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  • The Rise and Reign of the Mammals

  • A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us
  • By: Steve Brusatte
  • Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
  • Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (138 ratings)

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The Rise and Reign of the Mammals

By: Steve Brusatte
Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
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Summary

'Steve Brusatte, the author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, brings mammals out from the shadow of their more showy predecessors . . . In this beautifully written . . . terrific book, he tells the extraordinary story of how mammals came to be and makes the case for them as creatures who are just as engaging as dinosaurs.' – The Sunday Times

The passing of the age of the dinosaurs allowed mammals to become ascendant. But mammals have a much deeper history. They – or, more precisely, we – originated around the same time as the dinosaurs, over 200 million years ago; mammal roots lie even further back, some 325 million years.

Over these immense stretches of geological time, mammals developed their trademark features: hair, keen senses of smell and hearing, big brains and sharp intelligence, fast growth and warm-blooded metabolism, a distinctive line-up of teeth, mammary glands that mothers use to nourish their babies with milk, qualities that have underlain their success story.

Out of this long and rich evolutionary history came the mammals of today, including our own species and our closest cousins. But today’s 6,000 mammal species are simply the few survivors of a once verdant family tree, which has been pruned both by time and mass extinctions.

In The Rise and Reign of the Mammals, Brusatte weaves together the history and evolution of our mammal forebears, iconic mammals such as the mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers of which we have all heard, and fascinating species that few of us are aware of. In this fascinating and ground-breaking book, Steve Brusatte tells their – and our – story.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Steve Brusatte (P)2022 Macmillan Publishers International Limited
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Critic reviews

The epic story of how our mammalian cousins evolved to fly, walk, swim, and walk on two legs . . . [Brusatte's] deep knowledge infuse[s] this lively journey of millions of years of evolution with infectious enthusiasm. (Neil Shubin, bestselling author of Your Inner Fish and University of Chicago paleontologist)
A fascinating account of how mammals survived the great extinction that destroyed the dinosaurs and evolved to their current position of dominance. A worthy sequel to [Steve Brusatte's] The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs. (Venki Ramakrishnan, 2009 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry and Cambridge University biologist)
Deeply researched and entertaining . . . Brusatte’s real achievement is to show us that, for all its sheer weight of numbers and impact, Homo sapiens is just ‘a single point, among millions of species over more than 200 million years. (Mark Cocker,)
Gorgeous book . . . fantastic writing, brilliant science. (Alice Roberts, author of Ancestors)

What listeners say about The Rise and Reign of the Mammals

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  • Overall
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A brilliant follow on from his dinosaur book

A brilliant follow on from his previous dinosaur book. Whilst not a book on human origins I especially appreciated the closing sections on human evolution and what the future may hold for mammals.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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An incredibly fascinating read

Yet another fantastic book from Stephen Brusatte. Just like his previous work (the rise and fall of the dinosaurs) this book takes you on an evolutionary journey of discovery and fascination. Scientific and in-depth without being too heavy to read and follow. I love a book that fills up the filling cabinet in my brain with interesting facts and knowledge

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A compelling account of us and our ancestors

A great book covering from the earliest forms of life right through to we modern mammals
A thought provoking history of where we and all animal forms were and what may become of our future.
I was really hooked on this audio book to such an extent I'm going to get the hardback copy to view the illustrations, which to me sounded really fantastic.
Well written and the narration was very compelling.
Couldn't wait for my private time in the evening to listen to each chapter.
Excellent is my opinion of this book.

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Great

Too good, very calming reading voice and well written. Written so everyone can understand if they want to

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Excellent story and performance.

Very good some animal names difficult. Excellent performance and story. educational and informative well researched.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating journey of discovery

I knew little about mammalian evolution before I read this. Steve Brusatte tells the engaging story of mammals from unassuming little creatures in the late Carboniferous to the marvellous beasts of the present day, through their weathering of mass extintions, ice ages and fearsome dinosaurs. Absolutely rivetting. This book lived with me for days and still does. Thank you, Steve Brusatte!

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Excellent book

Excellent book with plenty of anecdotes to take us away from the science for a bit. Incredibly informative.

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Mind expanding book / well read / highly recommend

This is a fabulous book, which gives a sense of the epic survival and then triumph of the mammals as the world heats up, cools down, gets hit by asteroids and breaks apart. The time scale this all played out on is mind-bending. There is a good mix between the story of archaeological discoveries, and the science of mammals. The downsides are that there is no accompanying PDF that I could find and you do end up wanting to see pictures of some of the creatures (I bought the book to do this). Also, the names are difficult to remember and understand. But the author doesn't want to patronise us. If you want to understand the history of mammals, sorry kid, but you'll need to deal with some long words. Finally, the reading is excellent. The narrator really inhabits the authors words. Meaningfully improved the experience and stickability of the book. Read it!

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The evolution of writing

I first read Steve Brussate in his amazing rise and fall of the dinosaurs. This book is the perfect sequel.
Blending science through a narration which keeps you wanting an yearning for more.
The way natural selection is described, Mother Nature almost becomes the protagonist in a story that lasts eons.
I look forward to Steve’s next endeavour greatly.
In a side not the narration is excellent and enthusiastic as if Steve himself was reading.

Frank

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Great book!

Really enjoyed listening to this history of mammals. Goes into the perfect amount of detail while maintaining entertainment throughout. Learnt a bunch in this book and now looking for other tutored by the sam me author

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