Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198546521 ISBN 13: 9780198546528

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1996

Though only two elephant species remain alive today, the Proboscidea were one of the great mammalian orders of the Cenozoic. Their success through the ages is reflected by their morphological and taxonomic diversity, their nearly worldwide distribution, and their persistence through nearly fifty million years. Their great ability to migrate and to adapt to changing climatic conditions and interspecific competition provides a unique insight into evolution. Written by leading experts, this is the first complete treatise on the evolution and palaeoecology of this group in fifty years. It reviews their classification and phylogeny, the early differentiation of proboscideans, major adaptive radiations and their evolutionary patterns, and the origins and current status of extant elephant species. Students, researchers, and professionals in zoology, palaeontology, evolutionary biology, and ecology as well as curatorial staff at natural history museums will want to read this book.

About the Author:

Jeheskel Shoshani, Research Associate, Cranbrook Institute of Science, Michigan.

Review:

`the present multi-authored volume edited by two of the greatest students of the subject is a landmark ... This book is a landmark in the study of the biology and paleobiology of the Emperor of Beasts.'
Malcolm C. McKenna, American Museum of Natural History, Science, Vol. 276, April 1997