Beasts Before Us
The Untold Story of Mammal Origins and Evolution
1 of 1 copy available
In Beasts Before Us, paleontologist Elsa Panciroli charts the emergence of the mammal lineage, Synapsida, beginning at their murky split from the reptiles in the Carboniferous period, over three-hundred million years ago. They made the world theirs long before the rise of dinosaurs.
Elsa crisscrosses the globe to explore the sites where discoveries are being made and meet the people who make them. In Scotland, she traverses the desert dunes of prehistoric Moray, where quarry workers unearthed the footprints of Permian creatures from before the time of dinosaurs. In South Africa, she introduces us to animals that gave scientists the first hints that our furry kin evolved from a lineage of egg-laying burrowers. In China, new, complete fossilized skeletons reveal mammals that were gliders, shovel-pawed Jurassic moles, and flat-tailed swimmers.
This book radically reframes the narrative of our mammalian ancestors and provides a counterpoint to the stereotypes of mighty dinosaur overlords and cowering little mammals. It turns out the earliest mammals weren't just precursors, they were pioneers.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
September 28, 2021 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781666142754
- File size: 306607 KB
- Duration: 10:38:45
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Our understanding of mammal evolution is still, well, evolving. Researcher Elsa Panciroli has been directly involved in cutting-edge work in this field, and her audiobook is enlivened by anecdotes and first-person stories. She is articulate and witty, and Ruth Urquhart's narration highlights these qualities. Like the author, Urquhart is Scottish, and her expressive brogue adds authenticity to her performance. But although the work is ostensibly aimed at a lay audience, it includes a lot of jargon that will be difficult for a listener without a background in paleontology: Terms that pertain to geological eras and taxonomy fill almost every paragraph, often without being clearly defined. In the end, this is likely to appeal to specialists more than the general science listener. D.B. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine -
Starred review from July 12, 2021
Panciroli, a research fellow at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, debuts with a fascinating survey of recent discoveries in evolution. Making use of findings from big data and CT scans of fossils, Panciroli explains how much of what’s generally believed about the origin of mammals has been wrong. Contrary to popular belief, she writes, mammals did not come into their own after the extinction of the dinosaurs—“they ‘ruled the Earth’ when dinosaurs weren’t even a twinkle in the planet’s eye”—and the notion that mammals that coexisted with T. rexes “merely scooted underfoot like terrified snacks” is “dead wrong.” Also, mammals didn’t evolve from reptiles, she writes, though they do share a common ancestor with them: amniote tetrapods, which were neither mammal nor reptile. Panciroli’s passion for her subject is palpable, and as she shares her globe-trotting finds, she argues that paleontology is more than a curiosity: it provides a framework for understanding “how life has responded to extinction events in the past, and most crucially, how it has recovered,” which is especially relevant in the face of climate change. Her eye-opening study offers just the right level of detail and plenty of wit. This impressive study hits the mark.
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