Over the past twenty years, paleontologists have made tremendous
fossil discoveries, including fossils that mark the growth of
whales, manatees, and seals from land mammals and the origins of
elephants, horses, and rhinos. Today there exists an amazing
diversity of fossil humans, suggesting we walked upright long
before we acquired large brains, and new evidence from molecules
that enable scientists to decipher the tree of life as never
before.
The fossil record is now one of the strongest lines of evidence
for evolution. In this engaging and richly illustrated book, Donald
R. Prothero weaves an entertaining though intellectually rigorous
history out of the transitional forms and series that dot the
fossil record. Beginning with a brief discussion of the nature of
science and the "monkey business of creationism," Prothero tackles
subjects ranging from flood geology and rock dating to
neo-Darwinism and macroevolution. He covers the ingredients of the
primordial soup, the effects of communal living, invertebrate
transitions, the development of the backbone, the reign of the
dinosaurs, the mammalian explosion, and the leap from chimpanzee to
human. Prothero pays particular attention to the recent discovery
of "missing links" that complete the fossil timeline and details
the debate between biologists over the mechanisms driving the
evolutionary process.
"Evolution" is an absorbing combination of firsthand
observation, scientific discovery, and trenchant analysis. With the
teaching of evolution still an issue, there couldn't be a better
moment for a book clarifying the nature and value of fossil
evidence. Widely recognized as a leading expert in his field,
Prothero demonstrates that the transformation of life on this
planet is far more awe inspiring than the narrow view of
extremists.
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