Science and technology, more sophisticated by the day, enables us to peer into our prehistoric past with greater precision - with a degree of certainty even - than we ever could before.
This latest volume by Princeton University Press follows on the heels of Birds of the Mesozoic and The Princeton Field Guide to Mesozoic Sea Reptiles. Taken together, we have a comprehensive picture of some of the life forms extant during this rich period in the Earth's history, and the influence of plants on other organisms, in providing food and shelter, influencing climate and being influenced by climate. The proliferation of angiosperms was especially significant. Plants familiar to this day such as conifers, ferns and ginkgos were thriving and expanding their range two hundred million years ago.
This is the first book from the pen of Nan Crystal Arens, a geoscientist at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, following an invitation to create it. Given its level of excellence one may hope that it is not her last.
It is illustrated beautifully by Sante Mazzei, drawing on advances in our understanding of the flora and fauna of the Mesozoic, to create exciting representations of what we might have seen were we time travellers.
The book follows a now familiar format for Princeton Field Guides, a very agreeable familiarity, I might add. The first eighty-seven pages are devoted to ensuring that the reader has a complete understanding of the flora of the era, covered in extensive yet concise detail. The text is written in a very easy to read format, and step by step a comprehensive understanding is acquired, almost by osmosis. One subset of information leads seamlessly into the next.
What then follows are the group and species descriptions. These might be considered the heart of the book, although a full appreciation of them is only made possible by absorbing the sections that go before.
Each page of this remarkable book delivers information and knowledge, wonder and excitement; discovery builds on top of discovery.
When one contemplates the popularity of novels and films about prehistoric times, it is apparent that there is an ongoing fascination with the past, that goes far beyond the realm of paleobotanists, earth scientists, and other experts. This book will enable you to become an armchair cognoscento in the comfort of you own home.
What could be better than that?
The Princeton Field Guide to Mesozoic Plants - Princeton University Press
Nan Crystal Arens
Hardcover - US$35.00 - ISBN: 9780691272436
208 pages - 8.5 x 11 inches (21.25 x 27.5 cm)
Publication date: 18 November, 2025
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This whole series fascinates me and this sounds like another valuable addition to it.
ReplyDeleteIt fascinated me, too, Dorothy.
DeleteThat sounds like an exciting book, David. I really like ferns, and it's amazing that some species of them lived 200 million years ago. Magnolia is also a plant from the Cretaceous period, and it is believed that they may have originated 140 million years ago. It puts things in perspective.
ReplyDeleteHugs and kisses, Marit
Very interesting book, I like this topic.
ReplyDelete...and a few present day plants go way back in history.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting David👍Thanks for sharing👍
ReplyDelete