Living Fossils

Description

You haven’t changed a bit!
 
Living fossils, or modern-day animals that very closely resemble their ancient relatives. Meet the coelacanth, horseshoe crab, dragonfly, tuatara, nautilus, and Hula painted frog. All are living fossils. Why have they changed so little over time, while other animals evolved or went extinct? Using contrasting “then” and “now” illustrations, veteran nonfiction writer Caroline Arnold alternates between a prehistoric creature in its native environment and its contemporary living-fossil counterpart. An amazing way to experience the ancient past!
 
Back matter includes a time line, additional information about the six living fossils, a glossary, and suggestions for further reading.Six creatures whose essential appearances haven’t changed in millions of years provide an introduction to the idea of “living fossils.”
Scientist Charles Darwin introduced this phrase in 1859, and, though it’s not scientifically accurate, it’s a popular way to refer to animals that seem to have retained ancient features. Some have even reappeared, alive, after having disappeared in the fossil record. Arnold illustrates this with intriguing examples: coelacanths, horseshoe crabs, dragonflies, tuatara, chambered nautiluses, and Hula painted frogs. Her choices range widely across the animal kingdom and come from around the world. After introducing the concept with the coelacanth, she presents the other five, each with two double-page spreads: then and now. An accompanying narrative describes major features, when and where the species can be found, something about its behavior, and, usually, some natural threats. Further facts appear in the backmatter. The pleasing design offers a clear image of the animal stretching across the fold to a column of text. Inset boxes detail adaptations that have allowed each animal to survive. (In the case of the extremely endangered frog, the question becomes “Will They Survive?”) Plant’s realistic acrylic paintings show his subjects in their natural habitats and, sometimes, as fossils.
School and public libraries whose copies of James Martin’s Living Fossils (1997) have worn out will welcome this inviting new look at a popular subject, as will kids with an interest in paleontology and evolution.
–Kirkus Reviews

Dinosaur buffs are a natural audience for this informative overview of six living species that closely resemble their distant ancestors. Plant’s (the Ancient Animals series) naturalistic acrylic paintings shift between “then” and “now” as Arnold (Too Hot? Too Cold?) compares the lives of modern-day animals and their prehistoric forebears. Bulleted sidebars present reasons why certain animals have persisted; horseshoe crabs, which have existed for hundreds of millions of years, have hard shells that protect them from predators, can adapt to ocean temperatures and saline levels, and require little food. As readers explore the characteristics that have led to these animals’ resilience, it may raise questions about how other creatures—including, perhaps, humans—will survive the test of time. 
–Publishers Weekly

A glimpse into the world of living fossils, or modern-day plants or animals that are very similar to now-extinct species. Realistic acrylic paintings of the different creatures and their fossilized counterparts accompany brief text describing the creatures and comparing them to their modern versions. Sidebards point to specific survival adaptations that have allowed the horseshoe crab and dragonfly to survive from their initial evolution to today, for examples. An overview time line, which covers 3.5 billion years, will help readers see the sequence of development. The volume ends with a spread that offers further details about the six species covered. VERDICT A strong addition to all library and one that dinosaur fanatics will love.
-School Library Journal

Living Fossils is a fascinating book providing an examination of “living fossils”: plants and animals that retain characteristics of their earliest ancestors. The book discusses six different species and includes beautiful, detailed illustrations of both the ancient creatures and their modern counterparts. Details on how each creature survived, and how they have or have not adapted over time, are given. A time line and a glossary of terms are included. The book is intended for ages seven to ten and will surely spark the imagination of anyone interested in prehistory.
– Foreword ReviewsCaroline Arnold is the author of more than one hundred books for children, most of them about science and nature. Recent titles include Too Hot? Too Cold? Keeping Body Temperature Just Right, and A Warmer World. In 2005 Caroline was awarded the Washington Post/Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award.
Andrew Plant is a trained zoologist with a strong interest in paleontology. He has illustrated more than one hundred books for children, including Ancient Animals: Saber-toothed Cat and Ancient Animals: Terror Bird by Sarah L. Thomson and A Platypus, Probably by Sneed B. Collard III.In December 1938, fishermen off the east coast of South Africa pulled up a strange-looking fish. It was five feet long and pale blue, with an unusually large, lobed tail. The fishermen gave the fish to Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, the curator of a local museum. She had never seen anything like it, so she sent a sketch to Professor J. L. B. Smith, a fish expert. When he saw the drawing, he was astounded. It looked almost exactly like the coelacanth, a fish thought to have died out about sixty-five million years earlier. How could this fish, missing from the fossil record for tens of millions of years, still be swimming in the ocean? Why had it survived when so many other species had become extinct? What could it reveal about life in prehistoric times? The fish appeared to be a “living fossil.”CN

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