Mammoths, Mastodonts, and Elephants: Biology, Behavior and the Fossil Record

Description

The diminishing population of African and Asian elephants can be compared to the extinction of other elephant-like species, such as mammoths and mastodonts, which occurred more than ten thousand years ago. The purpose of this book is to use the ecology and behavior of modern elephants to create models for reconstructing the life and death of extinct mammoths and mastodonts. The source of the models is a long-term and continuing study of elephants in Zimbabwe, Africa. These models are clearly described with respect to the anatomical, behavioral, and ecological similarities between past and present proboscideans. The implications of these similarities on the life and death of mammoths and mastodonts is explored in detail. The importance of this book is primarily its unifying perspective on living and extinct proboscideans: the fossil record is closely examined and compared to the natural history of surviving elephants. Dr. Haynes's studies of the places where African elephants die (so-called elephant burial grounds) are unique.

Gary Haynes is Foundation Professor of Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Reno. For eight years (2003-2011) he was President of the Commission on Palaeoecology and Human Evolution in INQUA (the International Union for Quaternary Research). He has done fieldwork research on free-roaming elephants in southern Africa for over 30 years, and has also specialized in the study of earliest American Paleoindian cultures. Current research is focused on Zimbabwean prehistory and paleoenvironments.

'The book is well written, with illusions and tables provided to support important conclusions.' Science 'Of greatest value for paleontologists and archaeologists, but advanced undergraduates interested in the techniques of historical sciences could read it profitably.' Choice ' ... an enthralling book which anyone interested in elephants or mammoths will enjoy.' Times Higher Education Supplement 'The scholarly title obscures the real topic. In fact, this volume is a brilliant murder mystery.' Scientific American