The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives

More than 60 million members of the species felis domesticus - house cats - live in the United States alone. Welcomed into homes as part of the family and revered as gods by the ancient Egyptians, domestic cats are descendants of a proud lineage that includes the giant sabre-toothed tiger, the graceful cheetah of the African plains, and the powerful bobcat of the Americas.

Acclaimed artist Mauricio Antón and renowned palaeontologist Alan Turner collaborate to produce the first book of its kind - a fascinating natural history linking extinct larger feline species with those still living, including lions, tigers, cougars, and cheetahs.

Using superb illustrations and photos to supplement lucidly written text, The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives chronicles 25 million years of evolution, revealing the common ancestry of today's familiar big cats. In addition to a compelling account of the evolution and anatomy of big cats past and present, The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives also explores the behaviour of these magnificent creatures.

Living species and fossil remains make possible the reconstruction of the cats' social and predatory behaviour, supplementing the reader's understanding of their physical forms with images of how they would have moved, hunted, and interacted. Throughout the book, side-by-side comparisons of extinct species with their descendants illuminate the process and purpose of evolution.

Turner guides the reader through such topics as the preservation of fossils, the reconstruction of an extinct species from fossil evidence and its living descendants, and the changing natural world of the cats and their food sources.

This book is both a useful introduction for readers new to palaeontology and a valuable reference for those already familiar with the field.