Prehistoric Australasia

Visions of Evolution and Extinction

Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand, John Long, Trevor H. Worthy (Autoren)

Buch | Hardcover

1459 Seiten

2023
CSIRO Publishing (Verlag)
978-0-643-10805-9 (ISBN)

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Presents some of the most extraordinary creatures the world has ever seen - all unique to Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand and their surrounding islands. Over 100 painted panoramas by Peter Schouten are accompanied by descriptions of the environments and features of these animals, written by four of Australia's foremost palaeontologists.

For most of the past 300 million years, the world's continents were interlinked as the supercontinents Pangaea and then Gondwana. Around 50 million years ago, Australia tore itself free from Antarctica to become the huge, splendidly isolated island it is today. Over time, its creatures began to evolve in ways not seen anywhere else on Earth, with tree-climbing crocodiles, gigantic venomous lizards, walking omnivorous bats and flesh-eating kangaroos roaming the continent.

Prehistoric Australasia: Visions of Evolution and Extinction presents some of the most extraordinary creatures the world has ever seen – all unique to Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand and their surrounding islands.

Over 100 meticulously painted panoramas by palaeoartist Peter Schouten are accompanied by descriptions of the unique environments and features of these animals, written by four of Australia's foremost palaeontologists. This book explores the nature and timing of extinction events in the Southern Hemisphere, considers whether some of these losses might be able to be reversed, and how we can use the fossil record to help save today's critically endangered species.

Through stunning artwork and fascinating text, Prehistoric Australasia brings this globally unique transformation over time to glorious, colourful life.

Features

Offers fascinating glimpses into the prehistoric past of Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea.
More than 100 paintings showcasing the changing biotas of Australasia over the last 3.6 billion years.
Reveals the unique features of prehistoric animals and the environments where they lived.

Michael Archer, Professor at UNSW Sydney, is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, a Member of the Order of Australia and a recipient of the Romer-Simpson Medal of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Suzanne J. Hand, Emeritus Professor at UNSW Sydney, has described more than 125 new fossil taxa. She is a Fellow of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales and the Royal Society of New South Wales. John Long is Strategic Professor in Palaeontology at Flinders University, and the author of many scientific publications as well as popular and scientific books. Trevor H. Worthy, Associate Professor at Flinders University, is a global authority on fossil birds, and an Elected Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union. Peter Schouten is a wildlife illustrator and palaeoartist who has co-authored or illustrated many popular and scientific books over the past 50 years.

Introduction

104 prehistoric scenes, from the Archaean Eon to the Holocene

Acknowledgements

References

Index

Erscheinungsdatum	04.04.2023
Illustrationen	Peter Schouten
Zusatzinfo	110 colour illustrations, 27 maps
Verlagsort	Melbourne
Sprache	englisch
Maße	200 x 260 mm
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Natur / Technik ► Naturwissenschaft
Themenwelt	Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Genetik / Molekularbiologie
ISBN-10	0-643-10805-X / 064310805X
ISBN-13	978-0-643-10805-9 / 9780643108059
Zustand	Neuware