- Paperback: 342 pages
- Publisher: OUP Oxford (4 Nov 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0198507615
- ISBN-13: 978-0198507611
- Product Dimensions: 24.4 x 18.9 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 479,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Review
a splendid work . . . it seems the indispensable source of knowlegde on mammalian evolution' Acta, Palaeontol, Pol. 50, 50(2): 208, 2005
Product Description
Mammals are the dominant large animals of today, occurring in virtually every environment. This book is an account of the remarkable 320 million year long fossil record that documents their origin, their long spell as no more than small, nocturnal creatures, and their explosive radiation since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Tom Kemp also unveils the exciting molecular evidence, which, coupled with important new fossils, is presently challenging current thinking on the interrelationships and historical biogeography of mammals. The Origin and Evolution of Mammals will be of interest to advanced undergraduate and graduate students as well as researchers in vertebrate palaeontology, biogeography, mammalian systematics and molecular taxonomy. It will also be welcomed by vertebrate fossil enthusiasts and evolutionary biologists of all levels with an interest in macroevolutionary problems.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a major reference book, presumably essential for a specialist but I found that it assumed too much prior knowledge and was totally wedded to the dogma of cladism making it difficult to work out the status of the groups described. I also found that in the references, giants like Alfred Sherwood Romer or for that matter, authors on mammal evolution like Derek Yalden scarecely get a mention.
It should perhaps be retitled the origin and evolution of amniotes leading to the mammals given that about half the book deals with mammal like reptiles. Some of this treatment would be essential but there was far too much on basal tetrapods. When it came to even these, there was no real fire about really interesting organisms like Dimetrodon, or any particular story to light the mind given that as a scientist Kemp is cautious.
The weak classification provided is my main problem with the book. Given that so many of the taxa are unranked in classical cladistic fashion, you don't really know what you are dealing with - whereas the traditional orders of mammals are described as such, supraordinal and subordinal taxa are difficult to make out in the context of rank or major grouping. You end up with hierarchical lists and have to try and work out a great deal of it yourself. I'd find the classification of Benton from Bristol (another major author in the field) far more useful and user friendly.
There is no great enthusiasm shown for any of the scenarios or organisms/taxa in question (except some early amphibians and amniotes) and the illustrations could have been more informative. Kemp argues that the collision of India with Asia could have happened earlier than the Eocene but offers little justification. The contribution of Indian mammals if any from the Cretaceous period is alleged but the discussion is uncritical in the light of violent vulcanism on the subcontinent during the KT boundary.
Sorry, but I would have preferred Romer (VP and evolution) or Carroll's update of Romer. I'd really like a similar book on slightly more traditional lines and hope it turns up. In the meantime, this remains a reference for citing purposes. (ps try K. Rose, The beginning of the age of mammals)
It should perhaps be retitled the origin and evolution of amniotes leading to the mammals given that about half the book deals with mammal like reptiles. Some of this treatment would be essential but there was far too much on basal tetrapods. When it came to even these, there was no real fire about really interesting organisms like Dimetrodon, or any particular story to light the mind given that as a scientist Kemp is cautious.
The weak classification provided is my main problem with the book. Given that so many of the taxa are unranked in classical cladistic fashion, you don't really know what you are dealing with - whereas the traditional orders of mammals are described as such, supraordinal and subordinal taxa are difficult to make out in the context of rank or major grouping. You end up with hierarchical lists and have to try and work out a great deal of it yourself. I'd find the classification of Benton from Bristol (another major author in the field) far more useful and user friendly.
There is no great enthusiasm shown for any of the scenarios or organisms/taxa in question (except some early amphibians and amniotes) and the illustrations could have been more informative. Kemp argues that the collision of India with Asia could have happened earlier than the Eocene but offers little justification. The contribution of Indian mammals if any from the Cretaceous period is alleged but the discussion is uncritical in the light of violent vulcanism on the subcontinent during the KT boundary.
Sorry, but I would have preferred Romer (VP and evolution) or Carroll's update of Romer. I'd really like a similar book on slightly more traditional lines and hope it turns up. In the meantime, this remains a reference for citing purposes. (ps try K. Rose, The beginning of the age of mammals)
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I hope someone senior at Amazon reads this. It is high time Amazon got its act together and learned to distinguish, in its 'if you liked that you'll like this' e-mail ads, between different levels of non-fiction - in particular, between texts on aspects of the sciences written by professionals and intended for (1) the intelligent layman; (2) for other specialists; or (3) as textbooks for senior undergraduates or research students. The present book, I found to my disappointment, falls in categories (2) or (3); it is rich in technical terms and in particular assumes a familiarity with taxonomy and comparative skeletal anatomy and all those long Latin words. This is NOT intended as a criticism of Dr. Kemp, who has done what he set out to do for his intended audience, but of the publicity staff at Amazon. I am a retired academic chemist with a broad (though sometimes basic!) acquaintance with the other sciences, and I have to say that I got far more out of Donald Prothero's book on Tertiary mammals (even though understabably he does not deal with the mammals of the Mezozoic and their amniote predecessors), than from the present one. Amazon, pay attention!
One further point: even professionals, at any rate fledgling ones, may have difficulty visualizing the whole animal from a complete and articulated skeleton. I know paleontologists hate the kind of 'Life in the Jurassic' museum diorama which depicts beasts and plants convincingly but mixes individuals which were in fact separated in place or time or both; but I would have loved to have seen more sketches of the animals as they would have appeared in life, juxtaposed perhaps with the skeletons. The very few examples given in Kemp's book make one want more!
