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End of the Megafauna: The Fate of the World's Hugest, Fiercest, and Strangest Animals

Ross D.E. MacPhee
3.97/5 (477 ratings)
Read Now Download Now
Until a few thousand years ago, creatures that could have been from a sci-fi thriller—including gorilla-sized lemurs, 500-pound birds, and crocodiles that weighed a ton or more—roamed the earth. These great beasts, or “megafauna,” lived on every habitable continent and on many islands. With a handful of exceptions, all are now gone.

What caused the disappearance of these prehistoric behemoths? No one event can be pinpointed as a specific cause, but several factors may have played a role. Paleomammalogist Ross D. E. MacPhee explores them all, examining the leading extinction theories, weighing the evidence, and presenting his own conclusions. He shows how theories of human overhunting and catastrophic climate change fail to account for critical features of these extinctions, and how new thinking is needed to elucidate these mysterious losses.

Along the way, we learn how time is determined in earth history; how DNA is used to explain the genomics and phylogenetic history of megafauna—and how synthetic biology and genetic engineering may be able to reintroduce these giants of the past. Until then, gorgeous four-color illustrations by Peter Schouten re-create these megabeasts here in vivid detail.
Format:
Pages:
236 pages
Publication:
2019
Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company
Edition:
First Edition
Language:
eng
ISBN10:
0393249298
ISBN13:
9780393249293
kindle Asin:
B07BLM6MSJ

End of the Megafauna: The Fate of the World's Hugest, Fiercest, and Strangest Animals

Ross D.E. MacPhee
3.97/5 (477 ratings)
Read Download
Until a few thousand years ago, creatures that could have been from a sci-fi thriller—including gorilla-sized lemurs, 500-pound birds, and crocodiles that weighed a ton or more—roamed the earth. These great beasts, or “megafauna,” lived on every habitable continent and on many islands. With a handful of exceptions, all are now gone.

What caused the disappearance of these prehistoric behemoths? No one event can be pinpointed as a specific cause, but several factors may have played a role. Paleomammalogist Ross D. E. MacPhee explores them all, examining the leading extinction theories, weighing the evidence, and presenting his own conclusions. He shows how theories of human overhunting and catastrophic climate change fail to account for critical features of these extinctions, and how new thinking is needed to elucidate these mysterious losses.

Along the way, we learn how time is determined in earth history; how DNA is used to explain the genomics and phylogenetic history of megafauna—and how synthetic biology and genetic engineering may be able to reintroduce these giants of the past. Until then, gorgeous four-color illustrations by Peter Schouten re-create these megabeasts here in vivid detail.
Format:
Pages:
236 pages
Publication:
2019
Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company
Edition:
First Edition
Language:
eng
ISBN10:
0393249298
ISBN13:
9780393249293
kindle Asin:
B07BLM6MSJ

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