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The Sixth Extinction

Patterns of Life and the Future of Humankind

Author Richard E. Leakey
Contributions by Roger Lewin
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Paperback
$22.00 US
Knopf | Anchor
On sale Oct 01, 1996 | 288 Pages | 9780385468091
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In this tour de force which will inform your students, Leakey and Lewin examine the five mass extinctions that have taken place in history-each of which claimed 65% of Earth’s species. The authors draw parallels between these evolutionary crises and mankind's destruction of 30,000 species per year in the present. The conclusion: life on Earth is in the midst of a Sixth Extinction.

“Well informed, artfully purveyed—an unsettling . . . and unnerving tale of [flora and fauna] emerging in a wink of the evolutionary eye and exiting just as abruptly.” —New York Times Book Review

“Convincing.  Few could fail to agree with their conclusion.” —Philadelphia Inquirer

“Leaky and Lewin combine their expertise in paleoanthropology and evolutionary biology in order to assess the evolutionary future of Homo sapiens.” —Science News
Richard Leakey is the world’s most famous living paleoanthropologist. He resigned from his position as chairman of the National Museums of Kenya when Kenya’s president, Daniel arap Moi appointed him to head the Kenya Wildlife Service. His parents were the archaeologists Louis Leakey and Mary Leakey. His half-brother is the leading plant scientist, Colin Leakey. View titles by Richard E. Leakey

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In this tour de force which will inform your students, Leakey and Lewin examine the five mass extinctions that have taken place in history-each of which claimed 65% of Earth’s species. The authors draw parallels between these evolutionary crises and mankind's destruction of 30,000 species per year in the present. The conclusion: life on Earth is in the midst of a Sixth Extinction.

“Well informed, artfully purveyed—an unsettling . . . and unnerving tale of [flora and fauna] emerging in a wink of the evolutionary eye and exiting just as abruptly.” —New York Times Book Review

“Convincing.  Few could fail to agree with their conclusion.” —Philadelphia Inquirer

“Leaky and Lewin combine their expertise in paleoanthropology and evolutionary biology in order to assess the evolutionary future of Homo sapiens.” —Science News

Author

Richard Leakey is the world’s most famous living paleoanthropologist. He resigned from his position as chairman of the National Museums of Kenya when Kenya’s president, Daniel arap Moi appointed him to head the Kenya Wildlife Service. His parents were the archaeologists Louis Leakey and Mary Leakey. His half-brother is the leading plant scientist, Colin Leakey. View titles by Richard E. Leakey

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