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University of Washington paleontologist Ward (Rare Earth) clearly sets forth the premise of his provocative book: "changing atmospheric oxygen levels over the last 600 million years have caused significant evolutionary change in animals." He argues that, for extended periods, there was less than half the amount of oxygen present today in the atmosphere, and a need to develop respiratory systems to deal effectively with ambient oxygen levels has been the dominant factor in creating species diversity, extinctions and basic animal body plans. Ward takes readers on a tour from the Cambrian through the Permian to the Jurassic, examining the dominant life forms in each period and arguing that oxygen availability, or lack thereof, is responsible for the evolution of endothermy, egg shells, live births and most of the major extinctions in Earth's history. He also claims that dinosaurs were successful for so long because they were able to make use of primitive air sacs (that became fine-tuned in modern birds), thus enabling them to outcompete all others in their oxygen-depleted environment. Ward's ideas deserve careful scrutiny and are likely to be discussed broadly, although his often awkward writing gets in the way of his message. Illus. (Oct. 11)
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Book Description
For 65 million years dinosaurs ruled the Earth – until a deadly asteroid forced their extinction. But what accounts for the incredible longevity of dinosaurs? A renowned scientist now provides a startling explanation that is rewriting the history of the Age of Dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs are pretty amazing creatures. Real life monsters that have the power to fascinate us. And they’re fiery Hollywood ending only serves to make their story that much more dramatic. But fossil evidence demonstrates that dinosaurs survived several mass extinctions, seemingly unaffected by catastrophes that decimated most other life on Earth. What could explain their uncanny ability to endure through the ages?
Biologist and earth scientist Peter Ward now accounts for the remarkable indestructibility of dinosaurs by connecting their unusual respiration system with their ability to adapt to Earth’s changing environment – a system that was ultimately bequeathed to their descendants, birds. By tracing the evolutionary path back through time, slowly but deliberately connecting the dots from birds to dinosaurs, Ward describes the unique form of breathing shared by these two distant relatives – and demonstrates how this simple but remarkable characteristic provides the elusive explanation to a question that has thus far stumped scientists.
Nothing short of revolutionary in its bold presentation of an astonishing theory, this is a story of science at the edge of discovery. Ward is an outstanding guide to the process of scientific detection. Audacious and innovative in his thinking, meticulous and thoroughly detailed in his research, only a scientist of his caliber is capable of telling this surprising story.
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