The Lost World of the Moa: Prehistoric Life of New Zealand - Hardcover

Worthy, T H; Holdaway, Richard N

4.64

11 ratings by Goodreads

9780253340344: The Lost World of the Moa: Prehistoric Life of New Zealand

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0253340349 ISBN 13: 9780253340344

Publisher: Indiana University Press, 2002

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"A landmark work, a book that paleontologists, ornithologists, biogeographers, and ecologists alike will use as a resource for some time to come." James O. Farlow

THE LOST WORLD OF THE MOA investigates one of the richest and most unusual faunas in the world, one that thrived in isolation for 80 million years, but that over the past 2000 years has been reduced to a shadow of its former glory. It was a fauna dominated by birds. In one of the most dramatic extinctions of modern times, half of these species were removed from the planet forever.

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About the Author:

Trevor H. Worthy is a Research Associate at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Birds Dept) and a research scientist privately contracted to the government. He has published extensively with emphases on taxonomy (variously addressing moa, other birds, frogs, lizards, and bats) and palaeofaunal reconstruction.

Review:

" ... documenting in extraordinary detail what we know about the fate of New Zealand's fauna and landscapes before and during the first human settlement some 700 years ago ... Trevor Worthy and Richard Holdaway describe an isolated world that is an unfortunate model for present-day effects of human activities, where forest destruction is driving so many (overwhelmingly unnamed) species to extinction... This book should prompt those who think 'things are getting better' to explain just how future massive global changes driven by sophisticated technologies and massive energy consumption will harm so few species, given that a few people with primitive technologies eliminated so many in New Zealand." - Nature, 28 November 2002 "A landmark work, a book that paleontologists, ornithologists, biogeographers, and ecologists alike will use as a resource for some time to come." James O. Farlow " ... The Lost World of the Moa is a book full of fascinating details about a vanished scene. It brings home that we are responsible for the 76 species, or more than 30 per cent of New Zealand's birds,. lost at the hand of humans over the past 1000 years." - New Scientist " ... documenting in extraordinary detail what we know about the fate of New Zealand's fauna and landscapes before and during the first human settlement some 700 years ago ... Trevor Worthy and Richard Holdaway describe an isolated world that is an unfortunate model for present-day effects of human actitivities, where forest destruction is driving so many (overwhelmingly unnamed) species to extinction... This book should prompt those who think 'things are getting better' to explain just how future massive global changes driven by sophisticated technologies and massive energy consumption will harm so few species, given that a few people with primitive technologies eliminated so many in New Zealand." - Nature, 28 November 2002

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