By Christa Sadler
Southern Utah’s Grand Staircase region is one of the best places in the world to study the Late Cretaceous. In a relatively short period (geologically speaking!) of only 25 million years, southern Utah was at times covered with an ocean teeming with life, swampy shorelines, and massive rivers draining an huge mountain range in the west. The diversity of plant and animal life was astonishing, and the incredible fossil discoveries in these rocks have become a critical piece in a puzzle that stretches from Alaska to Mexico.
The Late Cretaceous was an important era in the history of life. Modern mammals, birds, and flowering plants were just getting their start, slowly gaining ground in the ecosystems of the time. Many of the fossils that paleontologists have found in southern Utah are unique, headline grabbing creatures, but a host of smaller vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants have also allowed paleontologists to recreate entire ecosystems from the time between 74 and 100 million years ago.
Altogether, these finds paint a picture of life in a very hot world, meaning the creatures and ecosystems of southern Utah near the end of the Age of Dinosaurs may have lessons to teach us about our future world as well.
This gorgeous book includes nearly 300 color illustrations done by some of the world’s best paleo artists, including four fold-out depictions created specifically for this publication. It’s not often that a coffee table book doubles as a great informational piece, but this one does!
Softcover
ISBN 978-0-9622233-5-8
160 pages; 10 x 11 format
$39.95 each (Arizona residents add 8.951% tax)
Shipping: $7.00 each USPS media mail (not applicable to Alaska, Hawaii or overseas. Please contact me for shipping prices to these locations.)