Peter Schouten

Tim Fridtjof Flannery

Introduces the many animal species that became extinct over the past five centuries as the result of European expansion into various parts of the world, including the great auk, Carolina parakeet, thylacine, and passenger pigeon.

Discovering the World's Extinct Animals

A Gap in Nature

Ross D. E. MacPhee

Until a few thousand years ago, creatures that could have been from a sci-fi thriller--including gorilla-sized lemurs, 500-pound birds, and crocodiles that weighed a ton or more--roamed the earth. These great beasts, or "megafauna," lived on every habitable continent and on many islands. With a handful of exceptions, all are now gone.What caused the disappearance of these prehistoric behemoths? No one event can be pinpointed as a specific cause, but several factors may have played a role. Paleomammalogist Ross D. E. MacPhee explores them all, examining the leading extinction theories, weighing the evidence, and presenting his own conclusions. He shows how theories of human overhunting and catastrophic climate change fail to account for critical features of these extinctions, and how new thinking is needed to elucidate these mysterious losses.Along the way, we learn how time is determined in earth history; how DNA is used to explain the genomics and phylogenetic history of megafauna--and how synthetic biology and genetic engineering may be able to reintroduce these giants of the past. Until then, gorgeous four-color illustrations by Peter Schouten re-create these megabeasts here in vivid detail.

The Fate of the World's Hugest, Fiercest, and Strangest Animals

End of the Megafauna

We live in an age of extinction. A Gap in Nature, written by Tim Flannery and breathtakingly illustrated by Peter Schouten, tells the magic story of how, after Columbus' bold discovery of the Americas in 1492, the impact of European exploration and settlement was to prove fatal for many of the planet's most bizarre and extraordinary creatures. Some species disappeared before they could be properly documented, and others became extinct when overzealous collectors shot their last members. Every part of the planet was affected, from the Caribbean to the Arctic North, from the tiniest Pacific island to Eurasia, the great landmass of them all.

Stephen Jackson

The world's gliding mammals are an extraordinary group of animals that have the ability to glide from tree to tree with seemingly effortless grace. There are more than 60 species of gliding mammals including the flying squirrels from Asia, Europe and North America, the scaly-tailed flying squirrels from central Africa and the gliding possums of Australia and New Guinea. But the most spectacular of all are the colugos – or so called flying lemurs – that occur throughout South-East Asia and the Philippines. Animals that glide from tree to tree descend at an angle of less than 45 degrees to the horizontal, while those that parachute descend at an angle greater than 45 degrees. Gliding is achieved by deflecting air flowing past well-developed gliding membranes, or patagia, which form an effective airfoil that allows the animal to travel the greatest possible horizontal distance with the least loss in height. The flying squirrels and scaly-tailed flying squirrels even have special cartilaginous spurs that extend either from the wrist or elbow, respectively, to help support the gliding membrane. Gliding Mammals of the World provides, for the first time, a synthesis of all that is known about the biology of these intriguing mammals. It includes a brief description of each species, together with a distribution map and a beautiful full-colour painting. An introduction outlines the origins and biogeography of each group of gliding mammals and examines the incredible adaptations that allow them to launch themselves and glide from tree to tree.

Gliding Mammals of the World

Koalas Bizarre

Nina Solomon

Charmaine Solomon

Leads you through Asian cuisine shedding light on the shapes, aromas, colours and flavours. Comprehensive and clearly organised, it features illustrations of selected ingredients to aid identification, as well as evocative photographs; a recipe index and an index which includes non-English terminology.

Asian Food

John A. Long

A stunning visual record of feathered dinosaurs illuminates the evolutionary march from these extraordinary prehistoric creatures through to the first true flying birds and includes an engaging companion text that places these feathered dinosaurs within the larger family of dinosaurs.

Peter Schouten

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