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The Legacy of the Mastodon: The Golden Age of Fossils in America
The uncovering in the mid-1700s of fossilized mastodon bones and teeth at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, signaled the beginning of a great American adventure. The West was opening up and unexplored lands beckoned. Unimagined paleontological treasures awaited discovery: strange horned mammals, birds with teeth, flying reptiles, gigantic fish, diminutive ancestors of horses and camels, and more than a hundred different kinds of dinosaurs. This exciting book tells the story of the grandest period of fossil discovery in American history, the years from 1750 to 1890. The volume begins with Thomas Jefferson, whose keen interest in the American mastodon led him to champion the study of fossil vertebrates. The book continues with vivid descriptions of the actual work of prospecting for fossils--a pick in one hand, a rifle in the other--and enthralling portraits of Joseph Leidy, Ferdinand Hayden, Edward Cope, and Othniel Marsh among other major figures in the development of the science of paleontology. Shedding new light on these scientists’ feuds and rivalries, on the connections between fossil studies in Europe and America, and on paleontology’s contributions to America’s developing national identity, The Legacy of the Mastodon is itself a fabulous discovery for every reader to treasure. (20080701).
Price: $17.45
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Big Bone Lick: The Cradle of American Paleontology
Shawnee legend tells of a herd of huge bison rampaging through the Ohio Valley, laying waste to all in their path. To protect the tribe, a deity slew these great beasts with lightning bolts, finally chasing the last giant buffalo into exile across the Wabash River, never to trouble the Shawnee again. The source of this legend was a peculiar salt lick in present-day northern Kentucky, where giant fossilized skeletons had for centuries lain undisturbed by the Shawnee and other natives of the region. In 1739, the first Europeans encountered this fossil site, which eventually came to be known as Big Bone Lick. The site drew the attention of all who heard of it, including George Washington, Daniel Boone, Benjamin Franklin, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, and especially Thomas Jefferson. The giant bones immediately cast many scientific and philosophical assumptions of the day into doubt, and they eventually gave rise to the study of fossils for biological and historical purposes. Big Bone Lick: The Cradle of American Paleontology recounts the rich history of the fossil site that gave the world the first evidence of the extinction of several mammalian species, including the American mastodon. Big Bone Lick has played many roles: nutrient source, hallowed ground, salt mine, health spa, and a rich trove of archaeological and paleontological wonders. Natural historian Stanley Hedeen presents a comprehensive narrative of Big Bone Lick from its geological formation forward, explaining why the site attracted animals, regional tribespeople, European explorers and scientists, and eventually American pioneers and presidents. Big Bone Lick is the history of both a place and a scientific discipline: it explores the infancy and adolescence of paleontology from its humble and sometimes humorous beginnings. Hedeen combines elements of history, geology, politics, and biology to make Big Bone Lick a valuable historical resource as well as the compelling tale of how a collection of fossilized bones captivated a young nation. (20071128).
Price: $14.85
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Mastodon- Blood Mountain (Guitar Tab)
Arranged For Guitar Tablature & Standard Notation With Lyrics & Chords. Album-matching folio for Mastodon s Grammy-nominated third album, Blood Mountain Since hitting the scene in 2000, Atlanta-based band Mastodon has been steadily gaining attention as one of the best new heavy metal groups, even being called the "next Metallica" by the New York Times. Songs include The Wolf Is Loose * Crystal Skull * Sleeping Giant * Capillarian Crest * Circle of Cysquatch * Bladecatcher * Colony of Birchmen * Hunters of the Sky * Hand of Stone * This Mortal Soil * Siberian Divide * Pendulous Skin..
Price: $14.99
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The Mystery of the Mammoth Bones and How It Was Solved
When giant bones are found on a farm in New York State in 1801, no one knows what sort of creature they came from. Are they the fossilized bones of an elephant or of a mammoth, the huge animal that has recently been unearthed in northern Russia? Or do they come from a different animal entirely? There's only one way to find out--dig up and assemble a complete skeleton of the creature. And Charles Willson Peale is just the man to take on the job. At the age of sixty, Peale has already made his mark as a portrait painter and scientist, as well as the founder of the first natural history museum in the United States. If he can put on display a skeleton of the mysterious creature, people will flock in even greater numbers to his Philadelphia museum. The skeleton may also help to prove a controversial new theory: that some animals that once roamed the Earth have become extinct. As he searches for more bones, Peale must dig at several different sites. He is confronted by flooding, threats of cave-ins, and oppressive heat but persists in his quest. What he eventually finds confirms the existence of a previously unknown animal -- the mastodon It also provides solid evidence not only that some animals have become extinct, but also that the Earth is far older than anyone ever imagined. Based on Charles Willson Peale's own diaries and journals, The Mystery of the Mammoth Bones is a gripping scientific thriller. Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies 2000, National Council for SS & Child. Book Council .
Price: $3.00
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The Call of Distant Mammoths: Why the Ice Age Mammals Disappeared
Peter Ward, a distinguished paleontologist and author of five trade books, recreated, in dramatic and colorful language, the global environment of the end of the last great Ice Age. The last of the great woolly mammoths existed on Wrangel Island thousands of years after their extinction elsewhere on earth. Ward examines competing theories about the courses of the great extinction and considers in detail the role of human settlements on these events..
Price: $9.99
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The Great Unknown
The Great Unknown tells, in words and pictures, the story of one of the most important turning points in the study of natural history. Two hundred years ago, Charles Willson Peale, founder of America's foremost natural history museum, heard that a number of large bones were found buried in a farm field in upstate New York. He journeyed there and, with great effort, excavated and eventually assembled the bones into an almost complete fossil skeleton, only the second in the world. It was the first skeleton ever assembled of what we now call a mastodon. The imposing mastadon skeleton was soon put on display in Peale's museum in Philadelphia. People came from all over to see the huge creature. Not only did Peale's curiosity and determination pave the way for future paleontologists, his discovery of the mastodon was pivotal in convincing the public of the reality of extinction..
Price: $4.91
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