Mass Extinctions and Their Aftermath

TLDR

The book targets undergraduates and graduate students in geology, paleontology, and evolutionary biology, as well as related researchers. The review systematically examines major mass extinctions throughout Earth's history. It surveys all organism groups and evaluates geological evidence and proposed mechanisms such as climate change, meteorite impacts, and volcanism. The review contextualizes the dinosaur extinction within the broader pattern of other mass extinction events.

Abstract

This is a systematic review of the major mass extinctions in the history of life. It covers all groups of organisms - plant, animal, terrestrial, and marine - that have become extinct alongside the geological and sedimentological evidence for environmental changes during the biotic crises. All proposed extinction mechanisms - climate change, meteorite impact, volcanisms - are critically assessed. In this text the demise of the dinosaurs is put into the proper context of other extinction events. This book is intended for undergraduates in Europe and graduate students in the US, studying geology, palaeontology, or evolutionary biology, and their teachers. It should also be of interest to research scientists in adjacent subjects.