Survivors: The Animals and Plants that Time Has Left Behind

摘要

Cataclysms come and go, but the stromatolites of Western Australia have sat them out for more than 2 billion years. These organic cushion-like structures with cyanobacterial wigs lead palaeontologist Richard Fortey's cast of survivors still dangling from the tree of life. He roves from hordes of horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay on the northeast US coast to New Zealand's velvet worms and beyond, each fascinating organism a focus for broader thoughts on evolutionary history. Decades spent "looking at thoroughly dead creatures" have not dimmed Fortey's ability to bring these relics to life.