Here Be Dragons: How the study of animal and plant distributions revolutionized our views of life and Earth

Dennis McCarthy

Jun 2011 · OUP Oxford

About this ebook

Why do we find polar bears only in the Arctic and penguins only in the Antarctic? Why do oceanic islands often have many types of birds but no large native mammals? As Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace travelled across distant lands studying the wildlife they both noticed that the distribution of plants and animals formed striking patterns - patterns that held strong clues to the past of the planet. The study of the spatial distribution of living things is known as biogeography. It is a field that could be said to have begun with Darwin and Wallace. In this lively book, Denis McCarthy tells the story of biogeography, from the 19th century to its growth into a major field of interdisciplinary research in the present day. It is a story that encompasses two great, insightful theories that were to provide the explanations to the strange patterns of life across the world - evolution, and plate tectonics. We find animals and plants where we do because, over time, the continents have moved, separating and coalescing in a long, slow dance; because sea levels have risen, cutting off one bit of land from another, and fallen, creating land bridges; because new and barren volcanic islands have risen up from the sea; and because animals and plants vary greatly in their ability to travel, and separation has caused the formation of new species. The story of biogeography is the story of how life has responded and has in turn altered the ever changing Earth. It is a narrative that includes many fascinating tales - of pygmy mammoths and elephant birds; of changing landscapes; of radical ideas by bold young scientists first dismissed and later, with vastly growing evidence, widely accepted. The story is not yet done: there are still questions to be answered and biogeography is a lively area of research and debate. But our view of the planet has been changed profoundly by biogeography and its related fields: the emerging understanding is of a deeply interconnected system in which life and physical forces interact dynamically in space and time.

Ratings and reviews

Some reviews: “The book delivers on its promise that we will never look at the world in the same way again." --Devorah Bennu, Science Magazine "It's a grand time-and-space voyage of the imagination, the drift of continents, the appearance and rise and fall and extinction of new species, the human story with all its tragedy and complexi-ty... Read this one, a great pleasure, and if geologic time and space in the history of life are new for you, at the end of the book you will be someone different." --Dan Agin, Huffington Post "If you want to know why the natural world is the way it is, this is an excellent place to start... I would advise anyone to read this informative, silkily written book." -- Jonathan Wright, Geographical "In this fascinating and revelatory book.., McCarthy persua-sively argues that biogeography is more than just the place where evolution, plate tectonics, oceanography and climatology meet: It is a way of looking at the world that links all of these sciences togeth-er." --Sid Perkins, Science News "McCarthy's instinct to blend areas of scientific study tradi-tionally divided by academic specialization is as refreshing as it is insightful..." --Christopher Lloyd, Times Literary Supplement "McCarthy infuses his account of life on Earth with a sense of wonder and excitement. In succinct, colorful prose he invites the reader to marvel at the intricacy, implacability and exquisite beauty of biogeography.... "This is a fascinating, accessible work, which offers a new, more complete perspective on the world we live in. McCarthy packs a tremendous amount in 200 pages but his writing skill is such that the reader never feels overwhelmed and turns each page with as much entertainment as enlightenment... Fans of Jared Diamond or Richard Dawkins will be fans of the eloquent Dennis McCarthy." --Lynn Harnett, Portsmouth Herald "This book's aim is to put biogeography - the study of the dis-tribution of biodiversity over time - centre stage as a unifying prin-ciple of modern biology, establishing it as both a key discipline that led to modern evolutionary theory and as an elucidator of evolu-tion's processes. It succeeds nobly....[T]he science is firm and but-tressed with a pleasant combination of painstaking detail and infec-tious enthusiasm." --Adrian Barnett, New Scientist "Biogeography may sound like one of those obscure subdivi-sions of science best left to the experts, but Dennis McCarthy is the most eloquent advocate for his specialist theme. In this excellent book, he makes a convincing case that the subject is central to our understanding of how life evolved... "With a knowledge of Earth history at his disposal, a preci-sion and clarity reminiscent of other great science popularizers, and a courteous tone to smooth out any stubborn complexities, McCar-thy makes biogeography into a story that is both intelligible and compelling." --Mark Cocker, BBC Wildlife Magazine

About the author

Denis McCarthy is a scientific researcher with the Buffalo Museum of Science and sits on the editorial board of Biogeography & Systematics. His 2007 paper for the Journal of Geophysical Research generated acclaim among geophysicists by becoming the first to provide the correct explanation for the peculiarly lopsided distribution of continents and oceans around the world.