Audiobook16 hours
The Great Fossil Enigma: The Search for the Conodont Animal
Written by Simon J. Knell
Narrated by James Cameron Stewart
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this audiobook
A fascinating, comprehensive, accessible account of conodont fossils-one of paleontology's greatest mysteries: "Deserves to be widely read and enjoyed" (Priscum).
Stephen Jay Gould borrowed from Winston Churchill when he described the eel-like conodont animal as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. The search for its identity confounded scientists for more than a century. Some thought it a slug, others a fish, a worm, a plant, even a primitive ancestor of ourselves. As the list of possibilities grew, an answer to the riddle never seemed any nearer. Would the animal that left behind the miniscule fossils known as conodonts ever be identified? Three times the creature was found, but each was quite different from the others. Were any of them really the one?
Simon J. Knell takes the listener on a journey through 150 years of scientific thinking, imagining, and arguing. Slowly the animal begins to reveal traces of itself: its lifestyle, its remarkable evolution, its witnessing of great catastrophes, its movements over the surface of the planet, and finally its anatomy. Today the conodont animal remains perhaps the most disputed creature in the zoological world.
Stephen Jay Gould borrowed from Winston Churchill when he described the eel-like conodont animal as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. The search for its identity confounded scientists for more than a century. Some thought it a slug, others a fish, a worm, a plant, even a primitive ancestor of ourselves. As the list of possibilities grew, an answer to the riddle never seemed any nearer. Would the animal that left behind the miniscule fossils known as conodonts ever be identified? Three times the creature was found, but each was quite different from the others. Were any of them really the one?
Simon J. Knell takes the listener on a journey through 150 years of scientific thinking, imagining, and arguing. Slowly the animal begins to reveal traces of itself: its lifestyle, its remarkable evolution, its witnessing of great catastrophes, its movements over the surface of the planet, and finally its anatomy. Today the conodont animal remains perhaps the most disputed creature in the zoological world.
Related to The Great Fossil Enigma
Related audiobooks
Bully for Brontosaurus: Reflections in Natural History Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Eight Little Piggies: Reflections in Natural History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Polymath: A Cultural History from Leonardo da Vinci to Susan Sontag Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes: Further Reflections in Natural History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEver Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlien Worlds: The Secret Lives of Insects Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEndless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo and the Making of the Animal Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From Darwin to Derrida: Selfish Genes, Social Selves, and the Meanings of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Evolution Is Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strange Survivors: How Organisms Attack and Defend in the Game of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Assembling the Dinosaur Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCreation: How Science is Reinventing Life Itself Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5H. sapiens: The Last 12,000 Years Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Origins of Creativity Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Carl Zimmer: Planet of Viruses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Natural Selection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sixth Extinction Tenth Anniversary Edition Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Genesis: The Deep Origin of Societies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Long for This World: The Strange Science of Immortality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beasts Before Us: The Untold Story of Mammal Origins and Evolution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Biomimetics: How Lessons From Nature Can Transform Technology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Smart Neanderthal: Bird Catching, Cave Art & The Cognitive Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Evolution: What Everyone Needs to Know Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Religion: The Basics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Nature For You
Every Living Thing: The Warm and Joyful Memoirs of the World's Most Beloved Animal Doctor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Elephant Whisperer: My Life With the Herd in the African Wild Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Genius of Birds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When You Find My Body: The Disappearance of Geraldine Largay on the Appalachian Trail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mind of Plants: Narratives of Vegetal Intelligence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Underland: A Deep Time Journey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Uncertain Sea: Fear is everywhere. Embrace it. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Great Fossil Enigma
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews