A bestselling author, paleontologist Donald Prothero has turned the scientific descriptions of twenty-five famous, beautifully preserved fossils into a fascinating history of the development of life on Earth. The twenty-five fossils featured in this book demonstrate life in all its evolutionary glory, showing how one the species turns into another. We see all the diversity of extinct plants and animals - from microscopic to gigantic sizes. We will tell you about fantastic land and sea creatures that have no analogues in modern nature: the first trilobites, giant sharks, huge marine reptiles and feathered dinosaurs, the first birds, walking whales, giant hornless rhinoceroses and Australopithecus "Lucy".