The Evolution Underground - by Anthony J Martin (Paperback)

About the Book

What is the best way to survive when the going gets tough? Hiding underground. From penguins to dinosaurs, trilobites, and humans, Martin reveals the subterranean secret of survival.

Book Synopsis

Humans have "gone underground" for survival for thousands of years, from underground cities in Turkey to Cold War-era bunkers. But our burrowing roots go back to the very beginnings of animal life on Earth. Many animal lineages alive now--including our own--only survived a cataclysmic meteorite strike 65 million years ago because they went underground.

On a grander scale, the chemistry of the planet itself had already been transformed many millions of years earlier by the first animal burrows, which altered whole ecosystems. Every day we walk on an Earth filled with an underground wilderness teeming with life. Most of this life stays hidden, yet these animals and their subterranean homes are ubiquitous, ranging from the deep sea to mountains, from the equator to the poles.

Filled with spectacularly diverse fauna, acclaimed paleontologist and ichnologist Anthony Martin reveals this fascinating, hidden world that will continue to influence and transform life on this planet.

Review Quotes

"Digs into the subterranean strategies of prehistoric and contemporary animals, from insects to giant sloths and, to a lesser extent, humans. Offers subtle clues that help shift the dramatic narrative of prehistoric life forward." --THE ECONOMIST

"Martin writes with obvious glee, but as a scholar he knows his stuff--many of the natural discoveries he describes are his own. A fun book of surprising depth." --SHELF AWARENESS

"A spry exercise in popular science. Can you dig it?" --KIRKUS REVIEWS

About the Author

Anthony J. Martin is a Professor at Emory University, a paleontologist, geologist, and one of the world's most accomplished ichnologists. He is the co-discoverer of the first known burrowing dinosaur, found the oldest dinosaur burrows in the geologic record, and documented the best assemblage of polar-dinosaur tracks in the Southern Hemisphere. He is the author of two textbooks on dinosaurs and lives in Atlanta, GA.