Lost Animals: Extinct, Endangered, and Rediscovered Species - Hardcover

by John Whitfield (Author)

Meet the incredible animals that have disappeared due to competition, mass extinctions, hunting, and human activity.

Lost Animals brings back to life some of the most charismatic creatures to inhabit the planet. It captures the imagination with more than 200 incredible photographs, artworks of fossils, and scientific drawings of charming creatures like dodos, paraceratherium (the largest land mammal), spinosaurus (the biggest carnivorous dinosaur), placeoderm fishes (the sharks of their day), and more

Lost Animals is a captivating documentation of evolution and extinction. Each chapter focuses on a specific time in Earth's history, from the Cambrian explosion (the most intense surge of evolution the world has ever experienced) to present times, with profiles of the key species that lived then. From long extinct animals to Lazarus species--animals that were thought to be extinct before being rediscovered--this book takes readers on a journey through Earth's natural history, highlighting the world's biggest animal losses and its moments of conservational hope.

Author Biography

JOHN WHITFIELD, a PhD in zoology from the University of Cambridge, has written articles for Science, Scientific American, New Scientist, Slate and the London Review of Books in his 20-year career as a science journalist. At the journal Nature, he has covered topics on evolution, ecology, and conservation. John is the author of two popular science books, People Will Talk: The Surprising Science of Reputation and In the Beat of a Heart: Life, Energy and the Unity of Nature.