In one chapter, we discover that giant penguins flourished in the then-rainforests of Antarctica during the Eocene. Halliday is careful to not only give attention to charismatic animals like dinosaurs and woolly mammoths, but also to plants, land masses and oceans, using the latest research to back up his conclusions. Through rich, detailed descriptions of ancient organisms and geological processes that draw on the fossil record and his own imagination, Halliday transports us back through deep time, from the relatively recent – tens of thousands of years ago – to when complex life first emerged in the Ediacaran period hundreds of millions of years ago.Įach chapter spans a geological time period, focusing on a specific part of the world that stands out either for the quality of the fossil evidence or a notable event. Otherlands by palaeobiologist Thomas Halliday provides a unique portrait of these strange and remarkable environments and the species that inhabited them. Yet clues to their existence and fate can be found buried deep within Earth’s layers. OUR planet has existed for some 4.5 billion years In that time, it has undergone extraordinary changes, with landscapes and life forms that would seem almost alien to us today.
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