The story of how bugs and slugs crawled out of the slime ...

If you are interested in the story of how bugs and slugs crawled out of the slime to look for more slime and make more bugs and slugs ... then check out this great video by Kenneth (Chris) Gass, author of our title Solving the Mystery of the First Animals on Land: The Fossils of Blackberry Hill.

The video presentation is based on his recent book (click the cover below to go to the product page where you can see more information about this title or order a copy)

Reviews

Newsletter of the Palaeontological Association (2016, number 91, pages 107-108): "To cite the author from his first line of the preface to the book: 'A picture book on Blackberry Hills was inevitable. The place is simply too intriguing to remain buried in scientific journals…' I couldn’t agree more." ... "... an excellent introduction for readers who want to dig deeper into the topic and the technical literature. Based on this I would recommend this book to all with an interest in natural history, scholars as well as amateurs."

Niles Eldredge, evolutionary biologist: "A mystery revealed, this book charmingly tells the story of how clever scientific detective work has answered the question of what those first animals to visit the subaerial environments of our world really were – however fleeting their visits from their ancient ocean habitats may have been. Engagingly told by Chris Gass, one of the key participants, the story reveals the importance of a highly special area that holds the fossilized evidence that shows what really happened."

Gregory D. Edgecombe, The Natural History Museum (London): "The early history of life on land is a conundrum that has perplexed some of the foremost figures in the history of paleontology since the era of Richard Owen and Charles Darwin over 150 years ago. At centre stage in this mystery are trackways on sedimentary rocks that we now know are of Cambrian age - some 500 million years old - and were made by animals making the first excursions out of water in life’s history. Here, Chris Gass weaves together the history of science and groundbreaking research conducted over the past 20 years to reveal the identities of these ancient trace makers. His book is a scientific detective story in words and photographs."