The Story of LifeHow did life begin? What was 'snowball earth'? Why did the dinosaurs become extinct? Are we all descended from 'African Eve'? Will humans be responsible for the next major extinction? These and many other fundamental questions are addressed in this masterly account of The Story of Life, by eminent biologist and teacher Richard Southwood. The story unfolds with the formation of the earth around four thousand million years ago. Life first emerged a hundred million years later, and it took another fifteen million years for more complex life-forms to appear. Periods of relative calm were punctuated by five major extinctions, with innumerable minor jolts along the way. Then, five million years ago, an able ape evolved that gradually came to dominate and control the other animals and plants. The future now lies in the hands of this single species, Homo sapiens. In this carefully crafted story, Southwood's love of his subject, and for the life he describes, shines through, to engage and inform scientist and general reader alike. |
Contents
1 | |
7 | |
14 | |
Proterozoic 2500600 Mya | 25 |
Late Proterozoic 700545 Mya | 36 |
CambrianOrdovician 545438 Mya | 43 |
SilurianDevonian 438362 Mya | 65 |
CarboniferousPermian 362248 Mya | 89 |
JurassicCretaceous 20665 Mya | 136 |
TertiaryQuaternary 65 MyaToday | 176 |
20 Mya30000 Years Ago | 213 |
The Great Modifiers 40000 Years Ago Today and Tomorrow | 233 |
Further Reading | 257 |
259 | |
261 | |
Triassic 248206 Mya | 118 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
abundant adaptations Africa algae animals Antarctica asteroid Australia bacteria became extinct birds body Cambrian carbon dioxide Carboniferous carnivorous cell changes China climate conodonts continents corals Cretaceous cyanobacteria deposits Devonian dinosaurs diversity early earth Ediacaran eggs elephants environment evolution evolutionary evolved example fauna feeding ferns fish flowering food chain forests fossil record genes Gondwana habitats herbivores hind hominins humans insects Jurassic lampshells land landmass Laurasia layer legs living major mammals marine metres million years ago Miocene modern molecules Neanderthals North America occurred Ocean Ordovician organisms oxygen Panthalassic Ocean particularly period Permian photosynthesis plankton plants plates Pleistocene pollen predators prey probably protists pterosaurs rainforest reefs relatively reptiles rocks sapiens sauropods sea level seeds seems sharks shells skeleton South species suggested surface survive temperature termed terrestrial Tethys Ocean theropods tion today’s trees Triassic trilobites tropical types warm whales worms