Publisher's Synopsis
A close look at the fossil record offers many clues about the origins of life on our planet, how it diversified and why certain species survived while others vanished. This book provides an account of fossils and reviews what these "eyewitnesses to the Earth's history" have to tell us about the development of life forms. Pascal Tassy explains exactly what fossils are, showing why they provide incontrovertible proof of evolution, and demonstrating how new fossil discoveries are answering more and more questions about evolutionary rhythms and patterns. He also discusses the role of chance in history, covering taxonomic diversity and the origins of humans, dinosaurs and mass extinctions, mastodons and ecological stress, and other topics.
