Pleistocene Mammals of Europe - Softcover

Kurten, Bjorn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0202309533 ISBN 13: 9780202309538

Publisher: Routledge, 2007

Synopsis

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of all the Pleistocene species in Europe, classified according to modern taxonomic principles. For each species there is a description of its descent and migration history, its range, and its mode of life.

The first version of this book was a semi popular paperback in the Swedish Aldus series. The present edition is completely rewritten and greatly expanded, but retains the non-technical approach to make the story accessible to readers with varying backgrounds. The first part of the book is an outline of the Pleistocene history of Europe, with its climatic changes and succession of mammalian faunas. In the second part are listed all the species of Mammalia known from the Pleistocene and Postglacial of Europe, with the evolution, range in time and space, and mode of life set down for each species, as far as known. The final part is an evaluation of the story in terms of evolution and palaeogeography.

The author begins with a description of the floral and faunal succession in Europe, from the Villafranchian period, when climatic changes were moderate, to the increasing temperature oscillations of the later Pleistocene, with its recurrent faunal revolutions. Against this background Kurten then deals with the whole range of the mammalian species, and his account is fully illustrated by reconstructions and text figures showing skeletal and odontological characters. The book concludes with an analysis of the material available for this study, which throws fresh light on several aspects of zoogeography, evolution, and ecology.

This is the most complete account of the mammalian species of Europe yet to appear, and will be of great value to all paleontologists.

About this title

About the Author:

Bjorn Kurtén (1924-1988) was lecturer in palaeontology at the University of Helsinki. He is well known for his studies of the Pleistocene carnivores and of human evolution. He was a recipient of Unesco's Kalinga Award. Some of his most famous publications include On the Variation and Population Dynamics of Fossil and Recent Mammal Populations and Pleistocene Mammals of North America.

Review:

“This is an admirable book. It is a successful effort to place the specialized knowledge of the Pleistocene vertebrate paleontologist at the disposal of other specialists. The word “interdisciplinary” implies effort toward bridging a gap, but all too often the result falls into the crevasse rather than crossing it. Professor Kurtén has solved this problem by producing a fact-filled work in a highly readable style; this is a rare combination... Even... [if] one has no direct interest in mammals, this book is a fine model of how to make systematics important and understandable to other disciplines. Even biochemists might be able to appreciate this work. Please read it.”

—Ellis L. Yochelson, Systematic Zoology

“Study of the fauna of the Quaternary, the last period in the geological history of the earth, takes a special place in palaeontology. The material for it is collected according to classical palaeontological methods, but a new element appears: the final product of the evolution of the animal world this time is represented by the Recent fauna which can be studied with all the methods of contemporary zoology... The book is written in non-technical language, which is important because it will be used not only by palaeontologists but also by anthropologists, geologists and zoologists interested in the history of our continent in the Ice Age.... For an ecologists the book of Kurtén is an interesting and up-to-date source of information about the influence on animals of dramatic changes of climate in the Ice Age... Without knowledge of them the Recent animal world of Europe cannot be understood and Kurtén’s book discusses broadly and in an inspiring way all of these problems.”

—K. Kowalski, Journal of Animal Ecology

“This long awaited compendium, written in English in a semi-popular presentation, summarizes a literature unwieldy in its multi-national origins, hence relatively unattainable to any but the specialist... The text is well balanced and lucid.”

—John E. Gulday, Ecology

“This book is highly welcome in that it brings a great wealth of paleontological data together for a wide audience at a nontechnical level. Students of archeology, prehistory, and a variety of related sciences will readily appreciate an explanatory text that proves a systematic overview of the Pleistocene mammals of Europe. Similarly, Pleistocene specialists of many kinds, with little or no anatomical training, can now enjoy ready access to a previously obscure field, thanks in part to the widely ranging bibliogprhy (319 itesms)... [T]his is an excellent and useful book, presenting an amazing amount of data in a restricted space.”

—Karl W. Butzer, American Anthropologist

“Written in a non-technical style... [this book] provides a link between palaeontology and zoology, and to a lesser extent, between geology and prehistoric archaeology, and should appeal to a wide range of readers... Skeletal features are particularly well illustrated, and there are numerous tables, charts and maps. This book is not only easy and pleasant to read, but should form a valuable reference work for many years.”

—S. A. Baldwin, Man

“Now, happily, we have a comprehensible summary by a European Pleistocene paleontologist whose own research has dealt with many of the groups... Kurtén has done an admirable job in organizing and explaining this complexity in understandable terms.”

—Charles A. Reed, Science

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0202309533
• ISBN 13: 9780202309538
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 317