Millions of years before humans began visiting Atlantic and Gulf coast beaches, amazing creatures roamed this region. They are gone now but left behind fossil treasures you can pick up today. A Beachcomber's Guide to Fossils uses hundreds of color close-up photos and detailed descriptions to show you how to recognize these exciting finds. This field guide will help you uncover mysteries hiding among the seashells, sand, and driftwood. You'll learn to identify remnant bones and teeth from mammoths, sharks, armadillos, tortoises, and many other prehistoric giants.
Unearth the treasures from the prehistoric world underneath your feet. From glittering ammonites to razor-sharp dinosaur claws and delicate leaf impressions, uncover our world's prehistoric past through the incredible fossils left behind. Arranged by plant or animal type, there are profiles of 50 key fossils, including well-loved favorites, such as Triceratops, and more curious remains, such as fossil fish teeth. Learn all about how fossils form, where they are found, and how ancient animals are reconstructed. Filled with facts and containing newly discovered species, even the biggest fossil fans will learn something new from this book. Stunning photographs can be studied in detail, while pronunciation guides help with tricky names, and a visual index provides a quick overview of all the key plants and animals in the ebook. My Book of Fossils is an ideal first ebook about fossils and dinosaurs, and is sure to be a hit with fact-obsessed young enthusiasts of all things prehistoric.
Fossils have fascinated humans for centuries. From the smallest diatoms to the largest dinosaurs, finding a fossil is an exciting and rewarding experience. But where did they come from, and how long have they been around? These and many other questions are answered in this remarkable book.
Reveals how Darwin's study of fossils shaped his scientific thinking and led to his development of the theory of evolution. Darwin's Fossils is an accessible account of Darwin's pioneering work on fossils, his adventures in South America, and his relationship with the scientific establishment. While Darwin's research on Galápagos finches is celebrated, his work on fossils is less well known. Yet he was the first to collect the remains of giant extinct South American mammals; he worked out how coral reefs and atolls formed; he excavated and explained marine fossils high in the Andes; and he discovered a fossil forest that now bears his name. All of this research was fundamental in leading Darwin to develop his revolutionary theory of evolution. This richly illustrated book brings Darwin's fossils, many of which survive in museums and institutions around the world, together for the first time. Including new photography of many of the fossils--which in recent years have enjoyed a surge of scientific interest--as well as superb line drawings produced in the nineteenth century and newly commissioned artists' reconstructions of the extinct animals as they are understood today, Darwin's Fossils reveals how Darwin's discoveries played a crucial role in the development of his groundbreaking ideas.
Briefly describes different kinds of rocks and minerals, telling how they are formed, where they are found and their uses and examines what we can learn from fossils.
Donald R. Prothero’s Evolution is an entertaining and rigorous history of the transitional forms and series found in the fossil record. Its engaging narrative of scientific discovery and well-grounded analysis has led to the book’s widespread adoption in courses that teach the nature and value of fossil evidence for evolution. Evolution tackles systematics and cladistics, rock dating, neo-Darwinism, and macroevolution. It includes extensive coverage of the primordial soup, invertebrate transitions, the development of the backbone, the reign of the dinosaurs, and the transformation from early hominid to modern human. The book also details the many alleged “missing links” in the fossil record, including some of the most recent discoveries that flesh out the fossil timeline and the evolutionary process. In this second edition, Prothero describes new transitional fossils from various periods, vividly depicting such bizarre creatures as the Odontochelys, or the “turtle on the half shell”; fossil snakes with legs; and the “Frogamander,” a new example of amphibian transition. Prothero’s discussion of intelligent design arguments includes more historical examples and careful examination of the “experiments” and observations that are exploited by creationists seeking to undermine sound science education. With new perspectives, Prothero reframes creationism as a case study in denialism and pseudoscience rather than a field with its own intellectual dynamism. The first edition was hailed as an exemplary exploration of the fossil evidence for evolution, and this second edition will be welcome in the libraries of scholars, teachers, and general readers who stand up for sound science in this post-truth era.
Fossils are one of the most important tools we have for learning about long-extinct wildlife. A True Book: Earth Science series presents fascinating facts and fun activities that will engage the budding earth scientist, while exploring the fields of geology, meteorology, ecology, and more. This series includes an age appropriate (grades 3-5) introduction to curriculum-relevant subjects and a robust resource section that encourages independent study. In the 4.6 billion years since Earth was formed, many plant and animal species have come and gone. Readers will discover how fossils are formed, how paleontologists search for them, and what kinds of information they can provide.
"Darwin's book on evolution admitted that "intermediate links" were "perhaps the most obvious and serious objection to the theory" of evolution. Darwin recognized that the fossils collected by scientists prior to 1859 did not correspond with his theory of evolution, but he predicted that his theory would be confirmed as more and more fossils were found. One hundred and fifty years later, Evolution: The Grand Experiment critically examines the viability of Darwin's theory"--
This introduction offers an explanation of how fossils are a product of our evolving habitat. The emphasis is on what paleontology is really about, how the paleontologist tries to find out the ways in which fossil animals lived and how geological processes have interacted with the history of life.
