The Eternal Trail: A Tracker Looks At Evolution - Hardcover

Lockley, Martin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0738201650 ISBN 13: 9780738201658

Publisher: Basic Books, 1999

Synopsis

Were Jurassic dinosaurs social creatures? Is the legendary Bigfoot merely a myth? Can you determine the shape of a ram's horns from its footprints? Paleontologist Martin Lockley answers these questions and many more in this highly original chronology of tracking and track-making. From the earliest fossilized prints left by a millipede on a volcanic island to Neil Armstrong's footprint, forever embedded in the lunar dust, Lockley reinterprets the story of evolution, recorded over millions of years in the strata and substrata of our planet and its environs. In the process, he offers a new, holistic approach to tracking—one that highlights the self-organizing principles at work in the natural world—and demonstrates how the science of tracking is giving us new insights into the biology, behavior, and evolutionary history of a diverse array of extinct animals. Filled with fascinating anecdotes and surprising discoveries, The Eternal Trail initiates us into the art and science of tracking, while offering a poetic reflection on the continuity of life.

About this title

Review:

A well-versed hunter or backwoods wanderer can tell the passage of a deer or elk herd by patterns of broken twigs, can guess at the age of a bear by the height of claw marks on a tree, can distinguish bird species by minute differences in their footprints and droppings. Tracks and signs reveal much about animals--and about humans. Martin Lockley, a paleontologist and dinosaur tracker, explores the hidden grammar of those signs in the Eternal Trail, a book full of wonders. Looking for evidence of Tyrannosaurus rex is one thing, of course; but who knew that archaeologists can tell Anglo-Saxons and Celts apart in ancient British sites by the shape of their footprints? Lockley uses such small variations among individuals, the cornerstone of Darwinian evolutionary theory, to explore the remarkable record of the past that lies on the ground all around us, accessible to anyone with keen eyes and a modicum of imagination. "What does it mean to look consciously backward and forward along the eternal trail and see ourselves in motion?" Lockley asks, having taken his readers through a vast catalog of examples. He answers by suggesting that we gain insight into the miracle of evolution across time, and that with this insight we better prepare ourselves to protect the natural world. It's a fine lesson, entertainingly delivered. --Gregory McNamee

About the Author:

Martin Lockley is Professor of Geology and Paleontology at the University of Colorado. He is also head of the University's Dinosaur Trackers Research Group and Curator of the University's fossil footprint collection. Lockley has led tracking expeditions all over the globe and is a popular speaker and recipient of the Chancellors Lecturer Award. His books include Tracking Dinosaurs: A New Look at an Ancient World and Dinosaur Tracks and Traces.

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0738201650
• ISBN 13: 9780738201658
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352