When life nearly died : the greatest mass extinction of all time

1280 Pages·2008·5.61 MB·English

by  Benton

About the Author
Michael Benton is Professor of
Vertebrate Palaeontology and was
previously also Head of the Department
of Earth Sciences at the University of
Bristol. His many books include
standard reference works and textbooks
as well as popular books about
dinosaurs and the history of life.
Other titles by Michael J. Benton
published by
Thames & Hudson include:
The Seventy Great Mysteries of the
Natural World
Other titles of interest published by
Thames & Hudson include:
The Complete Ice Age: How Climate
Change Shaped the World
The Reign of the Dinosaurs
The Story of Fossils: In Search of
Vanished Worlds
Our Fragile World: The Beauty of a
Planet Under Pressure
Our Living Earth
The Great Naturalists
Elephant!
The Illustrated Natural History of
Selborne
See our websites
www.thamesandhudson.com
www.thamesandhudsonusa.com
To Mary, Philippa and Donald
for their forbearance and inspiration,
as ever
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am hugely grateful to Colin Ridler of Thames
& Hudson for first suggesting that I should
write this book, and then for discreetly guiding
me through various false starts. Thanks to him,
and to his team, for their thorough and
extensive work on the book as it went through
the publication process. The entire text has
been read by Paul Pearson and Richard
Twitchett at the University of Bristol, James
Lovelock at the University of Oxford, and Paul
Wignall at the University of Leeds. I value the
time they spent reading the draft manuscript,
their wise suggestions about style and content,
but especially for picking up some glaring
misunderstandings and errors of fact. Thanks
also to archivists and librarians at the
Geological Society of London, the British
Library and the Natural History Museum, for
finding ancient letters and notebooks by
Murchison, Owen and the others. Finally, the
appearance of the book has been enhanced
immeasurably by the artwork, and I thank John
Sibbick from Bath for his exquisite
craftsmanship informed by a real knowledge of
the ancient beasts he draws. Finally, I dedicate
this edition to Vitaly Georgievich Ochev, our
delightful companion in the field in Russia
(chapter 10), who died in 2004.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
THE GEOLOGICAL TIME-SCALE
Chapter 1
ANTEDILUVIAN SAURIA
Chapter 2
MURCHISON NAMES THE PERMIAN
Chapter 3
THE DEATH OF CATASTROPHISM
Chapter 4
THE CONCEPT THAT DARED NOT SPEAK ITS
NAME
Chapter 5
IMPACT!
Chapter 6
DIVERSITY, EXTINCTION AND MASS
EXTINCTION
Chapter 7
HOMING IN ON THE EVENT
Chapter 8
LIFE’S BIGGEST CHALLENGE
Chapter 9
A TALE OF TWO CONTINENTS
Chapter 10
ON THE RIVER SAKMARA