Extinct Animals: An Encyclopedia of Species That Have Disappeared During Human History

Table of Contents:
PREFACE INTRODUCTION 1. LESS THAN 100 YEARS AGO GOLDEN TOAD GASTRIC-BROODING FROG ESKIMO CURLEW CARIBBEAN MONK SEAL THYLACINE CAROLINA PARAKEET PASSENGER PIGEON EXTINCTION INSIGHT 1: THE LOTTERY OF FOSSILIZATION 2. LESS THAN 200 YEARS AGO ROCKY MOUNTAIN LOCUST PIG-FOOTED BANDICOOT QUELILI STEPHENS ISLAND WREN TARPAN QUAGGA WARRAH GREAT AUK EXTINCTION INSIGHT 2: THE GREAT AMERICAN INTERCHANGE 3. LESS THAN 500 YEARS AGO ELEPHANT BIRDS STELLERS SEA COW DODO AUROCHS MOA HAASTS EAGLE MARCANO'S SOLENODON EXTINCTION INSIGHT 3: HUMAN DISCOVERY AND EXTINCTION 4. LESS THAN 10000 YEARS AGO MOA-NALO DU HORNED TURTLE GIANT LEMUR WOOLY MAMMOTH SIVATHERE GIANT DEER GIANT GROUND SLOTH CUBAN GIANT OWL EXTINCTION INSIGHT 4: ENTOMBED IN TAR: THE RANCHO LA BREA ASPHALT DEPOSITS 5. 10000-12500 YEARS AGO GLYPTODONTS SABER TOOTH CAT SCIMITAR CAT AMERICAN MASTODON GIANT BEAVER AMERICAN CHEETAH AMERICAN LION WOOLY RHINOCEROS LITOPTERN DIRE WOLF CAVE BEAR SICILIAN DWARF ELEPHANT MERRIAMS TERATORN EXTINCTION INSIGHT 5: ICE AGES 6. MORE THAN 12500 YEARS AGO GIANT SHORT-FACED BEAR FLORES HUMAN GIANT BISON HOMO ERECTUS NEANDERTAL MARSUPIAL LION DIPROTODON AUSTRALIAN THUNDER BIRDS GIANT MONITOR LIZARD QUINKANA GIANT SHORT-FACED KANGAROO GIANT ECHIDNA WONAMBI EXTINCTION INSIGHT 6: A HOLE IN THE DESERT: THE NULLARBOR PLAIN CAVES 7. MORE THAN 50000 YEARS AGO GIANT RHINOCEROS MEGATOOTH SHARK MAGNIFICENT TERATORN POUCH-KNIFE TERROR BIRDS GIANT HYENA GIANT APES GIANT CAMEL SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

About the Author :
ROSS PIPER is an independent scholar. His life-long interest in natural history, especially animals, led to academia and he went on to gain a 1st class degree in Zoology from the University of Wales, Bangor and a PhD in entomology from the University of Leeds. Currently, he lives in Hertfordshire, England. This is his sixth book.

Review :
The prose is exceptionally well crafted, always including interesting facts or stories about the departed species. Extinct Animals is a remarkable and highly recommended work of scholarship that is fully accessible to the non-specialist general reader, as well as academia. . . . the prose is clear and even lively at times ('Fortunately for the pronghorn antelope, the American cheetah died out around 10,000 years ago'). The level of detail makes this a more rewarding resource for serious students of extinction's causes–which are many and often hard to pin down–than Don Lessem's Dinosaurs to Dodos: An Encyclopedia of Extinct Animals (Scholastic, 1999). These 65 species are fascinating, evocative, and important to know about as representative of the history of the earth. The information is interesting and well documented, and the author writes clearly and intelligently. This book is recommended for public and college libraries and high schools where there is a strong interest in extinct species. Anyone with an interest in zoology or general users interested in animals of the past will enjoy this book; a good addition for public libraries.