Beasts of Eden : Walking Whales, Dawn Horses, and Other Enigmas of Mammal Evolution

Rating:
Summary: More history than science
Review: Dinosaurs certainly hog the spotlight when it comes to paleontology. I was glad to see a new book about prehistoric mammals -- there are too few of them (books about prehistoric mammals, that is). Still, I was disappointed to find out that "Beasts of Eden" actually is about the history of paleontology and how mammal fossils played a role in that history. It's not about the critters. There is little discussion about the evolutionary relationships among prehistoric mammals, or the strange beasts that populated the 65 million years of earth's history after the dinosaurs' demise. Instead the book is devoted to the paleontologists who dig them up. This is all fine and dandy, but many of the personalities, such as Cope and Marsh, have been covered before in greater detail. "Beasts of Eden" is not a bad book. It's thoroughly researched and well-written. It's just too skewed toward the human side of paleontology for my taste.

Rating:
Summary: An intriguing survey of extinct mammals
Review: Evolution is typically discussed in terms of human evolution with a bow to the animal kingdom, so David Rains Wallace's Beasts Of Eden for the college-level science student is particularly recommended as an intriguing survey of extinct mammals. Mammals first evolved about the same time as dinosaurs: Beasts Of Eden covers not only the recognized fossils of past animals long gone, but presents a most intriguing survey of speculators and scientists who have surmised the mammals which must have been. Chapters are filled with palentological discussions, surveys of monographs and research studies providing radically different theories on mammal evolution and extinction, and social and political attacks on scientist speculations. An intriguing, revealing guide.



Rating:
Summary: Not exactly what I expected, but still excellent
Review: If you are looking for a survey of mammal species, a sort of wildlife guide, "Beast of Eden" is probably not the book for you. While author David Rains Wallace does offer interesting insight into a variety of different animals, this isn't a detailed zoological guide. Rather it is a survey of the development of theories of mammal evolution, which is interesting in its own right, but not entirely clear from the title.

That said Wallace has painted an amazing portrait, and I use this metaphor purposely. He has used Rudolph Zallinger's "Age of Mammals" mural from Yale's Peabody Museum to frame his discussion. As someone who grew up in New Haven and spent countless visits to the museum marveling at the mural and its associated specimens, I couldn't have been more delighted by this decision.

This approach serves a double purpose, the obvious one being that the mural's rather sophisticated visual portrayal of mammal evolution provides a nice counterpoint to Wallace's discussion. However, it also is inextricably tied the overall discussion as O.C. Marsh was in many ways the founder of North American paleontology and also the head of paleontology at Yale and the Peabody museum. His so called "bone-wars" with Edgar Cope of The American Museum of Natural History (among other locales) drove the development of numerous theories of mammal evolution, and while their rivalry was childish at best and the theater of the absurd at worst, it provided a dynamic environment which drove a host of brilliant paleontologists to their chosen field.

These bone-wars, and Darwin's theory of evolution provide the jumping off point for a survey of mammal evolution and it's associated theories. From neo-creationist arguments to Gould's punctuated equilibrium, Wallace provides a step by step evaluation of the rise and ebb of various arguments, and quite interestingly, links them into a whole. All too often, scientific theories are treated as emerging fully formed, as if from a vacuum, and while that occasionally occurs, it is more the exception than the rule. What Wallace has created in "Beasts of Eden" is a history of the evolution of evolutionary theory. In effect, this is a tribute to all the minds who have contributed to our understanding of who we are.

The primary reason that he is successful in this endeavor is that he is able to link species studied by one era/scientist to another. For example, Marsh was a student of horse evolution, and Wallace is able to trace the growth of this field as different scientists add to the base he provided. From linear progressions of ever ascending species, to parallel lines of evolution to cladistic diagrams and genetic analysis, Wallace presents evolution as we understand it today by explaining the journey.

I should warn that while not a scientific article, Wallace makes free use of scientific terms and quotes from scholarly sources. While one hardly need be a PhD to absorb and appreciate this work, some grounding in the life sciences will definitely make "Beasts of Eden" a more accessible work.

As I said before, "Beasts of Eden" isn't what it at first appears to be, but if you can stick with it, it provides a fascinating history of mammal paleontology. If the history of science isn't you're cup of tea, this may not be up your alley, but the framework it provides for future explorations in mammal speciation makes it a worthy addition to your bookshelf.

