Forerunners of Mammals: Radiation • Histology • Biology (Life of the Past) Hardcover – November 18, 2011

All kidding aside, this is heavy and highly specific academic reading that goes way into osteology especially. If you are studying the lineage of mammals, I recommend it. That illustration is just a bonus.This is exactly what my Permian obsession needed!

The old adage "you can't tell a book by it's cover" is certainly applicable to "Forerunners of the Mammals". A correlative added could be " don't put too much stock in a publishers pronoucements about a new book". This book has some significant information within it and a few chapters are well written (chapter 1,2 & 11) but for the most part this is a compilation of bone histology studies and is meant for the "special" specialist. This reminds me of a book I once read on the minute details of the egg shells of turtles, lizards, snakes, birds, dinosaurs and mammals. Lots of information but a little can go an awefully long way particularly for the non-specialist. I'm sure a book on therapsid bone histology is warrented but title it as such. Yes, some summary information may help in understanding survival, radiation and persistance of a species in one or several climates and geographic locations but pages and pages dulls the mind. I agree with the first reviewer that an update and in depth book on the therapsids is sorely needed. This one simply wets the appetite.

If you have an endearing interest in how reptiles gave rise to mammals (and of that matter, dinosaurs and birds), you will love "Forerunners Of Mammals". Easily the best footnoted and scientific book on mammal ancestry (centered largely on the more familiar pelycosaurs, cynodonts, and early mammals), this writing largely skips the "cute furball picture" route and takes the reader to the science behind evolution. If reading about fossilized bone structure, jaw diversion and cladistics bores you, do not buy this book! However, if you are looking for a great example of paleobiology for your classroom or library, Chinsamy-Turan's compliation of selections from authors versed in the field of diapsid/therapsid relationship cannot be beat.This is involved scholarship, and frankly I wish that we see more of its kind in dealing with other evolutionary topics. Worth the price, and deserving of a five-star rating.

This is a book about histology, bone microstructure. There is one chapter on the diversity and evolution of the early mammal -like reptiles. There are some great color pictures of the animals but make no mistake, most of this book is on histology. I am very interested in early mammal relations and the histology does have clear implications for their life styles. This is like a book on the life of Lincoln with almost all of the volume dealing with his bone microstructure. The title should have reflected the true content!There is room for a book that does speak to the title of this book, Perhaps someone will write it.

Most readers will be put off by the descriptions of Haversian canals, etc., and the careful, scientifically conservative restraints on conclusions. This doesn't make for compelling reading, and only someone who has taken a course in histology or pathology is likely to get much from the many photomicrographs. A unifying conclusion would have been valuable.

A bit more technical than I anticipated but I'm looking forward to reading it...looking forward to learning something interesting.

Written for a scientific audience. As an amateur difficult to read.

Nice basic textbook concerning mammal-like reptiles

A gift for my partner- he loves it and has yet to put the book down. Amazing illustrations by all accounts.