Extinction

How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago - Updated Edition

Douglas H. Erwin (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

320 Seiten

2015 | Revised edition
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-0-691-16565-3 (ISBN)

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Some 250 million years ago, the earth suffered the greatest biological crisis in its history. Around 95 percent of all living species died out--a global catastrophe far greater than the dinosaurs' demise 185 million years later. How this happened remains a mystery. But there are many competing theories. Some blame huge volcanic eruptions that covered an area as large as the continental United States; others argue for sudden changes in ocean levels and chemistry, including burps of methane gas; and still others cite the impact of an extraterrestrial object, similar to what caused the dinosaurs' extinction. Extinction is a paleontological mystery story. Here, the world's foremost authority on the subject provides a fascinating overview of the evidence for and against a whole host of hypotheses concerning this cataclysmic event that unfolded at the end of the Permian. After setting the scene, Erwin introduces the suite of possible perpetrators and the types of evidence paleontologists seek.
He then unveils the actual evidence--moving from China, where much of the best evidence is found; to a look at extinction in the oceans; to the extraordinary fossil animals of the Karoo Desert of South Africa. Erwin reviews the evidence for each of the hypotheses before presenting his own view of what happened. Although full recovery took tens of millions of years, this most massive of mass extinctions was a powerful creative force, setting the stage for the development of the world as we know it today. In a new preface, Douglas Erwin assesses developments in the field since the book's initial publication.

Douglas H. Erwin is senior scientist and curator in the Department of Paleobiology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. He began researching the end-Permian mass extinction in the early 1980s and has traveled many times to China, South Africa, and Europe seeking its causes.

Acknowledgments vii Preface to the New Paperback Edition ix CHAPTER 1: Introduction 1 CHAPTER 2: A Cacophony of Causes 17 CHAPTER 3: South China Interlude 59 CHAPTER 4: It's a Matter of Time 77 CHAPTER 5: Filter Feeding Fails 98 CHAPTER 6: South African Eden 124 CHAPTER 7: The Perils of Permian Seas 161 CHAPTER 8: Denouement 187 CHAPTER 9: Resurrection and Recovery 218 CHAPTER 10: The Paradox of the Permo-Triassic 245 Notes 263 References 275 Index 293

Reihe/Serie	Princeton Science Library
Vorwort	Douglas H. Erwin
Zusatzinfo	32 halftones. 32 line illus.
Verlagsort	New Jersey
Sprache	englisch
Maße	140 x 216 mm
Gewicht	255 g
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Natur / Technik
	Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Evolution
	Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften ► Mineralogie / Paläontologie
ISBN-10	0-691-16565-3 / 0691165653
ISBN-13	978-0-691-16565-3 / 9780691165653
Zustand	Neuware