The roots of this book and its sister volume, Mammal Phylogeny: Placenta/so go back to discussions and plans, shelved for a while, between F. S. Szalay and W. P. Luckett during the international and multidisciplinary symposium on rodent evolution sponsored by NATO, July 2-6, 1984, in Paris. That conference, orga nized by W. P. Luckett and J. -L. Hartenberger, the proceedings of which were published in 1985, proved an inspiring experience to all of the participants, as this was repeatedly expressed both during and after the meetings. In addition to issues relating to rodents, general theoretical topics pertaining to the evolutionary biol ogy and systematics of other groups of mammals regularly surfaced during the presentations and discussions. M. J. Novacek, who was also a participant in the rodent symposium, shared with Luckett and Szalay the enthusiasm acquired there, and he also expressed strong interest for a meeting on mammal evolution with a general focus similar to that of the rodent gathering. In 1988, Szalay and Luckett, after having planned in detail a program, direc tion, and core list of participants, were awarded a $30,000 grant by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation through the Research Foundation of the City University of New York. The grant was contingent upon obtaining additional funds sufficient to assure that the symposium would be held. Raising the remaining funds proved to be a problem.

“"Terra" is one of the important books of our time—and it will change the way you think about the world.” —Neil Shubin, Provost, Field Museum of Natural History

The natural world as humans have always known it evolved close to 100 million years ago with the appearance of flowering plants and pollinating insects during the age of the dinosaurs. Its tremendous history is now in danger of profound, catastrophic disruption. In this brilliant synthesis of evolutionary biology, paleontology, and modern environmental science, Michael Novacek shows how we can understand and prevent what he and others call today’s “mass extinction event.”