Biodiversity and earth history

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This interdisciplinary textbook delves into the intricate relationship between Earth’s geological history and biodiversity. Its innovative design enhances learning by presenting major concepts through detailed explanations, figures, diagrams, and vibrant images. The layout allows for individual study of concepts, their integration within chapters, or their connection to the overall text. Key topics include Earth’s formation and geological history, climate change, and atmospheric evolution; the early stages of life from microbial theories to significant fossil contributions; and the interplay between living organisms and their environment, illustrating how life has influenced Earth’s history while environmental pressures shape species evolution. The text also covers biodiversity fundamentals, including species concepts, measurement techniques, and global distribution patterns, alongside biological systematics tracing back to Greek philosophy, Biblical narratives, Darwinian evolution, and modern phylogenetics. The four major sections provide a cross-disciplinary overview, highlighting the diversity of eukaryotes, geological processes of fossilization, and the brief span of human evolution within Earth’s 4.6 billion-year timeline. Combining effective didactic tools, this work serves as a reference, illustrated guide, and encyclopedia of organismal biology and geology, catering to students and the general public intrigued by the c