Twilight of the Mammoths
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A01=Paul S. Martin
adaptation
arizona
Author_Paul S. Martin
autobiography
biography
camels
Category=RBX
Category=RNKH1
chile
climate change
conservation
dire wolf
endangered animals
environmental history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
evolution
extinct animals
extinct mammals
extinction
fossil dig
fossils
giant armadillos
giant sloths
global warming
gomphotheres
grand canyon
ground sloths
horses
ice age
mammoths
mastodons
megafauna
memoir
natural history
natural world
nature
nonfiction
overkill
paleoecology
paleontology
quaternary extinctions
rampart cave
rewilding
science
scientist
wildlife
Product details
- ISBN 9780520252431
- Weight: 408g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 08 May 2007
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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As recently as 11,000 years ago - 'near time' to geologists - mammoths, mastodons, gomphotheres, ground sloths, giant armadillos, native camels and horses, the dire wolf, and many other large mammals roamed North America. In what has become one of science's greatest riddles, these large animals vanished in North and South America around the time humans arrived at the end of the last great ice age. Part paleontological adventure and part memoir, "Twilight of the Mammoths" presents in detail internationally renowned paleoecologist Paul Martin's widely discussed and debated 'overkill' hypothesis to explain these mysterious megafauna extinctions. Taking us from Rampart Cave in the Grand Canyon, where he finds himself 'chest deep in sloth dung', to other important fossil sites in Arizona and Chile, Martin's engaging book, written for a wide audience, uncovers our rich evolutionary legacy and shows why he has come to believe that the earliest Americans literally hunted these animals to death.
As he discusses the discoveries that brought him to this hypothesis, Martin relates many colorful stories and gives a rich overview of the field of paleontology as well as his own fascinating career. He explores the ramifications of the overkill hypothesis for similar extinctions worldwide and examines other explanations for the extinctions, including climate change. Martin's visionary thinking about our missing megafauna offers inspiration and a challenge for today's conservation efforts as he speculates on what we might do to remedy this situation - both in our thinking about what is 'natural' and in the natural world itself.
Paul S. Martin is Emeritus Professor of Geosciences, Desert Laboratory, University of Arizona.
