{"title":"George Poinar Jr","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"amber-forest-book-george-poinar-jr-9780691057286","title":"The Amber Forest","description":"In Jurassic Park, amber fossils provided the key to bringing dinosaurs back to life. Scientists in the movie extracted dinosaur blood from mosquitoes preserved for millions of years in amber - hardened tree resin - and used the blood's DNA to revive the creatures that terrified audiences around the globe. In this book, George and Roberta Poinar use amber for a similar act of revival - only they bring back an entire ecosystem. The Poinars are world leaders in the study of amber fossils and have spent years examining the uniquely rich supply that has survived from the ancient forests of the Dominican Republic. They draw on their research here to reconstruct in words, drawings, and spectacular color photographs the ecosystem that existed on the island of Hispaniola between fifteen and forty-five million years ago. The result is the most accurate picture scientists have yet produced of any tropical forest of the past. The specimens examined by the Poinars reflect amber's extraordinary qualities as a medium for preservation. Millions of years ago, countless plants, invertebrates, and small vertebrates were trapped in the sticky resin that flowed from the trees of ancient forests and, as that resin hardened into translucent, golden amber, they were preserved in almost perfect condition. Samples analyzed and illustrated here include a wide range of insects and plants - many now extinct - as well as such vertebrates as frogs, lizards, birds, and small mammals. There are even frozen scenes of combat: an assassin bug grappling with a stingless bee, for example, and a spider attacking a termite. By examining these plants and animals and comparing them to related forms that exist today, the authors shed new light on the behavior of these organisms as well as the environment and climate in which they lived and died. The Poinars present richly detailed drawings of how the forests once appeared. They discuss how and when life colonized Hispaniola and what caused some forms to become extinct. Along the way, they describe how amber is formed, how and where it has been preserved, and how it is mined, sold, and occasionally forged for profit today. The book is a beautifully written and produced homage to a remarkable, vanished world.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49534456398097,"sku":"GOR007915725","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49775080276241,"sku":"CIN0691057281VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53469939302673,"sku":"CIN0691057281G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0691057281.jpg?v=1751327175"},{"product_id":"what-bugged-the-dinosaurs-book-george-poinar-jr-9780691124315","title":"What Bugged the Dinosaurs?","description":"Millions of years ago in the Cretaceous period, the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex--with its dagger-like teeth for tearing its prey to ribbons--was undoubtedly the fiercest carnivore to roam the Earth. Yet as What Bugged the Dinosaurs? reveals, T. rex was not the only killer. George and Roberta Poinar show how insects--from biting sand flies to disease-causing parasites--dominated life on the planet and played a significant role in the life and death of the dinosaurs. The Poinars bring the age of the dinosaurs marvelously to life. Analyzing exotic insects fossilized in Cretaceous amber at three major deposits in Lebanon, Burma, and Canada, they reconstruct the complex ecology of a hostile prehistoric world inhabited by voracious swarms of insects. The Poinars draw upon tantalizing new evidence from their amazing discoveries of disease-producing vertebrate pathogens in Cretaceous blood-sucking flies, as well as intestinal worms and protozoa found in fossilized dinosaur excrement, to provide a unique view of how insects infected with malaria, leishmania, and other pathogens, together with intestinal parasites, could have devastated dinosaur populations. A scientific adventure story from the authors whose research inspired Jurassic Park, What Bugged the Dinosaurs?? offers compelling evidence of how insects directly and indirectly contributed to the dinosaurs' demise.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49610694164753,"sku":"GOR006899749","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50410289070353,"sku":"CIN0691124310VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50631480344849,"sku":"CIN0691124310G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50760186757393,"sku":"GOR014061425","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0691124310.jpg?v=1751199652"},{"product_id":"naturalist-s-guide-to-the-hidden-world-of-pacific-northwest-dunes-book-george-poinar-jr-9780870718540","title":"A Naturalist's Guide to the Hidden World of Pacific Northwest Dunes","description":"From Northern California to British Columbia, coastal dunes and beaches provide a unique habitat for plants, animals, and insects. With A Naturalist’s Guide to the Hidden World of Pacific Northwest Dunes, hikers and beach walkers on the Pacific Coast will discover a teeming metropolis of life in what may seem a barren landscape to the inattentive eye.  Contrary to casual observation, intricate patterns of life occur in coastal dunes and along the strand. Plants, insects, and parasites abound. George Poinar’s in-depth knowledge of this hidden world is unsurpassed, and his enthusiasm for it is infectious. He has been investigating and photographing specimens along the Pacific Coast for more than four decades, and presents this trove of knowledge to the reader in a clear, engaging style.  Poinar exposes the small, almost blind weevils that live under driftwood and slowly degrade the wood, the omnipresent beach hoppers that leap up at every step and flee from vicious rove beetles, dune ants that search out aphids for honeydew but are attacked themselves by dive-bomber wasps. He shows why he considers Beach pea, Seashore lupine, and Coast willow keystone species because they provide food and shelter for so many different life forms.  With a focus on the associations between dune plants and other life forms, the book includes over 600 full-colour photographs from the author’s extensive collection. While it is accessible enough to serve as a field guide for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts, comprehensive data for biologists studying dune ecology are also included.  A Naturalist’s Guide to the Hidden world of Pacific Northwest Dunes belongs on every beach house bookshelf from California to Canada. Naturalists, scientists, and anyone who walks along the coast will welcome this lavishly-illustrated reference.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49936238608657,"sku":"CIN0870718541G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0870718541.jpg?v=1752317337"},{"product_id":"amber-forest-book-george-poinar-jr-9780691028880","title":"The Amber Forest","description":"In \"Jurassic Park\", amber fossils provided the key to bringing dinosaurs back to life. Scientists in the movie extracted dinosaur blood from mosquitoes preserved for millions of years in amber - hardened tree resin - and used the blood's DNA to revive the creatures that terrified audiences around the globe. In this book, George and Roberta Poinar use amber for a similar act of revival - only they bring back an entire ecosystem. The Poinars have spent years examining the uniquely rich supply that has survived from the ancient forests of the Dominican Republic. They draw on their research here to reconstruct in words, drawings and colour photographs the ecosystem that existed on the island of Hispaniola between 15 and 45 million years ago. Samples analyzed and illustrated include a wide range of insects and plants - many now extinct - as well as such vertebrates as frogs, lizards, birds and small mammals. By examining these plants and animals and comparing them to related forms that exist today, the authors seek to shed light on the behaviour of these organisms as well as the environment and climate in which they lived and died.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51416124260625,"sku":"CIN0691028885G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0691028885.jpg?v=1751231750"},{"product_id":"lebanese-amber-book-george-poinar-jr-9780870715334","title":"Lebanese Amber","description":"This extensively illustrated book, the first major review of Lebanese amber, covers all aspects of the highly valued resin, including its origin and its role as a commodity in ancient cultures. Paleontologists, biologists, and evolutionists will appreciate the book's new information, along with its summary of early research and its analysis of what amber fossils reveal about insect diversification, biogeography, extinction, and survival.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51316984054033,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51316984152337,"sku":"GOR012172391","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/087071533X.jpg?v=1751201971"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/de-ch\/collections\/autor-buecher-von-george-poinar-jr.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}