Evolutionary Catastrophes: The Science of Mass Extinction Book

One of the greatest "detective" stories in the history of the Earth is the dinosaur "whodunnit". For a long time it has been known that dinosaurs, pterosaurs (flying reptiles) and several groups of marine reptiles all died out at the end of Cretaceous times 65 million years ago. There are many questions about this extinction event. For instance, what caused their demise? Over the last decade the most fingered culprit has been an extra-terrestrial--an asteroid that whammed into Mexico's Yucatan peninsula at just the right time. A simple and spectacular resolution, you would think the outcome of the trial would be a forgone conclusion. But when the expert witnesses are called it all begins to become less clear cut. Whilst there is no doubt an asteroid did hit the Earth at the time, the effects of its impact do not seem to amount to as much as was originally thought. However, there were plenty of other possible perpetrators around at the time which were powerful enough to cause global mayhem. Evolutionary Catastrophes is a translation and update of an excellent presentation of the case for the most likely accomplice or perhaps main perpetrator--cataclysmic volcanism. Outpourings of "greenhouse" gases and volcanic dust cause climate change which has a knock-on effect through the plants, plant eaters to the meat eaters, through the whole food chain. As a professor of geophysics in the University of Paris, Vincent Courtillot is an expert witness and well placed to guide us through the more arcane aspects of the "palaeoforensics" of the case. He manages to make his statement in language suitable for the general reader and there is an excellent glossary and index to help with more technical matters. Courtillot extends his analysis to the other major extinction events in Earth's history and shows how massive outpourings of lavas coincide with them all, especially the biggest of all the Permian/Triassic extinction around 250 million years ago. Arguments over the interpretation of the palaeoforensic details will go on. As Vincent Courtillot says "no doubt the party will go on" and "many secrets remain to be brought to light". To get the argument in favour of extra-terrestrial impacts as the cause for most extinction events see Charles Frankel's The End of the Dinosaurs. --Douglas PalmerRead More