Product Description
Adapted from the pages of LIFE factual books for young readers ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Fabulous even for younger kids... and parents.
My four year old son absolutely loves this book. After about two months of renewing it every time we went to the library, I knew it was going to be a keeper (he's allowed to renew one book each time - that this has stayed his favorite for so long is telling of its appeal). The color-coded timelines and maps are great for appealing to more than simply verbal learners, and the text doesn't stray into overly technical jargon (like some adult-intended references) - but it does highlight key points such as dentition and how reconstructions are made based on limited fossil evidence.

The animals are sorted by taxonomic families, which is very logical (as opposed to alphabetically or by time period), and then each genus gets a two page spread usually sorted by time period, which makes it extremely convenient for bedtime reading. (For example, all the Probuscids (Elephant-like) mammals are together, the first ones being the oldest, the last spread being on mammoths, the youngest of the family.)

My son is an avid dinosaur fan, and I find this book much more pleasant for me to read through than most of the dinosaur books we have - I find it interesting to read through, and sometimes my patience outlasts my son's. This book seems more than just a rote regurgitation of specs about each animal - I think it encourages critical thinking and thoughtful learning, too.

The only thing I wish it had was a pronunciation key - the multi-syllable Latin words cause a noticeable pause when I'm reading to him.

The recognisable familiar world in visual appearance of the astonishing prehistoric mammals
National geographic have once againbrought out and presented us readers with prehistoric mammals a recognisable familarworld with stunningly breathtaking photograph-like illustrations that are like transporting you back intime machine but without anyneed to go anywhere and with all sorts of structural, size charts detailed profiles on each individual species and whole stack more scientific information which is interesting to read because it,s fascinating for reference in discovery of new worlds.Finally i would like to add that the onlyputoff to this book is that the scientific names are incorrect or to more naturally put it wrong because of it,s classification data but it is still nonetheless worth buying whether you borrow it or keep it for reading four and half stars from me.

great price - great book for junior scientists!
Bought this book as a Christmas gift for my 12-year-old.It was one of the things she wanted most on her list.If you know of someone interested in prehistoric mammals, this book is a great source of information.

A great introduction to mamalian evolution
A great intro to mammalian evolution. Suited to yonger readers with good graphics and concise text.... Thanks National Geographic!

Prehistoric fan
My son loves this book and has been studying it since he got it for Christmas. ... Read more

Product Description
A brief introduction to the history and characteristics of prehistoric mammals in general, and specific descriptions of twelve different kinds. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Cool pictures
This is a great book to introduce the prehistoric mammals to your kid with. I really liked Ruth's illustrations as a kid myself. My son enjoys looking at the pics too. As a resource, it is pretty weak- but there is very little in print at all for kids on the subject.

This is a cool book!
This book colorfully and amazingly portrays the misconception-filled world of ancient mammals. In Short, READ THIS BOOK! ... Read more

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

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

Customer Reviews (3)

Paleontology
A nice volume that covers many rarely cited prehistoric mammals from Australia & New Guinea. Recommended for anyone interested in vertebrate paleontology.

Mixed Emotions
I have mixed emotions about this book. It starts out with a very good set of chapters introducing Australia's mammals. It talks about how they developed, how they were found and the constraints that living on a small and mostly desert continent puts on them. That part is almost worth the cost of the book. The rest of the book is a mixed bag from the point of view of the interested non-specialist. It has very good illustrations and lots of them. Some of the species descriptions are written in such a way that an intelligent layperson can get the gist of them. Others probably have something profound to say, but not to the non-specialist. For example: "Distinguishing features of Diprotodon include: its large size; relatively small P3 (compared to the molars); P3 shearing blades which unite to form a horse-shoe shaped crescent open on the buccal side; bilophodont molars without conspicuous midlinks; molar enamel with a rugose, punctuate surface---"

I think almost everyone reading that would join me in saying `huh?' That's not meant so much as a criticism as a caution. Non-specialists will find parts of this book irritating because they want to find out more about the animals involved, and that information is undoubtedly in there if you can extract it from the jargon it is encased in.

Our knowledge of Australia's fossil record has improved considerably in the last couple of decades, but there are still rather large gaps. There are a few fossil mammals from the early Cretaceous--between 125 million and 100 million years ago. There is then a gap of over 50 million years.

