A background of beasts.
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I am an amateur palaeontologist, and my Cenozoic vertebrate knowledge has been a little shaky. This book brings all the various threads of mammal evolution together, making it much clearer how the different orders and families relate to each other.
My biggest complaint is that it doesn't include a geological time chart. Many of the Mammal stages used are not easily found on other timecharts, printed or online, and I sometimes struggled with the chronology as a result.
Other than that, an excellent book for anybody interested in the history of life on Earth.
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Comprehensive and fantastic illustrations
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As a student in my third yaer of a palaeobiology degree and wishing to extend my knowledge mammal evolution i was told that this book was a good place to start. The book offers a good starting point from which to initiate your understanding of this most interesting group of creatures. The book takes you on a tour of mammal evolution in Europe starting after the extinction of the dinosaurs and leading to the modern day.
While the text is sometimes geared towards those who already have a good understanding vertabrate palaeontology the style of writing and the amazing artwork make this book a great read and a must have for those who wish to know about this interesting chapter in the history of life.
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Thorough and Precise - A little too technical at times
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Prehistoric life has long held a fascination for me and the problem with the books about it, is that they are either for children - and extremely beautiful books they are - or for scientists, too technical for my taste.
This book does not altogether avoid the technical pitfall. Sometimes it made quite difficult reading, even for an educated layman. A point in my favour is that I am Greek, because a lot of the terminology used, has Greek/Latin roots. Apart from that, I enjoyed thoroughly the book and I recognise the extensive and copious research behind it. It is always difficult to find a book about prehistoric mammals, for grown-ups that is, and I savoured every page of it. My only disappointment from the text, is the complete lack of reference to any prehistoric marine mammals (e.g. Ambulocetus).
Mauritzio Anton's artwork is, to put it mildly, outstanding. As in "Big cats and their prehistoric relatives", it enhances and completes the text in a marvellous manner. What a pity that there are only 16 colour plates!
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