Jake Mohlman


Rating:
Summary: Move Over, Dinosaurs
Review: In Yale's Peabody Museum is a famous mural by Rudolph Zallinger, _Age of Reptiles_, a dinosaur picture sufficiently large to help satisfy what seems to be our incessant curiosity for the great beasts of so many millions of years ago. One dinosaur scientist called it "one of the high-water marks of natural history illustration in the 20th century." It depicts 350 million years of life on the land, and at its end, near Zallinger's signature, is a tiny, mousy mammal called _Cimolestes_. Twenty years later, Zallinger painted _Age of Mammals_, a smaller work, on canvas, to show what _Cimolestes_ and its fellow mammals had wrought once the dinosaurs left the world's stage. In _Beasts of Eden: Walking Whales, Dawn Horses, and Other Enigmas of Mammal Evolution_ (University of California Press), David Rains Wallace has used Zallinger's mammal picture (for which he has great reverence) as a starting point to discuss various aspects of our understanding of those non-reptilian extinct beasts, the ones that are closer to our own species. Prehistoric mammals don't get so much coverage in books, and certainly not so much in movies, as the dinosaurs, and Wallace has attempted to restore the balance.



Mammals first evolved around the same time the dinosaurs did, more than 200 million years ago, but they remained small and inconspicuous. There were small reptiles, too, but the biggies are the ones that everyone remembers, and everyone forgets the little mammals, too. This is not the fault of the paleontologists whom Wallace profiles here, willful, disputatious, and jealous experts who felt the creatures were important enough to argue strenuously about. Scientific antagonism in the Americas was exemplified by the astonishingly vituperative feud between Othneil Marsh, America's first paleontology professor, and Edward D. Cope, who spent his career fighting Marsh's attempt to monopolize paleontology. Each refused to acknowledge the research of the other except to ridicule it, and they attempted to sabotage each other's expeditions in the western deserts, and climaxed their feud by accusing each other of plagiarism and theft in volleyed letters to _The New York Herald_ in 1870. Underneath this superficial, unseemly, and malicious competition was a serious scientific divide. Marsh's work on mammals provided the best substantiation for Darwin's evolutionary ideas, while Cope championed a neo-Lamarckism that claimed that animals changed due to some sort of conscious will to bring themselves into new environments and abilities.



Some controversies detailed here, like plate tectonics, have been resolved, and some, like punctuated equilibria, still cause disputes. Through the controversies are a big part of the story of how we came to a current understanding of prehistoric mammals, Wallace has also concentrated on the entertaining personalities and peculiarities of important paleontologists. For instance, the famous explorer of the Gobi Desert, Roy Chapman Andrews, explained that most people think hardships are essential to an explorer's existence, but said, "I don't believe in hardships. They are a great nuisance." His fleet of custom-built cars and trucks were so well supplied that members of the expedition gained weight the longer they were exploring. Some of the details here will be daunting for those with no reference books; there is no chart, for instance, of the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and other eras. There is a richness of detail and history, though, to show just how these strange beasts, though less cinematic than the giant reptiles that preceded them, have changed paleontological thought and affected our understanding of evolution.



Rating:
Summary: Horsing around with fossils
Review: More than a century of "dinomania" has clouded our view of mammals, according to Wallace. Dinosaur books, movies and other media has maintained the view of human evolution as something "set apart" from the remainder of the animal kingdom. With this history he sweeps away much of that obscuring mist. His focus is on paintings in Yale University's Peabody Museum - the "Sistine Chapel of evolution". This striking comparison refers to Rudolph Zallinger's Age of Reptiles and Age of Mammals murals vividly illustrating the issues involved in tracing evolution's long course. Weaving the story behind the paintings with the revelations of fossil hunters over the years, he adds some appropriate observations of his own. The combination proves apt in this account of clashes of personalities and changes of outlook as more information comes into view over the decades.

There is a thread linking the elements of Wallace's narrative - horses. He explains how horses have two attributes typifying the questions arising from the study of ancient mammals - teeth and feet. Tooth structure is a significant sign of the animal's diet, hence the likely environment in which it lived. Browsers mean forests, which likely mean warm, humid conditions. Grazers mean grasslands and cooler, arid conditions. Multi-toed feet, typical in the small, early equine species indicate slower movement and a plodding pace suitable to forests. Fewer toes and lighter legs mean speed in open spaces. Fossils signalling various "horse" ancestors appeared in many places in the late 19th Century. Wallace notes how the sequencing of these fossils supported Darwin's concept. It also led to a serious debate over whether evolution had a "purpose".

