Life of the Past

"Call them "mudpuppies," "hellbenders," or "mud eels," salamanders are puzzling animals to most people. They come in forms that look like flattened fish with legs, like eels, like slimy lizards, or like lizards with toad-like skins. Their life history imitates the ancient evolutionary transition from aquatic to terrestrial vertebrates, though several groups remain permanently aquatic. Until now, no one has written about their ancient ancestors."--Jacket.

"Today the six major continents are separated by vast seas, but it has not always been so. The relentless motion of the earth's crust sometimes joined and sometimes separated disparate landmasses; twice such a union created the landmass of Gondwana. This great southern supercontinent once was home to an unusual array of wildlife.". "This book traces the history of the vertebrate faunas of Gondwana. It begins with the origin of life, before Gondwana coalesced, and follows the evolution of vertebrates from invertebrate stock, through the course of life from primitive fishes to advanced mammals and birds. It explains in detail how the vertebrate faunas of each of the Gondwana continents developed to the present day, and it investigates how the shifting continental plates and changing climates have shaped the path of vertebrate evolution."--BOOK JACKET.