our own story. In this literate and entertaining book, eminent naturalist David Rains Wallace brings the saga of ancient mammals to a general audience for the first time. Using artist Rudolph Zallinger's majestic The Age of Mammals mural at the Peabody Museum as a frame for his narrative, Wallace deftly moves over varied terrain-drawing from history, science, evolutionary theory, and art history-to present a lively account of fossil discoveries and an overview of what those discoveries have revealed about early mammals and their evolution. In these pages we encounter towering mammoths, tiny horses, giant-clawed ground sloths, whales with legs, uintatheres, zhelestids, and other exotic extinct creatures as well as the scientists who discovered and wondered about their remains. We meet such memorable figures as Georges Cuvier, Richard Owen, Edward D. Cope, George Gaylord Simpson, and Stephen Jay Gould and learn of their heated disputes, from Cuvier's and Owen's fights with early evolutionists to present controversies over the Late Cretaceous mass extinction. Wallace's own lifelong interest in evolution is reflected in the book's evocative and engaging style and in the personal experiences he expertly weaves into the tale, providing an altogether expansive perspective on what Darwin described as the "grandeur" of evolution.

Mammals --- Mammals, Fossil. --- Amniotes, Fossil --- Vertebrates, Fossil --- Evolution. --- ancient mammals. --- art history. --- controversial. --- dawn horses. --- early mammals. --- evolution. --- evolutionary biology. --- evolutionary history. --- evolutionary science. --- evolutionary theory. --- evolutionists. --- exotic creatures. --- extinct animals. --- fossils. --- historians. --- historical. --- late cretaceous period. --- life sciences. --- mammal evolution. --- mammals. --- mass extinction. --- natural history. --- naturalists. --- nonfiction. --- paleontology. --- richard owen. --- sloths. --- walking whales. --- zhelestids. --- zoology.

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Phylogeography of California examines the evolution of a variety of taxa-ancient and recent, native and migratory-to elucidate evolutionary events both major and minor that shaped the distribution, radiation, and speciation of the biota of California. The book also interprets evolutionary history in a geological context and reviews new and emerging phylogeographic patterns. Focusing on a region that is defined by physical and political boundaries, Kristina A. Schierenbeck provides a phylogeographic survey of California's diverse flora and fauna according to their major organismal groups. Life history and ecological characteristics, which play prominent roles in the various outcomes for respective clades, are also considered throughout the work. Supporting scholars and researchers who study evolutionary diversification, the book analyzes research that helps assess one of the major challenges in phylogeographic studies: understanding changes in population structures shaped by geological and geographical processes. California is one of only twenty-five acknowledged biological hotspots worldwide, and the phylogeographic history of the state can be extrapolated to study other regions in western North America. Further consideration is given to implications for conservation, recommendations concerning the biogeographic provinces that roughly define the state of California, and predictions related to climate change.

Geology --- Phylogeography --- Biogeography --- Phylogeography - California. --- animal life. --- animals in california. --- biogeographic. --- biological hotspot. --- biota. --- botany. --- california. --- climate change. --- conservation. --- contemporary geographic distributions. --- evolution. --- evolutionary diversification. --- evolutionary history. --- flora and fauna. --- genetics. --- geographic distribution of individuals. --- global warming. --- historical processes. --- phylogeography. --- plant life. --- plants in california. --- population genetics. --- population structures. --- scientists. --- united states of america. --- western north america. --- zoology.

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More than three hundred million years ago-a relatively recent date in the two billion years since life first appeared-vertebrate animals first ventured onto land. This usefully illustrated book describes how some finned vertebrates acquired limbs, giving rise to more than 25,000 extant tetrapod species. Michel Laurin uses paleontological, geological, physiological, and comparative anatomical data to describe this monumental event. He summarizes key concepts of modern paleontological research, including biological nomenclature, paleontological and molecular dating, and the methods used to infer phylogeny and character evolution. Along with a discussion of the evolutionary pressures that may have led vertebrates onto dry land, the book also shows how extant vertebrates yield clues about the conquest of land and how scientists uncover evolutionary history.

Vertebrates --- Evolution. --- acanthostega. --- acquired limbs. --- actinopterygians. --- adaptation. --- character evolution. --- dinosaurs. --- evolution. --- evolutionary history. --- evolutionary processes. --- evolutionary science. --- extant species. --- extant vertebrates. --- extinct animals. --- finned vertebrates. --- fossils. --- geology. --- life on earth. --- life sciences. --- limbs. --- molecular dating. --- nonfiction. --- paleontological dating. --- paleontology. --- phylogeny. --- popular science. --- science. --- tetrapods. --- vertebrate animals. --- vertebrates. --- zoology.