Bøger af Michael J. Benton

An illustrated guide to our astonishing new understanding of dinosaurs, with the latest science and the most accurate and visually stunning palaeoart.

An expert palaeontologist reveals how our understanding of the dinosaurs has been transformed by huge strides in technology in the 21st century.

A stunningly illustrated guide to these extraordinary creatures from a world-renowned paleontologist Paleobiology has advanced from a speculative subject to a cutting-edge science. Today, researchers are applying the latest forensic technologies to the fossil record, revealing startling new insights into the lives of dinosaurs. This illustrated guide explores the behavior, evolution, physiology, and extinction of dinosaurs, taking readers inside the mysterious world of these marvelous animals. With specially commissioned illustrations by Bob Nicholls, Dinosaur Behavior explains how the dinosaurs lived and courted, fought and fed, signaled and interacted with each other, and much more.Features a wealth of breathtaking illustrations throughoutOffers new perspectives on the prehistoric world inhabited by dinosaursSheds light on how dinosaurs actually looked, how they moved, and how fast they ranExplains the feeding habits of carnivores, herbivores, scavengers, and solitary huntersDiscusses sight, hearing, smell, spatial orientation, and intelligenceBrings to life the social behavior of dinosaurs, from mating and parenting to herd dynamics and migrationTakes readers behind the scenes of the latest, most thrilling discoveries

A journey through the great mass-extinction events that have shaped our Earth. Drawing on the latest research, this timely and original book lays out the current scientific understanding of mass extinction on our planet. Cutting-edge techniques across biology, chemistry, physics and geology have transformed our knowledge of the deep past, including the discovery of a previously unknown mass extinction. This compelling evidence, revealing a series of environmental crises resulting in the near-collapse of life on Earth, illuminates our current dilemmas in exquisite detail. Beginning with the oldest, Professor Michael J. Benton takes us through the `big five¿ die-outs: the Late Ordovician, which set the evolution of the first animals on an entirely new course; the late Devonian, apparently brought on by global warming; the cataclysmic End-Permian, also known as the Great Dying, which wiped out over 90% of all life on Earth; and, book-ending the age of the dinosaurs, the newly discovered Carnian Pluvial Event and the End-Cretaceous asteroid. He examines how global warming, acid rain, ocean acidification, erupting volcanoes and meteorite impact have affected conditions on Earth, the drastic consequences for global ecology, and how life in turn survived, adapted and evolved. Benton¿s expert retelling of the scientific breakthroughs are illustrated throughout with photographs of fossils and fieldwork, scenes from the laboratory and artistic reconstructions of ancient environments that bring us face to face with long-lost life forms. We learn how scientists have developed revolutionary new tools to uncover ancient extinction events and processes in forensic detail, how they model evolving systems, and how they are honing their methods to improve our understanding of the deep past. New research allows us to link long-ago upheavals to crises in our current age, the Anthropocene, with important consequences for us all.

Vertebrate palaeontology is a lively field, with new discoveries reported every week and not only dinosaurs! This new edition reflects the international scope of vertebrate palaeontology, with a special focus on exciting new finds from China. A key aim is to explain the science. Gone are the days of guesswork.

Literary Biography: An Introduction offers an erudite and insightful introduction into the history, theory, and practice of the increasingly popular literary genre of life writing. The text illustrates and accounts for the literary genre that merges verifiable historical facts with the familiar conventions of narrative.

Coverage of all fossil groups Boxes showing case studies and topics of special interest Numerous line drawings and photographs of fossils The most up-to-date information on the tools and techniques used by paleobiologists. End of chapter questions.

In the greatest mass extinction in Earth's history at least 90 percent of life was killed, both on land and in the sea, almost bringing evolution to a halt. What caused destruction on such an unimaginable scale? Was it the impact of a huge meteorite, or prolonged volcanic eruption in Siberia? This book assembles the evidence and gives the verdict.