The next fossils are dated at around 55 million years ago. Many of the species from that era consist only of enigmatic isolated teeth that make it difficult to figure out even which order the animal was from. One of the fossils that can be identified is from a Microbiotherid, an opossum-like critter with a long history in South America which still has one living species there.

The South American connection isn't surprising. Australia was connected to South America through Antarctica until Australia broke away sometime between 38 million years ago and 45 million years ago. Microbiothere fossils have also been found in Antarctica.

Finally at around 26 million years ago, a reasonably coherent fossil record appears. At that point, ancestors and relatives of the current Australian marsupials can be identified, along with a few lines that became extinct. Australia was going through a warm and wet phase when this first good fossil record was being deposited, and the diversity of species was very high. Australia started to dry out around 15 million years ago, and has gradually been experiencing drier and drier average climate ever since.

One interesting tidbit: the Tasmanian wolf or Thylacine was the last survivor of a surprisingly large and diverse family of carnivores, some of which were somewhat larger than the recently extinct form, and some of which were considerably smaller.

This is a book filled with tantalizing tidbits of information and excellent illustrations mixed in with animal descriptions that are simply not very accessible to the average reader.

Good news and bad news
The good news first: This book succeeds in the almost impossible task of being both an attractive coffee-table book and a valuable scientific reference. Within its purview, every known species is carefully and exactly defined, and the book is full of superb illustrations, not just of life reconstructions, but of the actual fossils themselves.

The book is aimedat Australians, and readers from elsewhere should familiarize themselves with thecontinent's living mammals (not just the famous ones) before reading it. It helps a great deal to know what a dibbler or a bettong is and does before attempting to confront their ancestors.

Which brings us to the bad news. The species descriptions focus on tooth morphology to the almost total exclusion of all other factors, and beyond the illustrations there is little attempt to deal with what these creatures actually looked like or how they behaved. Admittedly, the whole foundation of mammalian taxonomy lies in the teeth--but that is the beginning of paleontology, not the end of it. Diet, kinematics, reproduction, ecology, behavior--paleontology of late has gotten better and better at dealing with these things, but there's almost nothing of that here. Even in the relatively few cases where substantial postcranial material exists, there is no attempt made to discover the real animal that lies behind the fossils.

This seems to have extended even to the life reconstructions, which are displayed in a neutral stance and largely withoutexpression,against the white background of the page, as if the creatures were stuffed and mounted in an exhibition hall. Yes, a carnivorous kangaroo may be shown with a dead galah at its feet--but it is not doing anything so indecorous as to actually be eating it. If the bird were removed, there would be no way of knowing it had ever been there. These spookily poker-faced creatures seem determined to convey as little as possible to the viewer--not even the fact (in every picture but one) that they are marsupials!

Because of the lack of context there is no way to judge size, with the result that all the wombat-like grazers look almost exactly alike, from the sheep-sized *Silvabestius* to hippo-sized *Diprotodon.* The minuteness of various extinct possums is conveyed much more vividlyby their fossil jaws shown next to matchheads than by any of their reconstructions.

And one final cavil: more than a few of the reconstructions have been concocted out of thin air, based on nothing more than a fragmentary jawbone and a few teeth. This was a bad habit of paleontological illustration a century and a half ago, but was long ago overcome. Or so I thought. One beast is even reconstructed from a single tooth! This is just irresponsible. ... Read more

Product Description
Introduces the physical characteristics, habitat, and behavior of the prehistoric relative of modern-day bears. ... Read more

Product Description
Introduces the physical characteristics, habitat, and behavior of this prehistoric relative of modern-day deer. ... Read more

Product Description
Describes the prehistoric ancestors, evolution, and modern-day members of the cat family. ... Read more

Product Description
Introduces the physical characteristics, habitat, and behavior of this prehistoric relative of modern-day armadillos. ... Read more

Product Description
Introduces the physical characteristics, habitat, and behavior of a prehistoric relative of the modern-day rhinoceros. ... Read more

Product Description
Discusses more than twenty prehistoric animals, how they were discovered, their modern counterparts, and theories on their extinction. ... Read more