LEADER 03653nam 22005891 450 001 9910464891703321 005 20210423020935.0 010 $a0-231-53636-4 024 7 $a10.7312/mcgh16056 035 $a(CKB)3710000000054832 035 $a(EBL)1192011 035 $a(OCoLC)862077802 035 $a(StDuBDS)EDZ0000605325 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC1192011 035 $a(DE-B1597)459119 035 $a(OCoLC)979575278 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780231536363 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL1192011 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10787745 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL563153 035 $a(EXLCZ)993710000000054832 100 $a20131213d2013 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur|nu---|u||u 181 $2rdacontent 181 $2rdacontent 182 $2rdamedia 183 $2rdacarrier 200 10$aWhen the invasion of land failed $ethe legacy of the Devonian extinctions /$fGeorge R. McGhee, Jr 210 1$aNew York :$cColumbia University Press,$d2013. 215 $a1 online resource (345 p.) 225 0 $aThe Critical Moments and Perspectives in Earth History and Paleobiology 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 0 $a0-231-16057-7 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tContents --$tPreface --$tCHAPTER 1. The Evolution of Life on Land --$tCHAPTER 2. The Plants Establish a Beachhead --$tCHAPTER 3. The First Animal Invasion --$tCHAPTER 4. The First Catastrophe and Retreat --$tCHAPTER 5. The Second Animal Invasion --$tCHAPTER 6. The Second Catastrophe and Retreat --$tCHAPTER 7. Victory at Last --$tCHAPTER 8. The Legacy of the Devonian Extinctions --$tNotes --$tReferences --$tIndex 330 $aThe invasion of land by ocean-dwelling plants and animals was one of the most revolutionary events in the evolution of life on Earth, yet the animal invasion almost failed-twice-because of the twin mass extinctions of the Late Devonian Epoch. Some 359 to 375 million years ago, these catastrophic events dealt our ancestors a blow that almost drove them back into the sea. If those extinctions had been just a bit more severe, spiders and insects-instead of vertebrates-might have become the ecologically dominant forms of animal life on land. This book examines the profound evolutionary consequences of the Late Devonian extinctions and the various theories proposed to explain their occurrence. Only one group of four-limbed vertebrates exists on Earth, while other tetrapod-like fishes are extinct. This gap is why the idea of "fish with feet" seems so peculiar to us, yet such animals were once a vital part of our world, and if the Devonian extinctions had not happened, members of these species, like the famous Acanthostega and Ichthyostega, might have continued to live in our rivers and lakes. Synthesizing decades of research and including a wealth of new discoveries, this accessible, comprehensive text explores the causes of the Devonian extinctions, the reasons vertebrates were so severely affected, and the potential evolution of the modern world if the extinctions had never taken place. 410 0$aCritical moments and perspectives in earth history and paleobiology. 606 $aExtinction (Biology) 606 $aPaleontology$yDevonian 608 $aElectronic books. 615 0$aExtinction (Biology) 615 0$aPaleontology 676 $a560.174 700 $aMcGhee$b George R$01026403 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910464891703321 996 $aWhen the invasion of land failed$92464289 997 $aUNINA