The Rise of Fishes: 500 Million Years of Evolution - Hardcover

Long, John A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801896959 ISBN 13: 9780801896958

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010

Synopsis

Fishes that walk, fishes that breathe air, fishes that look like―and are―monsters from the deep. These and many more strange creatures swim through The Rise of Fishes, John A. Long’s richly illustrated tour of the past 500 million years. Long has updated his classic work with illustrations of recent fossil discoveries and new interpretations based on genetic analyses. He reveals how fishes evolved from ancient, jawless animals, explains why fishes have survived on the Earth for so long, and describes how they have become the dominant aquatic life-form. Indeed, to take things a step further, we learn much about ourselves through this book, for all amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are descendants of ancient fishes.

Clear, accessible, and engaging, The Rise of Fishes combines scientific expertise with entertaining stories about Long's own excursions, which span the oceans and continents. The book includes photographs of fossils from around the world as well as dramatic color illustrations depicting what those fishes may have actually looked like.

About this title

About the Author:

John A. Long is the vice president of Research and Collections at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. His numerous books include Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution and Palaeozoic Vertebrate Biostratigraphy and Biogeography, also published by Johns Hopkins.

Review:

"One could almost take this for a coffee-table book at first glance, so profusely and well is it illustrated... This book is not just a scientific and educational tool; it is also a visual celebration of the glories of biological diversity as seen in the fossil record."

(Nature)

"[Long] enlivens his account with tales from his extensive field work... Exceptionally lucid and comprehensively illustrated."

(New Scientist)

"A marvelous addition to the literature of vertebrate paleontology."

(American Paleontologist)

About this edition

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0801896959
• ISBN 13: 9780801896958
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 304