Extinction: how life on earth nearly ended 250 million years ago

Some 250 million years ago, the earth suffered the greatest biological crisisin its history. Around 95% of all living species died out--a global catastrophe far greater than the dinosaurs' demise 65 million years ago. How this happened remains a mystery. But there are many competing theories. Some blame huge volcanic eruptions that covered an area as large as the continental United States; others argue for sudden changes in ocean levels and chemistry, including burps of methane gas; and still others cite the impact of an extraterrestrial object, similar to what caused the dinosaurs' extinction.Extinction is a paleontological mystery story. Here, the world's foremost authority on the subject provides a fascinating overview of the evidence for and against a whole host of hypotheses concerning this cataclysmic event that unfolded at the end of the Permian

• ISBN: 978-0-691-13628-8
• Editorial: Princeton University
• Encuadernacion: Rústica
• Fecha Publicación: 01/06/2008
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés