"This book is on the emergence of mammals in Asia, based largely on new fossil finds throughout Asia and cutting-edge biostratigraphic and geochemical methods of dating the fossils and their geological substrate"--Provided by publisher.

Fossil Mammals of Asia, edited by and with contributions from world-renowned scholars, is the first major work devoted to the late Cenozoic (Neogene) mammalian biostratigraphy and geochronology of Asia. This volume employs cutting-edge biostratigraphic and geochemical dating methods to map the emergence of mammals across the continent. Written by specialists working in a variety of Asian regions, it uses data from many basins with spectacular fossil records to establish a groundbreaking geochronological framework for the evolution of land mammals. Asia's violent tectonic history has resulted in some of the world's most varied topography, and its high mountain ranges and intense monsoon climates have spawned widely diverse environments over time. These geologic conditions profoundly influenced the evolution of Asian mammals and their migration into Europe, Africa, and North America. Focusing on amazing new fossil finds that have redefined Asia's role in mammalian evolution, this volume synthesizes information from a range of field studies on Asian mammals and biostratigraphy, helping to trace the histories and movements of extinct and extant mammals from various major groups and all northern continents, and providing geologists with a richer understanding of a variety of Asian terrains.

The Sinap Formation in central Turkey near the city of Ankara preserves a rich record of mammalian evolution from about 15 to 5 million years ago and is one of the few sites in this region that also has fossil apes. It is unique among other fossil localities from Europe to Western Asia in that it has a thick stratigraphic section and preserves a long record of geological time. The authors have been able to piece together a detailed record of faunal change and, by adding paleomagnetic and radiometric dating techniques, have produced a chronostratigraphy for the Formation. Because of the dual importance of the rich record of the fossils, and the dating of the sediments, the editors have been able to attract some of the leading authorities on Eurasian Neogene paleontology and geology to contribute to this reference work. The results from the Sinap Formation will be the template against which other sites from Europe to Asia are compared.

This volume focuses on small mammal fossils from extinct Asian faunas of about 1 to 7 million years ago in North China. These played a role in the emergence of vertebrate paleontology as a modern science in that country. This second volume of the sub-series Late Cenozoic Yushe Basin, Shanxi Province, China: Geology and Fossil Mammals in the Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology book series deals with a rich microfauna fossil record; megafauna follow in subsequent volumes. This research on Yushe Basin fossils provides a view of changes in northeast Asian terrestrial faunas during the Late Neogene, and therefore is a key to the biochronology for a vast part of the continent. The faunas recovered by the multinational team working in this region represent changes in small mammal communities of the Yushe Basin, revealed on a finer time scale that has not been achieved previously. Detailed systematic studies on small mammal groups proceeded under the care of specialists are outlined in the chapters of this volume. Paleontologists, ecologists and evolutionary biologists will find this book appealing.

The Late Cenozoic Yushe Basin, Shanxi Province, China embodies the bulk of our knowledge on successions of terrestrial vertebrates in the northern part of East Asia. Everything we know about Asian mammals of the last 6 million years has a historical basis in the documentation of the geology of Yushe. This volume introduces the basin in its geological setting, describes the succession of fossiliferous strata, and shows how it is dated. It develops an unsurpassed level of precision for its age control. Geological maps and stratigraphic sections provide the backbone for individual studies to follow on varied fossil groups. The volume explores the history of exploration of the last century in Yushe Basin and places development of paleontology there into the context of the birth of the modern epoch of science in China.

During the last ZO years great progress has been achieved in our understanding of both earth history and vertebrate evolution. The result is that climatic/tectonic events in earth history can now be placed in a more precise and global time frame, that permit their evaluation as abiotic causal factors which might trigger extinction and dispersal events in vertebrate history. Great strides have also been made in genetics and cell biology, providing new insight into phylogenetic relationships among many vertebrates. These new data, along with data on chronologie resolution of earth history, provide tests of previous interpretations regarding ancestral-descendant relationships based solely on the fossil record. It is fitting and proper that a volume on European Neogene mammal chronology is produced at this time, to ensure that new interpretations of vertebrate evolution and chronology are based on the most accurate and current data. Vertebrate paleon tologists believe that the fossil record is the only secure data for measuring the actual course and tempo of vertebrate evolution. Knowledge of the fossil record must keep pace with advances in other areas of science so that inferences on vertebrate evolu tion are accurate and meaningful.

Diagrams showing skeletal features and tooth structure and a glossary of technical terms are included.

A fully revised and updated second edition of the only comprehensive guide to the mammals of South-east Asia. From large mammals such as the elephant, bears, big cats, dolphins and whales to monkeys and badgers to bats, civets, rats and shrews, South-east Asia is one of the world's richest regions in terms of mammal diversity. Species new to science are still being described regularly, though there is increasing pressure on all of its wild mammal populations. More than 550 species are covered in this comprehensive guide. Each species account includes key identification characteristics, habitat, behaviour, distribution and status, and many are accompanied by line drawings of footprints and details of anatomy, or other aspects of identification. Beautiful colour plates depict nearly all species and their variations, while accompanying range maps provide up-to-date information on distribution. This field guide is essential for any naturalist or traveller visiting this special corner of Asia.

This volume presents an array of different case studies which take as primary material data sourced from the NOW (‘New and Old Worlds’) database of fossil mammals. The NOW database was one of the very first large paleobiological databases, and since 1996 it has been expanded from including mainly Neogene European land mammals to cover the entire Cenozoic at a global scale. In the last two decades the number of works that are based in the use of huge databases to explore ecological and evolutionary questions has increased exponentially, and even though the importance of big data in paleobiological research has been outlined in selected chapters of general works, no volume has appeared before this one which solely focuses on the databases as a primary source in reconstructing the past. The purpose of this book is to provide an illustrative volume showing the importance of big data in paleobiological research, and presenting a broad array of unpublished examples and case studies. The book is mainly aimed to professional palaeobiologists working with Cenozoic land mammals, but the scope of the book is broad enough to fit the interest for evolutionary biologists, paleoclimatologists and paleoecologists. The volume is divided in four parts. The first part includes two chapters on the development of large paleobiological databases, providing a first-hand account on the logic and the functioning of these databases. This is a much-needed perspective which is ignored by most researchers and users of such databases and, even if centered in the NOW database, the lessons that can be learned from this part can be extended to other examples. After this introductory part, the body of the book follows and is divided into three parts: patterns in regional faunas; large scale patterns and processes; and ecological, biogeographical and evolutionary patterns of key taxa. Each chapter is written by well-known specialists in the field, with some participation of members of the NOW advisory board. The array of selected mammal taxa ranges from carnivores, equids, ruminants and rodents to the genus Homo. The topics studied also include the diversification and radiation of major clades, large-scale paleobiogeographical patterns, the evolution of ecomorphological patterns and paleobiological problems such as evolution of body size or species longevity. In most cases the results are discussed in relation to protracted environmental or paleogeographic changes.

Few aspects of American military history have been as vigorously debated as Harry Truman's decision to use atomic bombs against Japan. In this carefully crafted volume, Michael Kort describes the wartime circumstances and thinking that form the context for the decision to use these weapons, surveys the major debates related to that decision, and provides a comprehensive collection of key primary source documents that illuminate the behavior of the United States and Japan during the closing days of World War II. Kort opens with a summary of the debate over Hiroshima as it has evolved since 1945. He then provides a historical overview of thye events in question, beginning with the decision and program to build the atomic bomb. Detailing the sequence of events leading to Japan's surrender, he revisits the decisive battles of the Pacific War and the motivations of American and Japanese leaders. Finally, Kort examines ten key issues in the discussion of Hiroshima and guides readers to relevant primary source documents, scholarly books, and articles.