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Description
Britain's lynx are missing, and they have been for more than a thousand years. Why have they gone? And might they come back?
Britain was a very different place 15,000 years ago – home to lions, lynx, bears, wolves, bison and many more megafauna. But as its climate changed and human populations expanded, most of early Britain's largest mammals disappeared. Will advances in science and technology mean that we can one day bring these mammals back? And should we?
In The Missing Lynx, palaeontologist Ross Barnett uses case studies, new fossil discoveries and biomolecular evidence to paint a picture of these lost species and to explore the ecological significance of their disappearance. He discusses how the Britons these animals shared their lives with might have viewed them and investigates why some species survived while others vanished.
Barnett also looks in detail at the realistic potential of reintroductions, rewilding and even of resurrection in Britain and overseas, from the successful return of beavers in Argyll to the revolutionary Pleistocene Park in Siberia, which has already seen progress in the revival of 'mammoth steppe' grassland.
As widespread habitat destruction, climate change and an ever-growing human population lead us inexorably towards the sixth extinction, this timely book explores the spaces that extinction has left unfilled. And by helping us to understand why some of our most charismatic animals are gone, Ross Barnett encourages us to look to a brighter future, one that might see these missing beasts returned to the land on which they once lived and died.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1: The Past
Chapter 2: Cave Hyaena
Chapter 3: Sabretooth Cat
Chapter 4: Cave Lion
Chapter 5: Woollies
Chapter 6: Irish Elk
Chapter 7: Bovids
Chapter 8: Bears
Chapter 9: Northern Lynx
Chapter 10: Grey Wolf
Chapter 11: Eurasian Beaver
Chapter 12: The Future
Afterword
Appendix
Acknowledgements
Further Reading
Index
Product details
Published | 01 Sep 2020 |
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Format | Paperback |
Edition | 1st |
Extent | 352 |
ISBN | 9781472957351 |
Imprint | Bloomsbury Wildlife |
Illustrations | 8-page colour section |
Dimensions | 198 x 129 mm |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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As elegies go, The Missing Lynx is an awful lot of fun.
Tom Chivers, The Times
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Rewilding is certainly romantic but is it practical or even desirable? It all needs thinking through, and Barnett, who makes a compelling case in favour of the idea, can help.
Stuart Blackman, BBC Wildlife
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The Missing Lynx is a joyous rabbit-hole to venture down.
Jacob Dykes, Geographical
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Barnett's writing is clear and unobtrusively witty ... And the book is full of cheery, Terry Pratchett-esque footnotes.
Tom Chivers, The Times
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Fresh and assured ... An often moving tribute to lost marvels.
Barbara Kiser, Nature
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A cracking read and rather heartbreaking to think about all those megafauna we pushed over the edge. Highly recommended!
Professor Paul Barrett, @NHMdinolab