The Lost World Of The Moa: Prehistoric Life of New Zealand (Life of the Past) - Hardcover

Worthy, Trevor-H; Holdaway, Richard-N

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0253340349 ISBN 13: 9780253340344

Verlag: Indiana University Press, 2002

Über diesen Titel

Críticas:

" ... 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

Reseña del editor:

This book 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. Among these lost animals was the giant, flightless bird, the moa, an evolutionary novelty that was one of the largest birds ever known. In this definitive volume, Trevor H. Worthy and Richard N. Holdaway summarise all that is presently known about these incredible birds. The authors present the various species of moa, describe their skeletons, and reconstruct their life and ecology. Then they discuss the only threat to the survival of an adult moa, the world's largest eagle. Paying particular attention to the more interesting and unique forms known only or largely from the fossil record, Worthy and Holdaway describe the primary herbivores, the top predator, and other species. These are placed in the total fauna, where ducks, gruids, and even bats all followed an evolutionary path to flightlessness. Wonderful as these species were, most were ill-prepared to face new, mammalian predators - first rats brought by human visitors, then other mammals, and finally humans themselves. Copiously illustrated and carefully documented from the most current scientific research, The Lost World of the Moa reconstructs a fascinating evolutionary experiment that survived all manner of climatic and geological change, only to succumb to contact with the outside world.

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: Indiana University Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0253340349
• ISBN 13: 9780253340344
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Anzahl der Seiten: 718