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Title: Quaternary Extinctions: A Prehistoric Revolution by Paul S. Martin, Richard G. Klein ISBN: 0-8165-1100-4 Publisher: University of Arizona Press Pub. Date: February, 1989 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A true masterpiece about extinction of Ice Age megafauna
Comment: This book is not for the novice. However, it is an excellently organized and drafted presentation of 40 papers on the variously submitted causes for the extinction of many dominant and marvelous animals, from the end of the Ice Age to our own time. Since no formal records were kept on this decline, even though many vanishings occurred during the time of record-keeping people, the scientist is left to investigate and to hypothesize on the cause or causes of the extinctions. Recorded here are many of those investigations and their results. The diversity of opinion is an exciting testament, not only to the ingenuity of the investigators, but to the processes of science itself.
Some investigations are restricted, both in terms of time, area, and species. Others are far broader, even global in scale. It would appear from a perusal of the articles that climate and consequent botanical change, or the coming of man into a successful hunter, were the primary cause(s) of the tragedy. But, as some contributors note, other causes may be relevant as well.
Among the notorious RECENT extinctions discussed are the mammoth, less than 3,500 years ago, the Irish elk, in 500 A.D., or so, the moa of New Zealand, the Aepyornis, or elephant bird, and the giant lemur, both of Madagascar, within possibly the last 200 years. It seems germane that the islands, where man arrived only in the past 200 to 500 years, had the last megafauna to disappear, but, of course, the process goes on even in our own time, as witness the mountain gorilla, black rhinoceros, Javanese Tiger, Tasmanian Tiger, passenger pigeon, etc.
As noted at the outset, some background in Ice Age paleontology is probably necessary for a full enjoyment of this book. If you haven't one, I suggest that you read "The Ice Age Animals of North America", by Ian Lange, and then read this book.
The volume at hand is one of the most fascinating books I have ever read. I'd give it ten stars, if I could. As to persons who have some scientific background, my recommendation is off the scale.
Rating: 5
Summary: Complete, well organized, easy to read.
Comment: Being a French speaker, I didn't have any problem understand it and reading it. The subject is really well covered and written by many scientists. Many causes are explained.
Rating: 5
Summary: The authoritative source for data and theories
Comment: This is the best, most comprehensive treatment of available data (which has grown some) and theories (which have grown but not multiplied) on land vertebrate extinctions of the last 100,000 years. If you are a mammoth/sabertooth extinction hound, this book will feed you better than any other. It does require some specialized knowledge in a few chapters, but the gist is accessible for the educated layperson. It's worth hunting for or buying used.
A more recent offering, though briefer, is "Extinctions in Near Time," Ross MacPhee, ed.
I appreciate the candor in labeling two of the major sections, entitled 'the theoretical marketplace: geologic-climactic models' and 'the theoretical marketplace: cultural models' which encompass variations on each of the two main theories for the extinction.
In addition to theories, the book describes the various mammals as well as their pattern of disappearance region by region worldwide. At 867 pages, it will keep you going for a while, but it's worth every page.
There is only one chapter on birds, only passing references to a tortise, lizard, or fish, and nothing on plants. I would love to find similar treatments for changes in characteristic flora for the same time period.
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Title: Ice Age Mammals of North America by Ian Lange, illustrator Dorothy S. Norton ISBN: 0878424032 Publisher: Mountain Press Publishing Company Pub. Date: October, 2002 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids by Jordi Agusti, Mauricio Anton ISBN: 0231116403 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $41.50 |
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Title: The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives by Mauricio Antón, Alan Turner, F. Clark Howell ISBN: 0231102291 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Before the Indians by Björn Kurtén ISBN: 0231065833 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 April, 1996 List Price(USD): $27.00 |
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Title: Prehistoric America: A Journey Through the Ice Age and Beyond by Miles Barton, Ian Gray, Adam White, Nigel Bean, Stephen Dunleavy ISBN: 0300098197 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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