The Late Devonian Mass Extinction: The Frasnian/Famennian Crisis

by George McGhee Jr.

Overview

Based on two decades of research, The Late Devonian Mass Extinction reviews the many theories that have been presented to explain the global mass extinction that struck the earth over 367 million years ago, considering in particular the possibility that the extinction was triggered by multiple impacts of extraterrestrial objects.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231075053
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	02/22/1996
Series:	Critical Moments and Perspectives in Earth History and Paleobiology Series
Pages:	378
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.67(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

George R. McGhee Jr. is Distinguished Professor of Paleobiology at Rutgers University and a member of the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research in Klosterneuburg, Austria. He has held research positions at the University of Tübingen, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the American Museum of Natural History.

What People are Saying About This

Jeff Over

McGhee has written a science mystery about one of the major extinction events in the Phanerozoic in a well organized investigation of a mass murder... This book is a clear, concise treatment of a complex problem that deserves readership beyond individuals interested in extinctions or the Devonian.

Editorial Reviews

McGhee has written a science mystery about one of the major extinction events in the Phanerozoic in a well organized investigation of a mass murder . . . This book is a clear, concise treatment of a complex problem that deserves readership beyond individuals interested in extinctions or the Devonian.

Jeff Over

McGhee thoroughly assesses knowledge about the Late Devonian mass extinction, during which at least 70 percent of species vanished. The text is so comprehensive and well written, though, that it could serve as a basic resource for thinking about all extinctions, mass or otherwise: the severity of the extinction, its duration, the various organisms affected, and likely causes. His approach is based first on a description of the evidence, and then on an analysis of the hypotheses . . . The objectivity of the book is enhanced by the author's willingness to even disagree with his own previous work . . . Anyone interested in extinctions should have this book.

Choice