Description |
xiii, 282 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-259) and index. |
Summary |
Discusses the effect of changing oxygen levels in Earth's atmosphere on evolution and mass extinctions, and presents the theory that saurischian dinosaurs were able to weather two mass extinctions because of a new, more efficient respiratory system, which was in turn inherited by their descendants the birds. |
Contents |
Respiration and the body plans of animal life -- Oxygen through time -- Evolving respiratory systems as a cause of the Cambrian Explosion -- The Ordovician : Cambrian Explosion part II -- The Silurian-Devonian : how an oxygen spike allowed the first conquest of land -- The Carboniferous-early Permian : high-oxygen, fires and giants -- The Permian extinction and the evolution of endothermy -- The Triassic explosion -- The Jurassic : dinosaur hegemony in a low-oxygen world -- The Cretaceous extinction and the rise of large mammals -- Should we fear the oxygen future? |
Subject |
Dinosaurs -- Extinction.
|
|
Dinosaurs -- Extinction. |
|
Dinosaurs -- Evolution.
|
|
Dinosaurs -- Evolution. |
|
Dinosaurs. |
|
Paleoecology.
|
|
Paleoecology. |
|
Paleobotany -- Carboniferous.
|
|
Paleobotany. |
Chronological Term |
Carboniferous |
Subject |
Dinosaurussen. |
|
Klimaatveranderingen. |
|
Zuurstof. |
|
Vogels. |
|
Evolutionaire biologie. |
|
Theorievorming. |
ISBN |
0309100615 cloth |
|
9780309100618 cloth |
|