Review by Choice Review
Mammoths are crowd-pleasers. Woolly forms of these elephant relatives lived alongside Neanderthals and early modern humans in Europe and the earliest North American Indians. In this revised (1st ed., 2000) large-format volume, mammoth experts Lister (Natural History Museum, London) and Bahn (archaeologist) and their contemporaries summarize what is known about these behemoths. Mammoths are first placed in evolutionary context, from the origin of the proboscideans to the changes which led the first warm-country mammoths to adapt to cold climates of the past few hundred thousand years. The fossil sites yielding mammoths and expeditions to find them are well described, as is a survey of the lifeways of these extinct beasts. People not only hunted mammoths, they drew pictures of them on cave walls, engraved their images in bone, and used mammoth bone to build dwellings. Several hypotheses explain the extinction of mammoths (and other large mammals) 15,000-10,000 years ago, including "overhunting" by humans, climate changes, and disease. The last mammoths probably lived in northern Siberia some 4,000 years ago. Mammoths provides a wealth of excellent illustrations, from fossil fragments to complete skeletons, along with maps, evolutionary trees, and reconstruction paintings of animals in their ancient habitats. Valuable for all science libraries. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty. E. Delson CUNY Herbert H. Lehman College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
With stunning color drawings, photographs of artifacts and fossils, and a captivating text, Lister and Bahn introduce some of the least known prehistoric creatures. Often lumped in with dinosaurs, mammoths actually lived 60 million years later, in conjunction with early man. These cousins to the elephant, fascinating in themselves, offer some incredible insights into the evolution of humankind. The authors sort out myths from archaeological findings and share some wonderful news about digs around the world. Appended are a glossary, maps to mammoth sites throughout the world, a guide to sites and museums, and a bibliography. ~--Denise Perry Donavin
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
