Splendid Isolation: The Curious History of South American Mammals

by George Gaylord Simpson

Pp. ix, 266, 43 text-figures. Publisher’s red cloth, lettered in gilt on spine, cream pictorial dustjacket lettered in red and black on cover and spine, 8vo. This well-known text describes the unique evolution of mammals on South America. Owner signature on front endpaper.

Genres: Palaeontology, Biology, Natural History, Science

266 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 1980

About the author

George Gaylord Simpson, Ph.D. (Geology, Yale University, 1926), was Professor of Geosciences at the University of Arizona from 1968 until his retirement in 1982. Previously was Curator of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University 1959–1970, Curator of the Department of Geology and Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History 1945–1959, and Professor of Zoology at Columbia University.

He was awarded the Linnean Society of London's prestigious Darwin-Wallace Medal in 1958. Simpson also received the Royal Society's Darwin Medal 'In recognition of his distinguished contributions to general evolutionary theory, based on a profound study of palaeontology, particularly of vertebrates,' in 1962. In 1966, Simpson received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.

Reviews

[Jake Leech · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, detailed account (although possibly a little out of date in some respects at this point) of the mammals of each of the three main phases of South American fauna through the Cenozoic. You can decide for yourself if that's the sort of thing you want to read. However, reading between the lines, there also emerges a portrait of G. G. Simpson himself, a man who has definitely eaten and formed an opinion on the taste of most caviomorph rodents, and who lies awake night after night wondering why so many S. American mammals are named "crab-eating" (crab-eating rat, crab-eating fox, crab-eating raccoon, etc.), when in fact they do not eat any more crabs than closely related organisms (although Simpson does not mention it, this is also true of the crab-eating macaque).

[P.F. Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of letters of George Gaylord Simpson, renown American paleontologist. If you're a fan, this is a very good insight into the character of the man. George's best work is his Patagonian journal "Attending Marvels." I highly recommend it, before reading "Splendid Isolation."

P.F. Daniels
Tramp Miner