Extinctions

Michael Hannah is Associate Professor in the School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington in Aotearoa/New Zealand. He completed his PhD at Adelaide University, specialising in palaeontology and biostratigraphy (the art of dating rocks using fossils). After a brief stint in industry, he took up a position at Victoria University, where he became involved in two major Antarctic drilling projects, helping to decipher ancient changes in climate and the history of the Antarctic ice sheets. Throughout his career he has been fascinated by the story of the evolution of early life and the terrifying consequences of the mass extinctions that are evident in the fossil record.

Preface; Acknowledgements; Further reading; Introduction; 1. The Anthropocene and the Earth system; 2. A short detour: the fossil record and the geological time scale; 3. The origin of animals and the emergence of the Earth system; 4. Documenting ancient biodiversity; 5. Mass extinctions – the basics; 6. Causes of the End-Permian and End-Cretaceous extinction events; 7. Time heals all – recovering from a mass extinction; 8. The late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions; 9. Surviving the Anthropocene; Further reading; Index.