Darwin's insight led to many debates, but the one over "purpose" is only now declining quietly. "Orthogenesis" contends that today's forms are the result of Nature's "experiments" leading to modern "perfect" versions. To humans, the issue is significant in that Nature used all those millennia tinkering with life to ultimately produce us. Wallace introduces us to many paleontologists and their theories of life. In his account, orthogenesis remains a prevalent sub-theme for many years.

Wallace recapitulates the "bone wars" of 19th Century Britain and America, with O.C. Marsh and E.D. Cope bringing ancient life to the public eye. Their verbal brawls and race to find and name new species became an entertainment spectacle. Although they concentrated on dinosaurs, digging doesn't always produce what you're expecting. Mammal fossils, even if not viewed as important as the great reptiles, continued to emerge. One find, as Wallace explains, was made in Patagonia in the last years of the 19th Century. The fossil showed how mammals flourished in the "Age of the Dinosaurs" and forced re-thinking of mammalian evolution. Later revelations put "orthogenesis" on shaky ground as the species tree grew bushier. A linear path from early mammals to humans appeared less likely.

It was horses again, and the giant of American paleontology, George Gaylord Simpson, that drove the final nail in the coffin of orthogenesis. Dinosaurs had led some to link size with success. Simpson demonstrated otherwise. Adaptability, he argued, was far more significant an element. He showed in detailed analysis that the various horse species were not in linear progression. Many side branches show adaptation to new environments. The same outlook took many years to be applied to the evolution of humans. Wallace describes the struggle over identifying anthropoid and other primates that might have led to humans. His depiction inevitably leads him to reflect on Stephen Gould and Niles Eldredge's idea of "punctuated equilibrium", which purported to challenge "neo-Darwinism" and finds it inapplicable in mammalian evolution.

By using Zallinger's paintings as a pivot, Wallace has produced a book both compelling and informative. His style keeps your interest, as does his introduction to the individuals making history in explaining prehistory. Many were obscure before this book and some need further exposure. Anyone visiting the Peabody Museum would do well to have this book as a guide to Zallinger's work. Anybody reading this will not speed past the murals as irrelevant. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Rating:
Summary: A crackling good book on the history of science
Review: This book uses as its centerpiece the epic mural by Rudolf Zallinger, in Yale's Peabody Museum, depicting the progress of the Cenozoic Era,(the Age of Mammals), from its beginning until today. The mural is sweeping in scope, cleverly dividing the epochs by use of strategically placed trees. It simultaneously shows the geology of each epoch as well as its dominant forms of life. The mural is essentially contained in the now obsolete Time-Life hardcover book entitled "The World We live In".

After introducing the mural and its creator, author Wallace gives a detailed history of the progress of the scientific discipine of fossil mammal studies. Personal sketches of the many leaders in this still emerging field of science are seamlessly woven into the text. The well-written, well researched narrative rolls along effortlessly for the reader, who is left with a much clearer understanding of how paleontologists are able to decipher the appearance of these magnificent, long-gone animals, and the surroundings in which they lived.

The subtitle of the book is slightly deceptive, for it is not the animals themselves, but the persons who studied them, that is the chief focus of the treatise, but this is mere quibbling. In order to understand the scientific findings that have been made in a proper fashion, it is important to study the persons and methods used to make them. "Beasts" is a one-of-a-kind book in this respect.

To be sure, the book contains many facts about the creatures of the Cenozoic that cannot be found in other trade books. An extensive bibliography is also supplied for the interested reader who wishes to further pursue particular topics.

I do wish that the book showed the entire Zallinger mural in color. The only part of the mural that is so treated is on the dust jacket. The book would have been much easier to understand in the early stages had this been done. The black and white excerpts from the mural, as contained in the text, are pitifully poor substitutes for the real thing.

Even so, this book receives a five-star accolade, because of the depth of its fascinating text, and because of its quality draftsmanship. I recommend it very highly to students of any science as showing how science advances. Students of geology and paleontology will be particularly well-served by reading and digesting this work and its contents.