Book Review - Ocean Life in the Time of Dinosaurs - Princeton University Press

 

      It would appear to me that there has been a great resurgence of interest in prehistoric life of late, and not just among paleontologists and other scientists involved with studying it. It is perhaps the spectre of exponentially increasing extinctions looming on the near horizon that fuels a desire to understand more fully the events of the distant past. Mass extinction has occurred several times before, but always as a result of natural forces; here in the Anthropocene it is being driven by human excess and the lack of willingness to tackle the issue in any serious way.

     This book is a very welcome addition to the current literature, focussing as it does on oceanic life. Our seas are warming, ocean levels are rising, currents that control life as we know it are changing course; the book is timely indeed.

     A collaboration between four distinguished French scientists has resulted in a superlative volume, enhanced greatly by the evocative and factually accurate illustrations of Alain Bénéteau. I would be willing to wager that I am not unique when I say that these representations fill me with wonder, almost childlike in its dimensions. To muse about life in outer space is one thing, to contemplate the lives that preceded us here on Earth is quite another. There is wonderment in what has gone before.

     Not only are we treated to gripping coverage of the fantastic sea reptiles of the Mezozoic era, we meet some of the personalities in the evolution of knowledge; especially as it relates to fossil collecting. Most significant is the coverage of Mary Anning, the first paleontologist (although she would never have been accorded that title in the nineteenth century when women were little more than chattels) and her remarkable discoveries. 

     We make the acquaintance of icthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and mososaurs, we come to know thalattosaurs and archosauromorphs - and many others. Details of their anatomy are revealed, adaptations to their environment, breeding methods, feeding, their role as predator and prey, and we come to understand why and how many ancient creatures reverted back to a life in the sea and how this was accomplished. What of their descendants today, sea turtles and sea snakes?  All is revealed! 

     Fossil hunting has become greatly sophisticated in recent years and technological advancement facilitates analysis and understanding in ways barely dreamed of just short years ago.

     The book contains a fine glossary and a very helpful bibliography for those seeking to know more.

     It's a marvelous read providing great knowledge, yet all the while stimulating one's interest and fuelling an ever greater level of curiosity about the past. To say that it is timely and topical, relevant in so many ways to the current human condition is an understatement. 

     Carbon dioxide levels are nudging upwards, ocean acidification is on the rise - conditions that led to extinctions in the past.  Winston Churchill famously said, "Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." The statement was made in the context of human experience but it is no less valid if we choose to ignore the history of life on Earth.

     This is the book to help you understand at least some of it - and yes, we do need to heed the warnings.

Ocean Life in the Time of Dinosaurs - Princeton University Press

Nathalie Bardet, Alexandra Houssaye, Stéphane Jouve and Peggy Vincent

Illustrated by Alain Bénéteau

Hardcover - US$29.95 - ISBN: 9780691243948

208 pages - 8 x 10 inches (20 x 25 cm)

212 colour and black-and-white illustrations - 48 maps

Publication date: 21 November, 2023