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Print on Demand. This book gathers hundreds of remarkable plate illustrations, drawn by hand, to showcase the extraordinary variety of flora and fauna that called Germany home during the Miocene epoch, a period between 23 and 5 million years ago. Alongside images not seen since they were first committed to paper centuries ago, the author has provided a brief yet informative description of each subject, describing the species' environment and its role in the overall ecological tapestry of the time period, complete with translated excerpts from the writings of the original illustrators. The illustrations presented in the book are works of art, done by some of Europe's most skilled scientific illustrators of the 18th and 19th centuries. Originally published in the Proceedings of the Imperial Leopold-Carolinian German Academy of Natural Scientists, these images capture the likenesses of all manner of plants and animals that lived in Germany's prehistoric past, from the towering palms and giant water lilies that transformed parts of the region into a tropical paradise, to the three-toed horse, the giant ground sloth, and the saber-toothed tiger that roamed the land. In all there are over 500 individual plant and animal species that are depicted, many of which are extinct. The author introduces the book with a fascinating geological and historical account of Germany during the Miocene epoch, when the region's climate was dramatically warmer, allowing for the growth and habitation of plant and animal life not seen before or since. The author also discusses the significance of the illustrators' work in the creation of the book's plates, and provides additional information about the scientists and researchers who accompanied the illustrators on their explorations. The book concludes with a section containing reproductions of several of the original hand-colored prints of the plates, offering readers an idea of the detailed and vibrant images that the original illustrators produced. Overall, this book serves as a valuable and beautiful reminder of the rich and diverse flora and fauna that once inhabited Germany, and of the scientific and artistic work that has been done to capture their lifelike memory. This book is a reproduction of an important historical work, digitally reconstructed using state-of-the-art technology to preserve the original format. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in the book.
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