Download or read book Extinction and Phylogeny written by Michael J. Novacek and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than 99% of all life that has ever existed on this planet is extinct. Moreover, human acceleration of the extinction of species has created a crisis in biodiversity. How can the history of past life be retreived? How does this history bear on our understanding of the organization and evolution of present-day species? These questions are addressed in extinction and phylogeny.