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Evolution
Description
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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