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HORNS, TUSKS, AND FLIPPERS: THE EVOLUTION OF HOOFED MAMMALS. Editors: Donald R. Prothero and Robert M. Schoch. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 2002. ISBN 0-8018-7135-2, 394 pp.
The hoofed mammals covered by this book include two extant clades of aquatic mammal-Cetacea (whales) and Sirenia (manatees)-along with the terrestrial Artiodactyla (even-toed hoofed mammals); Perissodactyla (odd-toed hoofed mammals); Proboscidea (elephants); Hyracoidea (hyraxes); and several extinct clades such as mastodons, mammoths, and brontotheres. Each chapter takes a particular clade and describes the fossil record of the lineage along with the biology of the extant taxa in amazing detail. Particularly interesting are the associations between hoofed mammals and humans highlighted by the authors (e.g., domestication), and the emphasis placed on current conservation concerns. All this information is interspersed with anecdotes about the biologists and palaeontologists, past and present, who have made important contributions to the understanding of hoofed mammal evolution.
The stated intention...