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Oceans Of Kansas: A Natural History Of The Western Interior Sea (Life of the Past) |
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You Are Here: Home > History Books > Kansas History > Item 101
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Oceans Of Kansas: A Natural History Of The Western Interior Sea (Life of the Past)
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by Michael J. Everhart
Sales Rank: 368060
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List Price: $39.95
$26.37
At Amazon
on 9-14-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 322 pages
Published by: Indiana University Press July 2005
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0253345472
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0253345479
Book Dimensions:
10 x 7 x 1.2 inches
Weighs: 2 pounds
Palaios, 2007
". . . more than just a fun read. . . . the price is a steal for the scientific information housed within these pages."
Book Description
"The bright midday sun glinted off the calm waters of the Inland Sea and silhouetted the long, sinuous form of a huge mosasaur lying motionless amid the floating tangle of yellow-green seaweed. Twenty years old and more than thirty feet in length, the adult mosasaur was almost full-grown and was much greater than any of the fish or sharks that lived in the shallow seaway. A swift and powerful swimmer over short distances, the mosasaur used surprise and the thrust of his muscular tail to outrun his prey with a short burst of speed." -from Chapter One
Although Kansas is now high and dry, at one time the state, like most of the Midwest, was under water. Until the land finally rose above sea level during the final years of the Late Cretaceous, the area was covered by a succession of oceans whose geologic record is preserved in the sedimentary rock that covers the Great Plains.
Oceans of Kansas tells the story of the five million years when giant sharks, marine reptiles called mosasaurs, pteranodons, and birds with teeth flourished in and around this shallow sea. The abundant and well-preserved remains of these prehistoric animals were the source of great excitement in the scientific community of the day when they were first discovered in the 1860s. Two of the best-known fossil hunters of the time, E. D. Cope and O. C. Marsh, competed vigorously to recover the best specimens. During the past 130 years, thousands have been collected and sent to museums around the world.
Michael J. Everhart tells the fascinating story of their discovery, re-creates the animals and the world in which they lived, and presents the fruits of the latest research into the natural history of Americas ancient inland sea.
Reader Reviews
I found the description of this book intriguing and found it listed in a couple of different places, so I decided I was fated to read it. I wasn't disappointed either. Although in places the non-professional may find their eyes glazing, for the most part, it is full of interesting information on the faunal era of the Cretaceous Interior Sea of North America (roughly the entire Midwest from Northern Canada to the present Gulf of Mexico). Particularly fascinating is Everhart's discussion of the famous fossil finders of Kansas: Professor Benjamin Mudge, the Sternberg family (George H., George M., and Charles H.), Theophilus Turner, and Samuel Williston, all of whom provided some of the earliest and finest material from this period now found in Eastern and European museums. Some of their finds formed the type basis of species and genus descriptions for the marine fauna of the age world wide. Should anyone have the erroneous impression that scientists are totally objective and above petty squabbles, the author's frequent comments on the famous Cope and Marsh and their "bone wars," will totally disabuse you of the notion. Marsh from the Yale Peabody Museum and Cope from the Accademy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia conducted a personal battle to be the first to describe and name in print specimen arriving from the midwest that is virtually legendary in paleontology and geology departments. Both employed the local talent of Kansas to find suitable museum quality specimen for display. The 19th century seemed to have been the age of "collections" of every conceivable type. In an age before television and cinema, such collections drew large crowds, as P. T. Barnum's' menagerie of oddities illustrated. In their field of natural history, the two scientists rivaled the ambitions of the fine art and archaeological collectors of some of the nation's art museums and even Barnum's more eclectic presentations. Particularly interesting is the author's presentation of his own fossil finds and of the techniques and difficulties in removing specimen from their in situ location to one for preservation. It is obvious from his occasional reference to his field work that he is not simply an armchair or lab bound paleontologist. Although not the more biographical work that the writing of Peter Ward tends to be, in context, the personal experiences described by Everhart provide the reader with some idea of what the field involves. This might be of some interest to young people looking for a career in the biological sciences that does not involve all indoor work. The book is extremely well organized, introducing the geology and earth history of the region now the part of the state of Kansas and describing in some detail the various categories of animals found there. Each of the chapters on a given type of animal is introduced by a short fictional account of what their life was like and how the particular specimen introduced might have met its end. This allows the reader to picture the animal as more than a lifeless pile of "old bones." Each chapter also introduces the genera and species within it, the period in which they flourished and that in which they seem to have disappeared. The author also discusses the rarity of finds and the possible causes thereof. Where indicated he also brings in information from neighboring states where species appear either before or after those in Kansas, so that the reader has a better understanding of extinction, regression and transgression of sea water and its residual rock facies, and the character of life and death in a changing environment. Completing this discussion, he also gives a thorough account of when, where, and by whom specific fossils were found and named. In short a history of their provenance and subsequent disposition. One could actually go to see these individual specimen if one chose to do so and know everything known about them. From his discussion of the literature and of the finds and communications of other workers in the field, it is very apparent that the author is both well read and well connected. He does not write or work in isolation, but collaboratively with those in his specialty. The entries in his bibliography are extensive, including older works regarding the history of given researchers or type fossils, and more recent journal articles on finds made that extend or change the designation or understanding of a specimen and/or its relationship to others. A student doing a paper on paleontology, on the Cretaceous, on Kansas in particular, or on a given animal from the period, would find this bib a good place to start their research, and the author's style and organization a good paradigm. The author's discussion of and some of the plates illustrating finds suggest that the Sternberg Museum collection would be a wonderful place to spend some time. One of these days, I may take a few days of vacation to visit Fort Hays and its State University to do just that. There should be one of these books for every state and its representative faunal periods. Someone do Minnesota next!
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Oceans Of Kansas: A Natural History Of The Western Interior Sea (Life of the Past)
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Price: $26.37
Updated on 9-14-2008.
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