Animals of the Past

Prior to the emergence of paleontology and comparative anatomy as scientific disciplines at the end of the 18th century, it was generally known that there were species of animals that had disappeared completely. The term "extinction" originally applied to the extinguishing of fires or erasing of one's debt. It was not until 1784 that the term extinction was used to denote the complete eradication of a species of living being. In 1901, Frederic A. Lucas penned an overview of vertebrate animals whose only evidence of being remained in fossil records. The book focuses primarily on vertebrate animals, from fish to mammals. - Summary by Jeffery Smith (5 hr 54 min)

Chapters

Introductory and Explanatory	8:25	Read by Jeffery
Chapter 1 Fossils, and How They Are Formed	25:44	Read by Jeffery
Chapter 2 The Earliest Known Vertebrates	21:05	Read by Jeffery
Chapter 3 Impressions of the Past	21:35	Read by Jeffery
Chapter 4 Rulers of the Ancient Seas	30:35	Read by Jeffery
Chapter 5 Birds of Old	28:15	Read by Jeffery
Chapter 6 The Dinosaurs	28:36	Read by Jeffery
Chapter 7 Reading the Riddles of the Rocks	40:18	Read by Jeffery
Chapter 8 Feathered Giants	32:01	Read by Jeffery
Chapter 9 Ancestry of the Horse	23:29	Read by Jeffery
Chapter 10 The Mammoth	31:21	Read by Jeffery
Chapter 11 The Mastodon	32:28	Read by Jeffery
Chapter 12 Why Do Animals Become Extinct?	31:04	Read by Jeffery

Reviews

(5 stars)

A LibriVox Listener

Interesting and entertaining book. Of course, due to its age, all of the "facts" must be taken with a boatload of salt. But it's still fascinating to learn about what was known back then, and a fun inspiration for looking up the animals mentioned on Wikipedia to see what we know today. Reader is very good, with a pleasant, calm and clear voice.

Good Background Listening

(5 stars)

Chris R.

interesting enough to not be boring but slow enough that you can tune out for a wHile without missing much.