Mastodon -- Mastodons or Mastodonts are members of an extinct genus Mammut of the order Proboscidea; they resembled, but were distinct from, the woolly mammoth. While mastodons were furry like woolly mammoths, ... > full article

Mammoth -- A mammoth is any of a number of an extinct genus of elephant, often with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair. They lived during the Pleistocene epoch from 1.6 million ... > full article

Smilodon -- Smilodon means knife tooth, an entirely appropriate name given its enormous fangs. The smilodon species are also known as Saber-Toothed Cats (which is inaccurate because there are other, unrelated ... > full article

Homo heidelbergensis -- Homo heidelbergensis (Heidelberg Man) is an extinct species of the genus Homo and the thought to be a direct ancestor of Homo neanderthalensis in Europe. According to the "Recent Out of Africa" ... > full article

Evolution of cetaceans -- The cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) are descendants of land-living mammals, and remnants of their terrestrial origins can be found in the fact that they must breathe air from the surface; ... > full article

Rodent -- The order Rodentia is the most numerous of all the branches on the mammal family tree. Most rodents are small. The tiny African Pygmy Mouse is only 6 cm in length and 7 grams in weight. On the other ... > full article

Homo ergaster -- Homo ergaster ("working man") is an extinct hominid species (or subspecies, according to some authorities) which lived throughout eastern and southern Africa between 1.9 to 1.4 million years ago with ... > full article

Evolution of the horse -- The evolution in the structure of their teeth, odd-toed limbs, obvious mobility of the upper lip, and other aspects, joins the horse to the evolutionary line of odd-toed, hoofed mammals: the ... > full article

Homo antecessor -- Homo antecessor is an extinct hominin species that was discovered by E. Carbonell, J.L. Arsuaga and J.M. Bermudez de Castro. They are one of the earliest known hominins in Europe, with those from the ... > full article

Reptile -- Reptiles (also called 'herps') are tetrapods and amniotes, animals whose embryos are surrounded by an amniotic membrane. Reptiles were defined as the set of animals that includes crocodiles, ... > full article

The Complete World of Human Evolution
A compelling, authoritative, and superbly illustrated account of the rise and eventual domination of our species.Human domination of the earth is now so complete that it is easy to forget how ... > read more

Biology : The Unity and Diversity of Life (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac)
Cecie Starr and Ralph Taggart are among the most successful authors in introductory, biological science instruction because of their lively approach, engaging writing style, current coverage of the ... > read more

The Third Chimpanzee : The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal
Jared Diamond states the theme of his book up-front: "How the human species changed, within a short time, from just another species of big mammal to a world conqueror; and how we acquired the ... > read more

Evolution of the Insects
This book chronicles the complete evolutionary history of insects--their living diversity and relationships as well as 400 million years of fossils. Introductory sections cover the living species ... > read more

Myths of the Archaic State : Evolution of the Earliest Cities, States, and Civilizations
Classical archaeology promotes the view that a state's evolution reflects general, universal forces. Norman Yoffee challenges the model in this book by presenting more complex and multi-linear models ... > read more

The Solar House: Passive Heating and Cooling
Passive solar heating and passive cooling—approaches known as natural conditioning—provide comfort throughout the year by reducing, or eliminating, the need for fossil fuel. Yet while heat ... > read more

The New Way Things Work
"Is it a fact--or have I dreamt it--that, by means of electricity, the world of matter has become a great nerve, vibrating thousands of miles in a breathless point of time?" If you, like Nathaniel ... > read more

Extinction : How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago
Some 250 million years ago, the earth suffered the greatest biological crisis in its history. Around 95% of all living species died out--a global catastrophe far greater than the dinosaurs' demise 65 ... > read more

The End of Oil : On the Edge of a Perilous New World
The End of Oil is a "geologic cautionary tale for a complacent world accustomed to reliable infusions of cheap energy." The book centers around one irrefutable fact: the global supply of oil is being ... > read more

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt : 3 Volume Set
Featuring 600 original articles written by leading scholars, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt goes far beyond the records of archaeology to make available what we know about the full social, ... > read more