New book brings prehistoric mammals to life

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After the extinction of dinosaurs came the age of mammals. A new book brings readers into this world with well-researched species profiles by Aaron Woodruff, collection manager for vertebrate paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History. The book also includes stunning illustrations by paleoartist Julius Csotonyi.

In "Prehistoric World: Over 1,200 Incredible Mammals and Discoveries from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic," readers will learn about the warm-blooded animals that rose to prominence once the dinosaurs were gone. Woodruff offers incredible facts about each species, including what they ate, where they lived and how they behaved.

While the book includes new information about popular animals like woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats, it also features many more recent discoveries that many people may not have heard of before.

"Bear-dogs are some of my personal favorite carnivores," Woodruff said. "Before large cats evolved, they were the top predators across the Northern Hemisphere and Africa."

The book also introduces readers to prehistoric mustelids, a family of carnivores that includes weasels, badgers and wolverines. These ancient mammals were far larger than their modern relatives. Some species that lived during the Oligocene and Miocene epochs grew to the size of today's wolves and jaguars and were able to hunt animals the size of deer and horses.

Illustrator Csotonyi recreated these animals and many more in consultation with Woodruff. "The way [Csotonyi] brought these animals to life was really good," he said. "I think the artwork will pull many people in and get their minds going."

Woodruff spent seven months doing the research and writing for this book before finally completing "Prehistoric World" on his birthday. Throughout the project, he remained committed to his full-time job at the museum, often using his weekends and holidays to work on the book.

"This is the kind of book that 10-year-old Aaron would have been looking at all the time," Woodruff said. As a little kid, he was so enthusiastic about the dinosaur books his parents gave him that he would try to recreate them. "I would draw pictures of dinosaurs and write little descriptions about them and staple the pages together at the end."

For a few of the mammals featured in "Prehistoric World," Woodruff had very little information to work with. Some species were first discovered centuries ago and were given scientific names without an accompanying etymology, leaving Woodruff to decipher their meaning with Greek and Latin dictionaries.

He also assigned common names to animals that didn't already have one, using information discerned from the scientific name. The extinct cat Miopanthera lorteti, for example, is called Lortet's cat in its description and the bear Tremarctos floridanus is called the Florida spectacled bear.

"For a lot of extinct mammals, all we have are just isolated teeth," Woodruff said. "We're lucky if those teeth are still connected to jaws." Fortunately, that is often enough for paleontologists like Woodruff to get an idea of a mammal's diet, age and sometimes even sex.

Had he known that he would one day publish a book on paleontology, Woodruff says his "younger self would be over the moon with excitement."

While "Prehistoric World" is officially marketed to children, Woodruff says readers of all ages will enjoy it. He hopes readers will come away with not only new information about prehistoric mammals, but also a deeper appreciation for those both living and extinct.

Provided by Florida Museum of Natural History