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stoutfellowSome - many? - years ago, I joined a book club called the Library of Science. Its offerings were what the name suggests, and over time I have purchased quite a number of books from them. Not too many years ago, the club was purchased by Scientific American, and renamed the Scientific American Book Club. In my judgment, the club (like the magazine it is now named for) has deteriorated, and I am no longer inclined to remain with it. However....
Like many such clubs, SABC offers Bonus Points; every purchase of a book at regular club price earns points, which may be used to buy further books at a lower price. Needless to say, I've piled up a lot of Bonus Points, and my personal ideal of thrift demands that I use them. So, for the past while, every time the catalog has arrived I've leafed through it, looking for something to expend Bonus Points on. These are, almost by definition, impulse buys; I've obtained a number of books that I wouldn't have looked for but whose descriptions looked interesting.
One of these, and the real topic of this post, is Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems, by Paul Selden and John Nudds, which I review under the cut.
This book, after a brief introduction, proceeds through a series of fourteen exceptionally well-preserved fossil sites or "Lagerstätten". It begins with the famous Ediacaran site, from Pre-Cambrian times, and ends with the La Brea Tar Pits, less than three million years ago. (The full list: Ediacara; the Burgess Shale, discussed by Stephen Gould in his Wonderful Life; the Soom Shale, rich with trilobites; the Hunsrück Slate, with its assortment of early fish; the Rhynie Chert, revelatory of the conquest of the land; Mazon Creek, with its giant arthropods; Grès à Voltzia, a river delta in the Triassic; the Holzmaden Shale, with its famous ichthyosaur fossils; the Morrison Formation, from the Jurassic heyday of the dinosaurs; the Solnhofen Limestone, containing fossils of early birds and other flyers; the Santana and Crato Formations, displaying Cretaceous marine life; Grube Messel, from the early Cenozoic, with an assortment of early mammals; Baltic amber; and Rancho La Brea.)
Each section follows the same lines: an overview of the times; an account of the discovery and exploration of the site, with some words as to whether the Lagerstätt is a Concentration site, where fossils from a wide area have been washed or otherwise brought together, or a Conservation site, revelatory of the actual local ecosystem; a description of the fossils found there; a discussion of the local geology and geography of the period; and a comparison with other sites of comparable age. The text is amply supplemented with figures, maps, photographs, and reconstructions.
I enjoyed reading the book a great deal. Though I read a lot about ancient life as a child, my understanding was both out of date and (probably) misremembered. Someone better versed in paleontology might find the book less informative, but I learned quite a bit, some of which surprised me. I'd certainly recommend it to any dabbler, and possibly to anyone not already an expert.
Like many such clubs, SABC offers Bonus Points; every purchase of a book at regular club price earns points, which may be used to buy further books at a lower price. Needless to say, I've piled up a lot of Bonus Points, and my personal ideal of thrift demands that I use them. So, for the past while, every time the catalog has arrived I've leafed through it, looking for something to expend Bonus Points on. These are, almost by definition, impulse buys; I've obtained a number of books that I wouldn't have looked for but whose descriptions looked interesting.
One of these, and the real topic of this post, is Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems, by Paul Selden and John Nudds, which I review under the cut.
This book, after a brief introduction, proceeds through a series of fourteen exceptionally well-preserved fossil sites or "Lagerstätten". It begins with the famous Ediacaran site, from Pre-Cambrian times, and ends with the La Brea Tar Pits, less than three million years ago. (The full list: Ediacara; the Burgess Shale, discussed by Stephen Gould in his Wonderful Life; the Soom Shale, rich with trilobites; the Hunsrück Slate, with its assortment of early fish; the Rhynie Chert, revelatory of the conquest of the land; Mazon Creek, with its giant arthropods; Grès à Voltzia, a river delta in the Triassic; the Holzmaden Shale, with its famous ichthyosaur fossils; the Morrison Formation, from the Jurassic heyday of the dinosaurs; the Solnhofen Limestone, containing fossils of early birds and other flyers; the Santana and Crato Formations, displaying Cretaceous marine life; Grube Messel, from the early Cenozoic, with an assortment of early mammals; Baltic amber; and Rancho La Brea.)
Each section follows the same lines: an overview of the times; an account of the discovery and exploration of the site, with some words as to whether the Lagerstätt is a Concentration site, where fossils from a wide area have been washed or otherwise brought together, or a Conservation site, revelatory of the actual local ecosystem; a description of the fossils found there; a discussion of the local geology and geography of the period; and a comparison with other sites of comparable age. The text is amply supplemented with figures, maps, photographs, and reconstructions.
I enjoyed reading the book a great deal. Though I read a lot about ancient life as a child, my understanding was both out of date and (probably) misremembered. Someone better versed in paleontology might find the book less informative, but I learned quite a bit, some of which surprised me. I'd certainly recommend it to any dabbler, and possibly to anyone not already an expert.
