Description
In the tradition of G. G. Simpson's classic work, Kenneth D. Rose's The Beginning of the Age of Mammals analyzes the events that occurred directly before and after the mysterious K-T boundary which so quickly thrust mammals from obscurity to planetary dominance.
Rose surveys the evolution of mammals, beginning with their origin from cynodont therapsids in the Mesozoic, contemporary with dinosaurs, through the early Cenozoic, with emphasis on the Paleocene and Eocene adaptive radiations of therian mammals. Focusing on the fossil record, he presents the anatomical evidence used to interpret behavior and phylogenetic relationships. The life's work of one of the most knowledgeable researchers in the field, this richly illustrated, magisterial book combines sound scientific principles and meticulous research and belongs on the shelf of every paleontologist and mammalogist.Reviews
"This beautiful and thorough book will be an essential tool for all those who work on fossil and extant mammals, and for both advanced undergraduate and graduate students. It is a 'must buy' for palaeontological libraries."—Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, Nature"This volume will be extremely valuable, particularly for mammalogists used to dealing only with the time slice of the Recent . . . Highly recommended."—Choice "The first comprehensive synthesis of mammal evolution in more than 20 years. It is arguably the most significant contribution to the field since George Simpson's classic work Principles of Classification and a Classification of Mammals."—Amy Chew, Quarterly Review of Biology "Will almost certainly become a heavily used reference and mainstay in the classroom for students and teachers of mammalian evolution . . . Deserving of accolades as a particularly noteworthy achievement."—Christopher C. Gilbert, Evolutionary Anthropology "Remarkable book."—Peter Langer, Mammalian Biology
Author Information
Kenneth D. Rose is a professor at the Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a research associate at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. He is co-editor of The Rise of Placental Mammals: Origins and Relationships of the Major Extant Clades, also published by Johns Hopkins.
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