Paleo Sharks: Survival of the Strangest
Grade 4–7—While chondrichthyans, due to their cartilaginous nature, have been less likely to present as many fossilized remains as their cousins, the bony fishes, enough evidence has been recovered to open fascinating windows into their evolutions (and extinctions) over the last 375 million years. Bradley has sifted through this ancient record and allows readers a peek at some strange creatures. ConsiderStethacanthus, displayer of a surfboard-shaped dorsal fin bristling with toothlike spikes, andHelicoprion, dangling a tight spiral of compacted teeth from its lower jaw like some preelectric buzz saw. Accompanied by realistic artwork, the terse text introduces readers to sharks in general and then goes on chronologically to present fragments of data on these long-lost species, about which not much is really known. Included are a handy time line and a size-comparison box for each species (using a human swimmer and a modern great white shark as yardsticks). Bradley also includes some odd cartilaginous "cousins" likeSclerorhynchusand closes with the 50-foot Cenozoic monster,Carcharodon megalodon. For those who have enjoyed Caroline Arnold'sGiant Shark: Megalodon, Prehistoric Super Predator(Clarion, 2000) or Deborah Diffily'sJurassic Shark(HarperCollins, 2004), here is a strange new litany to dance trippingly on the tongue.—Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.