The Rise of Fishes

Book excerpt: Armored fishes and monster sharks, fishes with arms and fishes that breathe air--these and many other strange creatures are part of the remarkable story told in this book. In The Rise of Fishes, John Long traces the evolutionary history of fishes over the course of 500 million years, describes the discovery of extraordinary fossil remains, and explains the techniques used in their interpretation. Featuring more than 300 color illustrations, the book includes photographs of fossils from around the world as well as the author's dramatic color illustrations of what the fish may have actually looked like. Long tells the story of how these creatures lived and developed and why their rise from the waters of the archaic seas and rivers onto land was so momentous an event in the evolution of life on earth. He combines current scientific information with entertaining stories about his own field work in Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Antarctica. Detailed, accessible, and lavishly illustrated, The Rise of Fishes is a book for anyone with an interest in evolution, fossils, or fish.