Cenozoic Mammals and their Evolutionary Context

Cenozoic Mammals and Their Evolutionary Context explores 65 million years of evolutionary history within the class of Mammalia, investigating the reasons behind the success of this group of animals. Their physiology, life history traits and adaptability led them to become one of the major components of the world’s terrestrial ecosystems. The authors describe how biogeographic, climatic and environmental events played a crucial role in shaping terrestrial mammalian faunas, highlighting some of the major evolutionary radiations and adaptations that led mammals to colonize all environments, including the marine realm and the air.

This book is a high level scientific description of mammalian morphological adaptations, such asosteology and morphofunction, which made them successful in various environments and through 65 million years of changing climates. The book proposes a scientific review of the major advances in our understanding of how present mammalian diversity and biogeography have been shaped in the previous two decades.