End of the Megafauna: The Fate of the World's Hugest, Fiercest, and Strangest Animals

by PeterSchouten (Author), RossDEMacphee (Author), Ross D E Macphee (Author), Ross D E Macphee (Author), Peter Schouten (Author), Peter Schouten (Author)

New
Illustrated
2018
$30.66

Until a few thousand years ago, creatures- megafauna -that could have been from a sci-fi thriller roamed the earth. With a handful of exceptions, all are now gone.

Ross MacPhee explores the question of what caused the disappearance of these prehistoric behemoths, examining the extinction theories, weighing the evidence and presenting his conclusions. He comments on how past extinctions can shed light on future losses and on the possibility of bringing back extinct species through genetic engineering. Gorgeous four-colour illustrations bring these megabeasts back to life in vivid detail.

Synopsis

Until a few thousand years ago, creatures- megafauna -that could have been from a sci-fi thriller roamed the earth. With a handful of exceptions, all are now gone.

Ross MacPhee explores the question of what caused the disappearance of these prehistoric behemoths, examining the extinction theories, weighing the evidence and presenting his conclusions. He comments on how past extinctions can shed light on future losses and on the possibility of bringing back extinct species through genetic engineering. Gorgeous four-colour illustrations bring these megabeasts back to life in vivid detail.

$30.66

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More Information

Format: Illustrated
Pages: 256
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 23 Nov 2018
ISBN 10: 0393249298
ISBN 13: 9780393249293

Media Reviews

A lively and smart tour of the various theories of why so many large-bodied animals disappeared around 11,700 years ago. Drawing from his decades of personal involvement in the debate, Ross D. E. MacPhee explores the assumptions, arguments, and misconceptions about the roles of humans, a changing climate, and other possible causes for the disappearance of the megafauna. With vivid prose matched by Peter Schouten's equally vivid illustrations, the reader is transported back in time to a world that is both foreign and familiar, and emerges with a better understanding of how our actions as humans impact the world around us.--Beth Shapiro, author of How to Clone a Mammoth
Adds thoughtful fuel to a scholarly debate that shows no signs of ending.

Author Bio

Ross D. E. MacPhee is a paleomammalogist with the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where he has worked since 1988. He has conducted more than fifty expeditions in many parts of the world, including both polar regions. In addition to numerous scientific papers, he is the author of Race to the End: Amundsen, Scott, and the Attainment of the South Pole (2010) and the editor of Extinctions in Near Time: Causes, Contexts, and Consequences (1999). Peter Schouten is a self-taught and trained artist who works primarily in the field of natural history illustration. He has illustrated many award-winning books and his artworks have been collected by museums and galleries around the globe. In 2015 he was awarded the title Member of the Order of Australia, in recognition of his contributions to the development of Australian arts and sciences.