Extinctions

How Life Survives, Adapts and Evolves

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A journey through the great mass-extinction events that have shaped our Earth: 'Deeply informed and readable' Nature

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In this vast sweep of our Earth’s history, Michael J. Benton brings the deep past to life as never before. Deploying the cutting-edge tools in biology, chemistry, physics and geology that are transforming our understanding of previous environmental cataclysms – including the incredible new discovery of a hitherto unknown extinction event – he uncovers not only their lethal effects but also the processes that brought about such large-scale destruction. Benton examines how global warming, acid rain, ocean acidification, erupting volcanoes and meteorite impact have affected conditions on Earth, the drastic consequences for global ecology, and how life in turn survived, adapted and evolved.
Extent: 304 pp
Format: Paperback
Illustrations: 70
Publication date: 2025-07-17
Size: 19.8 x 12.9 cm
ISBN: 9780500298633
Preface
Part 1. The Late Ordovician Mass Extinction • 1. The First Animals and First Mass Extinctions • 2. The Cambrian Explosion • 3. The Late Ordovician Mass Extinction
Part 2. The Late Devonian Mass Extinctions • 4. The Devonian Crisis • 5. Impacts of Global Warming
Part 3. The End-Permian Mass Extinction • 6. The Greatest Crisis of All Time • 7. Triassic Recovery
Part 4. The End-Triassic Mass Extinction • 8. The Carnian Pluvial Event and Origin of the Dinosaurs • 9. The End-Triassic Extinction • 10. The Universal Hyperthermal Crisis Model
Part 5. The End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction • 11. The Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution • 12. The Day the Dinosaurs Died • 13. Recovery and Building of Modern Ecosystems
Part 6. The Anthropocene • 14. The End of the Ice Age • 15. The Industrial Age

Press Reviews

Combining the latest paleontological research with findings from his own expeditions, it’s a meticulously researched work
Observer

If you want to know how extinctions happen and how the fossil record is relevant to understanding our current biodiversity crisis, read this delightful book about death and the resilience of life!
Steve Brusatte

Fast-paced, clear and doesn’t skimp on the drama
New Scientist

Benton’s tone is refreshing … authoritative but readable, modest, occasionally witty and never pompous
Geographical

About the Author

Michael Benton is professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology and head of the world-leading Palaeobiology Research Group at the University of Bristol. He has written more than fifty books, including Dinosaurs: New Visions of a Lost World, The Dinosaurs Rediscovered and When Life Nearly Died, all published by Thames & Hudson. He was awarded an OBE for services to Palaeontology and community engagement and regularly appears in the media to discuss dinosaurs and understanding the history of life.

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