Michael J. Benton

A journey through the great mass extinction events that have shaped our Earth. This timely and original book lays out the latest scientific understanding of mass extinction on our planet. Cutting-edge techniques across biology, chemistry, physics, and geology have transformed our understanding 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 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 percent of alllife on Earth; 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, and how life survived, adapted, and evolved. Benton’s expert retelling of scientific breakthroughs in paleobiology is illustrated throughout with photographs of fossils and fieldwork, and artistic reconstructions of ancient environments. In Extinctions , readers will learn about revolutionary new tools used to uncover ancient extinction events and processes in forensic detail, and how scientists are improving 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. 70 illustrations

Dinosaurs are not what you thought they were—or at least, they didn’t look like you thought they did. Here, world-leading paleontologist Michael J. Benton brings us a new visual guide to the world of the dinosaurs, showing how rapid advances in technology and amazing new fossil finds have changed the way we see these extinct beasts forever. Stunning, brand-new illustrations by paleoartist Bob Nicholls display the latest and most exciting scientific discoveries in vibrant color. From Sinosauropteryx, the first dinosaur to have its color patterns identified—a ginger-and-white striped tail and a “bandit mask”—by Benton’s team at the University of Bristol to recent research on the surprising mixed feathers and scales of Kulindadromeus, this is one of the first books to include cutting-edge scientific research in paleontology. Each chapter focuses on a particular extinct species, featuring a specially commissioned illustration by Bob Nicholls that brings to life the latest scientific breakthroughs, with accompanying text exploring how paleontologists have determined new details, such as the patterns on skin and the colors of feathers of animals that lived millions of years ago. This visual compendium surprises and challenges everything you thought you knew about what dinosaurs looked like and how they lived.

"Dinozaury odkryte na nowo" to książka o tym, jak w badaniach nad dinozaurami pewność zastąpiła spekulacje. Jeszcze niedawno mogliśmy się tylko domyślać, jak szybko ten czy tamten dinozaur biegał, co potrafił pogryźć, a czego nie, jak opiekował się młodymi albo jak był ubarwiony. Dziś - dzięki nowym znaleziskom i technikom badawczym - potrafimy odpowiedzieć na te wszystkie pytania (i na wiele innych). W ciągu ostatnich dwudziestu lat nasza wiedza o dinozaurach przeszła oszałamiającą rewolucję, w której znaczący udział miały także odkrycia z terenów Polski, takie jak szczątki silezaurów. Słynny brytyjski paleontolog Michael Benton relacjonuje w swojej książce najnowsze badania nad dinozaurami i ich zaskakujące wyniki. Z pasją opowiada o rewolucji, w której sam uczestniczył.