Living Fossils

by James Martin

Living fossils are survivors from the dawn of life on earth.  They have survived mass extinction, escaped the enemies that killed off other animals, and avoided evolution to live for tens and even hundreds of millions of years virtually unchanged.  When the dinosaurs perished, the "living fossils" remained--and even thrived.  The award-winning author of Hiding Out , Tentacles , and Chameleons documents these resilient creatures, from the exotic to the familiar, including the Komodo dragon, crocodile, alligator, horseshoe crab, nautilus, and the ubiquitous cockroach.  With dazzling photographs, detailed illustrations comparing the creatures' ancient habitats, and awesome facts, Living Fossils unravels some of the mysteries behind nature's longest running success stories.  

Genres: Science

48 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1997

Reviews

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horseshoe crabs led me to this book. They came during the Cambrian Explosion, so they have been in existence for maybe 550 million years, essentially with their original design. They easily survived at least two mass extinctions; chances are that they will still be thriving long after humans cease to exist.


Other long standing creatures are the Nautilus, the lizard-like Tuatara, the Coelacanth fish, the Crocodilians (including crocodiles, alligators and caimans), Komodo Dragons, and the Cockroach.


Sharks are quite ancient, also, but not so much as the things listed above.

[Meegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot of good information in this book but there were a lot of words. I wouldn’t read this at all except I would assign this as a book report or some sort of research project for fifth to seventh graders. It does have important enough information that anyone could use this book, but there are better books out there for more intense projects such as those found in high school.