The Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life is just that: a spectacularly illustrated, comprehensive guide to the prehistoric world, and the plants and animals that lived there. With in-depth discussions of early Earth's eras of hospitable (and inhospitable) climates, conditions, and the life forms that flourished and floundered.
[...]... populations of animals, plants, and other living things, as well as in fossils As organisms change over time to adapt to new environments or ways of life, they give rise to new species The inheritance of features by a creature’s descendants is the main component of evolutionary change An understanding of how evolution happens proved to be one of the key scientific revelations in our understanding of life, and. .. relatives of arthropods METAZOAN DIVERSITY The Burgess Shale shows how well metazoans diversified to fill the available ecological niches The rest of the Phanerozoic Eon (the age of “obvious life ) saw increasing diversification of these groups, the invasion of the land, and a boom in the numbers and variety of arthropods and vertebrates Animals invaded the air, spread though freshwater environments, and. .. are destroyed by the action of wind and water Once exposed, a fossil may be discovered by people 13 EVOLVING LIFE EVOLVING LIFE THE FOSSIL RECORD PRESERVES the history of Nucleus contains many strands of DNA and huge amounts of genetic information life from the earliest single-celled organisms to the complex multicellular creatures – including plants, fungi, and animals – of more recent times It shows... animals, and other forms of life surround us in a multitude of forms Ever since people first realized that fossils are the remains of once-living things, they have strived to interpret them Paleontology, the study of ancient life, involves reconstructing the former appearance, lifestyle, behavior, evolution, and relationships of once-living organisms Paleontological work includes the collection of specimens... be a form of australopithecine Between 1960 and 1963, the Leakeys discovered remains of Homo habilis, and Louis theorized that their find was a direct ancestor of humans Cretaceous belemnite FOSSIL TIMELINE DEVONIAN PERIOD Each timeline page contains sample images of the plant and animal life present during a certain period American scientist who was professor of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania... geologist who studied the geology of France and Scotland, and in 1827 gave up a career in law for a life spent studying geology In his work The Principles of Geology (1830–33), Lyell devised the names for geological epochs that are now in universal usage, including Eocene and Pliocene His Elements of Geology, which was published in 1838, became a standard work on stratigraphy and palaeontology In Lyell’s... States, Marsh’s teams made a number of discoveries In 1871, they found the first American pterosaur fossils They also found the remains of early horses in the USA Marsh described the remains of Cretaceous toothed birds and flying reptiles, and Cretaceous and Jurassic dinosaurs, including Apatosaurus and Allosaurus Biography entries give details about influential scientists and palaeontologists HERMANN VON... microfossils Dyke of igneous rock intruding into older strata 295–250 299–251 Fossil brachiopods Leading expert on dinosaur trackways, professor of geology at the University of Colorado, and curator of the Denver Fossil Footprint Collection Lockley’s primary research interests include fossil footprints, dinosaur trackways, and palaeontological history His research has taken him from his home bases of. .. extinct relatives of squids, were thought to be coiled snakes turned to stone Paleontology as we recognize it today arose in the late 18th century The discovery of fossil mastodons (American relatives of elephants) and of Mosasaurus, a huge Cretaceous marine reptile, led to the acceptance of extinction, an idea previously rejected as contrary to the Bible With the concept of extinction and life before man... presense of certain special bacteria, can mean that soft parts are retained and fossilized The complete remains of soft-bodied organisms can be preserved under such conditions, as can skin and internal organs More sediments deposited above the fossil bury it deeper in the rock, and may compress or distort it Erosion at the surface of the Earth means that new fossils are constantly being revealed RESULTS OF . key features and sample species. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DINOSAURS and other prehistoric life begins with an introductory section that provides an overview to understanding. evolution, and prehistoric life. This is followed by the four main sections of the book, which cover the major groups of prehistoric animals – Fish and Invertebrates, Amphibians