By one of the stars of modern paleontology ( National Geographic ), a sweeping and revelatory new History of mammals, illuminating the lost story of the extraordinary family tree that led to us Though humans claim to rule the Earth, we are the inheritors of a dynasty that has reigned over the planet for nearly 66 million years, through fiery cataclysm and ice ages: the mammals .
A sterling example of scientific storytelling by one of our finest young researchers, The Rise and Reign of the Mammals illustrates how this incredible History laid the foundation for today\'s world, for us, and our future..
Entwined in this story is the detective work he and other scientists have done to piece together our understanding using fossil clues and cutting-edge technology.
Brusatte also brings alive the lost worlds mammals inhabited through time, from ice ages to volcanic catastrophes.
Beginning with the earliest days of our lineage some 325 million years ago, Brusatte charts how mammals survived the asteroid that claimed the Dinosaurs and made the world their own, becoming the astonishingly diverse range of animals that dominate today\'s Earth.
Now, picking up the narrative in the ashes of the extinction event that doomed T-rex and its kind, Brusatte explores the remarkable story of the family of animals that inherited the Earth--mammals-- and brilliantly reveals that their story is every bit as fascinating and complex as that of the dinosaurs.
How did we get here? In his acclaimed bestseller The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs --hailed as a masterpiece of science writing by the Washington Post --American paleontologist Steve Brusatte enchanted readers with his definitive his - tory of the dinosaurs.
Indeed humankind and many of the beloved fellow mammals we share the planet with today--lions, whales, dogs--represent only the few survivors of a sprawling and astonishing family tree that has been pruned by time and mass extinctions.
Our lineage includes saber-toothed tigers, woolly mammoths, armadillos the size of a car, cave bears three times the weight of a grizzly, clever scurriers that outlasted Tyrannosaurus rex, and even other types of humans, like Neanderthals.
By one of the stars of modern paleontology ( National Geographic ), a sweeping and revelatory new History of mammals, illuminating the lost story of the extraordinary family tree that led to us Though humans claim to rule the Earth, we are the inheritors of a dynasty that has reigned over the planet for nearly 66 million years, through fiery cataclysm and ice ages: the mammals
