Extinctions

How Life Survives, Adapts and Evolves

Michael J. Benton

$49.99

Hardback

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English

Thames & Hudson
07 September 2023

History: earliest times to present day; Mathematics & Sciences

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Acid rain, global warming, erupting volcanoes and meteorite impact - it’s a wonder life has survived on the planet! In this very engaging and enlightening book, Benton shows how extinctions are not only lethal events, but also the means by which life readapts to changed conditions. From the Ediacaran to the Late Ordovician, the Late Devonian through to the Cretaceous asteroid disaster, this fascinating book takes the reader on journeys through deep time… and the persistence of life! Lindy

A journey through the great mass-extinction events that have shaped our Earth.

Drawing on the latest research, this timely and original book lays out the current scientific understanding of mass extinction on our planet. Cutting-edge techniques across biology, chemistry, physics and geology have transformed our knowledge of the deep past, including the discovery of a previously unknown mass extinction. This compelling evidence, revealing a series of environmental crises resulting in the near-collapse of life on Earth, illuminates our current dilemmas in exquisite detail.

Beginning with the oldest, Professor Michael J. Benton takes us through the 'big five' die-outs: the Late Ordovician, which set the evolution of the first animals on an entirely new course; the late Devonian, apparently brought on by global warming; the cataclysmic End-Permian, also known as the Great Dying, which wiped out over 90% of all life on Earth; and, book-ending the age of the dinosaurs, the newly discovered Carnian Pluvial Event and the End-Cretaceous asteroid. He examines how global warming, acid rain, ocean acidification, erupting volcanoes and meteorite impact have affected conditions on Earth, the drastic consequences for global ecology, and how life in turn survived, adapted and evolved.

Benton's expert retelling of the scientific breakthroughs are illustrated throughout with photographs of fossils and fieldwork, scenes from the laboratory and artistic reconstructions of ancient environments that bring us face to face with long-lost life forms. We learn how scientists have developed revolutionary new tools to uncover ancient extinction events and processes in forensic detail, how they model evolving systems, and how they are honing their methods to improve our understanding of the deep past. New research allows us to link long-ago upheavals to crises in our current age, the Anthropocene, with important consequences for us all.

By: Michael J. Benton
Imprint: Thames & Hudson
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm,
Weight: 640g
ISBN: 9780500025468
ISBN 10: 0500025460
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 07 September 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preface Part 1. The Late Ordovician Mass Extinction 1. The First Animals and First Mass Extinctions 2. The Cambrian Explosion 3. The Late Ordovician Mass Extinction Part 2. The Late Devonian Mass Extinctions 4. The Devonian Crisis 5. Impacts of Global Warming Part 3. The End-Permian Mass Extinction 6. The Greatest Crisis of All Time 7. Triassic Recovery Part 4. The End-Triassic Mass Extinction 8. The Carnian Pluvial Event and Origin of the Dinosaurs 9. The End-Triassic Extinction 10. The Universal Hyperthermal Crisis Model Part 5. The End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction 11. The Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution 12. The Day the Dinosaurs Died 13. Recovery and Building of Modern Ecosystems Part 6. The Anthropocene 14. The End of the Ice Age 15. The Industrial Age

Michael Benton is professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology and head of the world-leading Palaeobiology Research Group at the University of Bristol. He has written more than fifty books, including Dinosaurs: New Visions of a Lost World, The Dinosaurs Rediscovered and When Life Nearly Died, all published by Thames & Hudson. He was awarded an OBE for services to Palaeontology and community engagement and regularly appears in the media to discuss dinosaurs and understanding the history of life.

Reviews for Extinctions: How Life Survives, Adapts and Evolves

'If you want to know how extinctions happen and how the fossil record is relevant to understanding our current biodiversity crisis, read this delightful book about death and the resilience of life!' - Steve Brusatte