Fishes that walk, fishes that breathe air, fishes that look like--and are--monsters from the deep. These and many more strange creatures swim through "The Rise of Fishes," John A. Long's richly illustrated tour of the past 500 million years. Long has updated his classic work with illustrations of recent fossil discoveries and new interpretations based on genetic analyses. He reveals how fishes evolved from ancient, jawless animals, explains why fishes have survived on the Earth for so long, and describes how they have become the dominant aquatic life-form. Indeed, to take things a step further, we learn much about ourselves through this book, for all amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are descendants of ancient fishes.

Clear, accessible, and engaging, "The Rise of Fishes" combines scientific expertise with entertaining stories about Long's own excursions, which span the oceans and continents. The book includes photographs of fossils from around the world as well as dramatic color illustrations depicting what those fishes may have actually looked like.

Progress toward better understanding of ocean variability is closely linked to the development of signal processing tools for multi-scale analysis of ocean flows. This book includes a review of recent progress in physical oceanography, such as results on studying ocean circulation and mesoscale ocean dynamics derived from satellite altimetry. Ocean currents are driven by wind as well as by thermal differences. This book examines the basic functions of the global three dimensional thermohaline circulation and its influence on climate. The impacts of the El Nino/Southern Oscillation(ENSO) on tropical climates are well-established. Research is presented to provide a relationship to the European climates. In the semiarid zones of western South America, for example, implications of increased rainfall during ENSO warm phases are multiple and complex. An investigation of the interannual and intraseasonal variability in the summer wind fields in the Asian monsoon system is presented. The book also includes information from the scientific community on the state-of-art studies related to climate risk in agriculture and helps to identify priorities for ongoing and future research.

From kangaroos and koalas to the giant "Diprotodon" and bizarre "thingodontans," prehistoric mammals evolved within the changing and sometimes harsh environments of Australia. As part of Gondwana, Australia was the first landmass to be isolated from the supercontinent Pangaea. In "Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea, " four respected paleontologists present a history of the development of modern mammals from the unique evolutionary environment of Australia and New Guinea. The authors describe both what is known about prehistoric Australian mammals and what can be reconstructed from the fossil evidence about their appearance and behaviors.

This accessible reference work offers facts about how each mammal got its name and provides a description of how the fossil mammal resembles its modern descendants. Over 200 four-color illustrations enhance the text, which describes the age, diet, and habitat of these extinct mammals. The authors also detail how each mammal evolved and is now classified. Diagrams showing skeletal features and tooth structure and a glossary of technical terms are also included.