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Fossil legends of the first Americans
The burnt-red badlands of Montana's Hell Creek are a vast graveyard of the Cretaceous dinosaurs that lived 68 million years ago. Those hills were, much later, also home to the Sioux, the Crows, and the Blackfeet, the first people to encounter the dinosaur fossils exposed by the elements. What did Native Americans make of these stone skeletons, and how did they explain the teeth and claws of gargantuan animals no one had seen alive? Did they speculate about their deaths? Did they collect fossils?
Beginning in the East, with its Ice Age monsters, and ending in the West, where dinosaurs lived and died, this richly illustrated and elegantly written book examines the discoveries of enormous bones and uses of fossils for medicine, hunting magic, and spells. Well before Columbus, Native Americans observed the mysterious petrified remains of extinct creatures and sought to understand their transformation to stone. In perceptive creation stories, they visualized the remains of extinct mammoths, dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and marine creatures as Monster Bears, Giant Lizards, Thunder Birds, and Water Monsters. Their insights, some so sophisticated that they anticipate modern scientific theories, were passed down in oral histories over many centuries.
Drawing on historical sources, archaeology, traditional accounts, and extensive personal interviews, Adrienne Mayor takes us from Aztec and Inca fossil tales to the traditions of the Iroquois, Navajos, Apaches, Cheyennes, and Pawnees.Fossil Legends of the First Americansrepresents a major step forward in our understanding of how humans made sense of fossils before evolutionary theory developed.
eBook
The walking whales
Hans Thewissen, a leading researcher in the field of whale paleontology and anatomy, gives a sweeping first-person account of the discoveries that brought to light the early fossil record of whales. As evidenced in the record, whales evolved from herbivorous forest-dwelling ancestors that resembled tiny deer to carnivorous monsters stalking lakes and rivers and to serpentlike denizens of the coast. Thewissen reports on his discoveries in the wilds of India and Pakistan, weaving a narrative that reveals the day-to-day adventures of fossil collection, enriching it with local flavors from South Asian culture and society. The reader senses the excitement of the digs as well as the rigors faced by scientific researchers, for whom each new insight gives rise to even more questions, and for whom at times the logistics of just staying alive may trump all science. In his search for an understanding of how modern whales live their lives, Thewissen also journeys to Japan and Alaska to study whales and wild dolphins. He finds answers to his questions about fossils by studying the anatomy of otters and porpoises and examining whale embryos under the microscope. In the book's final chapter, Thewissen argues for approaching whale evolution with the most powerful tools we have and for combining all the fields of science in pursuit of knowledge.
eBook
Fossil fuels
\"Explains what fossil fuels are, how they are extracted and used, and the problems they cause. It also discusses the steps people can take to limit the negative effects of fossil fuels and to move toward renewable forms of energy\"--P. [4] of cover.
Book
Human fossils
Lucy, Ardi, and Ida are the most famous fossils of human ancestors. Readers will meet these three as well as learn about how human fossils form ed photographs and fascinating fact boxes enhance accessible information about the incredible connection between humans and other animals, including apes and even lemurs.
Book
Stem Anatomy Confirms ITingia unita/I Is a Progymnosperm
The systematic position of Noeggerathiales was long uncertain until the whole plant species Paratingia wuhaia was restored and proved to belong to progymnosperms due to its spore-producing fertile organ and secondary wood producing a large stem. However, whether Tingia Halle as the most diversified genus in Noeggerathiales belongs to progymnosperms has yet remained uncertain as the anatomy of the main stem of this plant is unknown, that is, whether the anatomy of the main stem with the anatomical characteristics of gymnosperms woods remains uncertain. Here, the stem anatomy of Tingia unita is presented based on fossil materials from the early Permian Wuda Tuff Flora in Wuda Coalfield, Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia, China. The well-developed secondary wood, plus previously accumulated evidence of the spore-bearing nature of this plant, confirms that this genus belongs to progymnosperms. As such, the genera Tingia and Paratingia are all certainly progymnosperms in affinity. Tingia Halle, a representative genus of the Cathaysia Flora, has been studied for nearly 100 years, being a small heterosporous tree based on the gross morphology of Tingia unita. However, the systematic affinity of Tingia is uncertain. Now, a number of well-preserved fossils of T. unita from the Taiyuan Formation of Lower Permian in Wuda Coalfield, Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia facilitates an examination of wood anatomy. The stem anatomy of T. unita shows parenchymatous pith, endarch primary xylem, pycnoxylic secondary xylem, and cortex, typically a type of gymnosperm wood, which taken together with pteridophytic reproduction, certainly evidences that Tingia Halle is a progymnosperm. In addition, Tingia together with Paratingia provide strong evidence to link the Noeggerathiales with progymnosperms.
Journal Article