When the Whales Walked And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys

by Dixon, Dougal; Bailey, Hannah

• ISBN13: 9781912413973
• ISBN10: 1912413973
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2018-10-16
• Publisher: Words & Pictures

Summary

A 2019 Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students: K–12 (National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council).

From the moment life crawled out of the oceans and onto land, to when our primate ancestors climbed down from the trees, the history of Planet Earth is filled with incredible stories. This beautifully illustrated guide explores some of the most exciting and incredible events in evolution, through 13 case studies.

Step back in time and discover a world where whales once walked, crocodiles were warm-blooded, and snakes had legs! Meet terrifying giant birds, and tiny elephants living on islands in this fascinating creature guide like no other. Learn how whales once walked on four legs before taking to the oceans; how dinosaurs evolved into birds; and how the first cats were small and lived in trees.

Featuring a stunning mix of annotated illustrations, illustrated scenes, and family trees, evolution is explained here in a captivating and novel style that  will make children look at animals in a whole new way.

Author Biography

Dougal Dixon studied geology and paleogeography at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. He is an award-winning author specializing in the earth sciences and evolution with many children's books and encyclopaedias to his name. He has acquired a reputation for putting over concepts in a totally novel way. Along these lines, his most notable books are After Man: A Zoology of the Future in which he explained the workings of evolution by postulating the types of animals that may evolve in times to come, and The New Dinosaurs, in which he described the zoogeography of the world by describing what life might be like today had the dinosaurs not become extinct. 

Table of Contents

Introduction: What is Evolution?
Timeline of Life on Earth
Who’s related? Looking for Shared Features
A Big Experiment
When Fins Became Feet
When Sea Monsters Swam the Oceans
When Reptiles Grew Wings
When Crocodiles were Lions
When Snakes had Legs
When Birds had Teeth
When Birds Stopped Flying
When Whales Walked on Land
When Rhinos Ruled the World
When Elephants were Tiny
When Cats were Stoats
When Primates Came Down from the Trees
Mysteries to be Solved
Index