Download PDF When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time (Revised edition)
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When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time (Revised edition)
Download PDF When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time (Revised edition)
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About the Author
Michael J. Benton is Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Bristol. His many previous books include standard reference works, textbooks, and popular books on dinosaurs and the history of life.
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Product details
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Thames & Hudson; Revised edition edition (August 11, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780500291931
ISBN-13: 978-0500291931
ASIN: 0500291934
Product Dimensions:
6.2 x 1.4 x 9.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.5 out of 5 stars
74 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#611,782 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
I bought this book because I was interested in the Permian/Triassic mass extinction. Most of the book is a history of practitioners in the field with only the last part dealing with the Permian/Triassic mass extinction. For most of the read I found myself wanting the author to 'get on with it'.
The most well known, and well studied, mass extinction is, of course, the KT event of 65 million years ago that saw the end of many kinds of organisms, including the dinosaurs. But in terms of lives lost it's the Permian-Triassic (P-Tr) event that holds the record for the largest extinction in history. In "When Life Nearly Died" paleontologists Michael J Benton provides us with an in-depth study of, not only the the P-Tr event itself but a detailed review of how scientist first came to realize that there was in fact an mass extinction about 250 million years ago. The Permian itself was first studied and named in the mid 1800's by a Sir Roderick Murchison and ever since that time it has remained controversial. When did it start and when did it end? Was there really an extinction event at the P-Tr boundary or was that concept just caused by gaps in the fossil record? The study of fossils and fossil-bearing strata becomes increasingly difficult as you move back in time but by using what we've learned with our research on more recent events we can extrapolate a great deal. To that end Benton spends some time explaining what we know about the KT extinction and applying that knowledge to the much older P-Tr extinction. While Benton writes in a layperson friendly way he does assume some prior knowledge on the part of the reader. Out of necessity the text is heavy with Latin names and geological terms. But anyone who has some experience in reading paleontology or geological books shouldn't really have a problem. Following the Permian strata around the world you'll make stops in North America, Greenland, China, Russia and the Karoo formations in South Africa. By studying sedimentary deposits at these wide spread locations scientist hoped to nail down when, in fact, the Permian ended and whether or not there was a mega die off of animals and plants that had been, up to that point, successful. No matter which extinction event you'r talking about there seems to be a vast difference of opinion on what caused them; climate change, plate tectonics, volcanoes and even extraterrestrial disruptions like asteroids, super novas or gamma rays. Each theory has its pros and cons and in some cases it appears that a combination of elements may be the answer. Benton gives you a brief overview of each, explaining why some scientist think their pet theory is a good idea while others take the opposite viewpoint. For me the massive flood basalts of the Siberian Traps are a good bet with eruptions that went on for thousands of years (maybe even a million) and had a major impact on the environment. From reading this book it also seems to me that any number of the "random" elements that continually disrupt our planet could, simply by chance, occur at the same time with devastating results. Whether it's the Siberian Traps, Methane Sinks or even an asteroid strike, the P-Tr extinction event has more question than it has answers. If you're looking for a quick, easy answer as to what caused this extinction you won't find it in this book, nor any other for that matter. But the study of past extinctions is an active, fast changing field and theories on how they happened can change at the drop of a hat, a quick look at its turbulent history tells it all. For years no one was sure exactly how long the Permian lasted and it took decades of intense study to finally confirm when it came to an end and we are now pretty sure there was indeed a massive extinction event about 250m years BC (*). But research goes on and new findings will certainly shed new light into the dark recesses of time and possibly change everything we know. Only time will tell. I had no technical or formatting problems with this Kindle edition.(*) for a slightly different take on the P-Tr extinction and the state of current research see Douglas Erwin's "Extinction", published in 2006 and recently updated in the 2015 edition.Last Ranger
I love natural history and the study of our biological and geological past. This book is easy reading for the interested and well read layman and gives a wonderful glimpse into a time in ancient history when most life mysteriously vanished. The techniques, trials and tribulations, and successes of American and international paleontologists are well discussed and made more interesting and personal by the authors own experiences. The history of paleontology and geology is also well discussed. My one disappointment, and not really the author's fault, is that I wasn't at all convinced that we know the cause of the end Permian extinction. So I learned a great deal of paleontology, geology and history, making this book well worth the time and effort. But I'm no at all convinced that we currently know exactly what happened all those millennia ago. But I am convinced that something did!
Good coverage of the Permian mass extinction. Includes a number of chapters on the development of the concept of the Permian, as well as the complex ecosystems at the end of the Permian. The antepenultimate chapter reviews several potential causes and advances a "synthetic" solution of a number of causes, with the first, the Siberian Traps eruptions, being the first domino to go over and trigger other others, one after another. The next chapter covers the recovery in the Early Triassic, which took an exceptionally long time, and did not happen (or last) for over 90$ of marine and terrestrial species. I had not realized the the pervasiveness of the overall event which took out a large amount of land plants, with major groups being lost or severely reduced. The final chapter explores the idea of an potential consequences of the next extinction event, which some think we are in the beginning of. I did not find the book overly technical; it is heavily footnoted for those who would wish to go further..
The story begins in the early 1800's and continues through to the present day. Benton weaves a lot of hard science around the wrong turns, international politics and personal foibles that shaped our understanding of the development of life and the things that can happen along the way. The full story of the End Permian extinction event isn't revealed until the end of the book but the author is able to hold the reader's interest with compelling character sketches of the scientists and descriptions of some of the more important creatures in the Permian era. The final description of what our planet was like in the thousand of centuries following the extinction event reads like something from Cormac McCarthy's "The Road", only worse.Must reading for current members of the House Committee on Science and Technology, that is assuming they know how to read.
I love Earth history and have always been wanting to know as much as I could of where we and life in general began. As to that point the Great Extinctions have held a great interest for me as well. Michael J. Benton has given more than enough light to this Great Extinction event. If you don't have a good basic understanding of Earth history this book may be difficult to follow, but with some knowledge of this field you should have minimum difficulty in understanding what Mr. Benton is sharing with us the readers. His adventures in finding the correct answers to these extinctions are wonderful. The best part is I learned about something that I have always been curious about.
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