One further point: even professionals, at any rate fledgling ones, may have difficulty visualizing the whole animal from a complete and articulated skeleton. I know paleontologists hate the kind of 'Life in the Jurassic' museum diorama which depicts beasts and plants convincingly but mixes individuals which were in fact separated in place or time or both; but I would have loved to have seen more sketches of the animals as they would have appeared in life, juxtaposed perhaps with the skeletons. The very few examples given in Kemp's book make one want more!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Mammals and their kin
20 Aug 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Tom Kemp's book provides a superb, well-written overview of the diversity and evolutionary history of synapsids, the group including mammals. The origin of mammals is now one of the best-documented evolutionary transitions in the fossil record. A leading investigator on this subject, Kemp reviews the numerous changes in features of the skull and postcranial skeleton during this major transition and interprets these changes in functional terms. This is a particularly valuable aspect of Kemp's book. His review of mammalian diversity is an excellent synopsis of the many new data gathered in recent years and is presented within the framework of a phylogenetically based classification. It thus supercedes earlier, outdated treatments of this subject. I definitely recommend Kemp's book for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses. The book also includes an excellent, comprehensive bibliography, which will allow the reader to pursue topics of interest in greater depth. My only criticism is the quality of a number of illustrations; on quite a few figures, lines have faded or vanished during reproduction, and, in a few instances, illustration scans have been greatly distorted during printing. However, these are minor quibbles that do not distract from the overall quality of this book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Excellent, but very high level
12 Oct 2010
Format:Paperback
Make no mistake, this is a book by an expert for experts. Without a solid background in skeletal and dental anatomy, most of the content of this book will go over the reader's head. That said, for those with the background to understand, this is an excellent reference and introduction to the major themes of mammal evolution.
My favorite thing about this book is that it spends considerable ink on pre-mammalian synapsids and Mesozoic mammals. Most books on mammal evolution seem to pick up the tale at the K-T boundary, ignoring most of the story. The discussion of early mammals and pre-mammals is fantastic, and the author presents thought-provoking hypotheses for the evolution of key mammalian characteristics.
This book probably fits into a fairly narrow niche of readers, but for those readers, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
My favorite thing about this book is that it spends considerable ink on pre-mammalian synapsids and Mesozoic mammals. Most books on mammal evolution seem to pick up the tale at the K-T boundary, ignoring most of the story. The discussion of early mammals and pre-mammals is fantastic, and the author presents thought-provoking hypotheses for the evolution of key mammalian characteristics.
This book probably fits into a fairly narrow niche of readers, but for those readers, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
6 of 13 people found the following review helpful
A staid performance
2 July 2008
Format:Paperback
This is a major reference book, presumably essential for a specialist but I found that it assumed too much prior knowledge and was totally wedded to the dogma of cladism making it difficult to work out the status of the groups described. I also found that in the references, giants like Alfred Sherwood Romer or for that matter, authors on mammal evolution like Derek Yalden scarecely get a mention.
It should perhaps be retitled the origin and evolution of amniotes leading to the mammals given that about half the book deals with mammal like reptiles. Some of this treatment would be essential but there was far too much on basal tetrapods. When it came to even these, there was no real fire about really interesting organisms like Dimetrodon, or any particular story to light the mind given that as a scientist Kemp is cautious.
The weak classification provided is my main problem with the book. Given that so many of the taxa are unranked in classical cladistic fashion, you don't really know what you are dealing with - whereas the traditional orders of mammals are described as such, supraordinal and subordinal taxa are difficult to make out in the context of rank or major grouping. You end up with hierarchical lists and have to try and work out a great deal of it yourself. I'd find the classification of Benton from Bristol (another major author in the field) far more useful and user friendly.
There is no great enthusiasm shown for any of the scenarios or organisms/taxa in question (except some early amphibians and amniotes) and the illustrations could have been more informative. Kemp argues that the collision of India with Asia could have happened earlier than the Eocene but offers little justification. The contribution of Indian mammals if any from the Cretaceous period is alleged but the discussion is uncritical in the light of violent vulcanism on the subcontinent during the KT boundary.
Sorry, but I would have preferred Romer (VP and evolution) or Carroll's update of Romer. I'd really like a similar book on slightly more traditional lines and hope it turns up. In the meantime, this remains a reference for citing purposes.
It should perhaps be retitled the origin and evolution of amniotes leading to the mammals given that about half the book deals with mammal like reptiles. Some of this treatment would be essential but there was far too much on basal tetrapods. When it came to even these, there was no real fire about really interesting organisms like Dimetrodon, or any particular story to light the mind given that as a scientist Kemp is cautious.
The weak classification provided is my main problem with the book. Given that so many of the taxa are unranked in classical cladistic fashion, you don't really know what you are dealing with - whereas the traditional orders of mammals are described as such, supraordinal and subordinal taxa are difficult to make out in the context of rank or major grouping. You end up with hierarchical lists and have to try and work out a great deal of it yourself. I'd find the classification of Benton from Bristol (another major author in the field) far more useful and user friendly.
There is no great enthusiasm shown for any of the scenarios or organisms/taxa in question (except some early amphibians and amniotes) and the illustrations could have been more informative. Kemp argues that the collision of India with Asia could have happened earlier than the Eocene but offers little justification. The contribution of Indian mammals if any from the Cretaceous period is alleged but the discussion is uncritical in the light of violent vulcanism on the subcontinent during the KT boundary.
Sorry, but I would have preferred Romer (VP and evolution) or Carroll's update of Romer. I'd really like a similar book on slightly more traditional lines and hope it turns up. In the meantime, this remains a reference for citing purposes.
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