The Rise and Reign of the Mammals

<p><b>'Steve Brusatte, the author of <i>The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs</i>, brings mammals out from the shadow of their more showy predecessors . . . In this beautifully written . . . terrific book, he tells the extraordinary story of how mammals came to be and makes the case for them as creatures who are just as engaging as dinosaurs.' &ndash; <i>The Sunday Times</i></b><br><br>The passing of the age of the dinosaurs allowed mammals to become ascendant. But mammals have a much deeper history. They &ndash; or, more precisely, we &ndash; originated around the same time as the dinosaurs, over 200 million years ago; mammal roots lie even further back, some 325 million years.<br><br>Over these immense stretches of geological time, mammals developed their trademark features: hair, keen senses of smell and hearing, big brains and sharp intelligence, fast growth and warm-blooded metabolism, a distinctive