<p><b>'Steve Brusatte, the author of <i>The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs</i>, brings mammals out from the shadow of their more showy predecessors . . . In this beautifully written . . . terrific book, he tells the extraordinary story of how mammals came to be and makes the case for them as creatures who are just as engaging as dinosaurs.' &ndash; <i>The Sunday Times</i></b><br><br>The passing of the age of the dinosaurs allowed mammals to become ascendant.

But mammals have a much deeper history. They &ndash; or, more precisely, we &ndash; originated around the same time as the dinosaurs, over 200 million years ago; mammal roots lie even further back, some 325 million years.<br><br>Over these immense stretches of geological time, mammals developed their trademark features: hair, keen senses of smell and hearing, big brains and sharp intelligence, fast growth and warm-blooded metabolism, a distinctive line-up of teeth, mammary glands that mothers use to nourish their babies with milk, qualities that have underlain their success story.<br><br>Out of this long and rich evolutionary history came the mammals of today, including our own species and our closest cousins.

But today&rsquo;s 6,000 mammal species are simply the few survivors of a once verdant family tree, which has been pruned both by time and mass extinctions.<br><br><b>In <i>The Rise and Reign of the Mammals</i>, Brusatte weaves together the history and evolution of our mammal forebears, iconic mammals such as the mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers of which we have all heard, and fascinating species that few of us are aware of.

In this fascinating and ground-breaking book, Steve Brusatte tells their &ndash; and our &ndash; story.</b></p>


Format Häftad Omfång 528 sidor Språk Engelska Förlag Pan Macmillan Utgivningsdatum 2023-06-01 ISBN 9781529034233