Cambrian Ocean World
Ancient Sea Life of North America
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Indiana University Press
Published:6th Jun '14
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Wonderful and bizarre animals from the first flourishing of life on Earth
The Cambrian Period was a critical time in Earth's history during this immense span of time nearly every modern group of animals appeared. This book deals with the life and times of the amazing animals that inhabited Earth more than 500 million years ago.
This volume, aimed at the general reader, presents life and times of the amazing animals that inhabited Earth more than 500 million years ago. The Cambrian Period was a critical time in Earth's history. During this immense span of time nearly every modern group of animals appeared. Although life had been around for more than 2 million millennia, Cambrian rocks preserve the record of the first appearance of complex animals with eyes, protective skeletons, antennae, and complex ecologies. Grazing, predation, and multi-tiered ecosystems with animals living in, on, or above the sea floor became common. The cascade of interaction led to an ever-increasing diversification of animal body types. By the end of the period, the ancestors of sponges, corals, jellyfish, worms, mollusks, brachiopods, arthropods, echinoderms, and vertebrates were all in place. The evidence of this Cambrian "explosion" is preserved in rocks all over the world, including North America, where the seemingly strange animals of the period are preserved in exquisite detail in deposits such as the Burgess Shale in British Columbia. Cambrian Ocean World tells the story of what is, for us, the most important period in our planet's long history.
Based on a chronological transect of the Cambrian and the Cambrian radiation, and bringing in expert knowledge from researchers around the globe, Foster revels in details and thereby exposes his most profound interest - and love - of past life and palaeontology. The result is a staggering 432 pages of delight - containing a lot of information, combined with many beautiful illustrations and figures. . . . This volume leaves you with a lasting impression and is, in my opinion, at present . . . definitely the best introductory textbook within its field. It is clearly worth reading.
* Deposits Magazine *Told with a wry humor, the odd pop cultural/sci-fi reference, and personal anecdotes, Foster does a great job in making this an enjoyable read and bringing the Cambrian to us. An alien world is transformed before our eyes into one that is increasingly more familiar. Although written for general readers, students and researchers of paleontology may also benefit from this volume.
* Quarterly Review of Biology *A must have for anyone with an interest in the fossils from this time period.
* Birdbooker Report *The Cambrian is passionately profiled in Cambrian Ocean World, part of the 'Life of the Past' series. Foster . . . has spent several decades collecting Cambrian fossils in the western US. His book is both a comprehensive guide to the evolution of life during the Cambrian and a narrative of his experiences hunting for the world's oldest animal fossils. The ten chapters follow the evolution of animals, ecosystems, and environments during the Cambrian, beginning with an alien world and culminating in an ocean realm that seems familiar, with sponges, mollusks, corals, and fish. The book is richly illustrated with hundreds of photographs of fossils Foster has collected, and short profiles of paleontologists provide a personal touch. . . . Highly recommended.
* ChoiISBN: 9780253011824
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 1066g
456 pages