A review by nicmcphee
Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms: The Story of the Animals and Plants That Time Has Left Behind by Richard Fortey

4.0

Fortey is arguably a little chatty in places, but there is a lot of excellent content and many important ideas here. He does a very nice job of acquainting us with various existing species that shed valuable light on closely related species that existed millions of years ago, helping us understand the complexity of evolution, and the extinction and persistence of species over time. While the book focuses on huge stretches of geological time, it also illustrates how quickly and dramatically things change in major extinction events, which is valuable as we struggle to understand the likely impacts of the massive changes our species is bringing about.