United States
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A compelling account of the evolution and anatomy of big cats past and present from an acclaimed artist (Antón) and a renowned paleontologist (Turner). The first book of its kind Big Cats is a natural history which links the extinct larger feline species with those still living, including lions, tigers, cougars, and cheetahs. Using superb illustrations this book chronicles 25 million years of evolution, and also explores the possible behavioural patterns of these large predators - how they would have moved, hunted and interacted. Throughout the book side-by-side comparisons of extinct species with their descendants today illuminate the process and purpose of evolution.
Mauricio Anton is an artist and scientific illustrator based at the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid. His work has appeared in numerous scientific publications, including the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Alan Turner is a paleontologist and reader in vertebrate paleontology in the School of Biological and Earth Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University and is a former senior curator of paleontology at the Transvaal Museum in Pretoria, South Africa.
"Whether you are a paleontologist, a lover of cats, or an awestruck admirer of fearful symmetry of William Blake's immortal Tiger, this is a book not to be missed [...] the definitive work on big cats."
– Martin G. Lockley, University of Colorado
"Whether your interest is scientific or you merely wonder what a giant cat whose teeth inspired the name 'he who brings devastation'looked like, this book is not to be missed."
– Luke Hunter, BioScience
"A well-written, informative, and beautifully illustrated guide to the large cats, both extinct and extant."
– Blaire Van Valkenburgh, The Quarterly Review of Biology
"A very interesting book – a cross between popular natural history and a coffee table volume."
– F. S. Szalay, Choice
"Beautifully illustrated [...] Clearly, this work has been a labour of love for both author and illustrator."
– Douglas Palmer, New Scientist
"Anton's illustrations, refreshingly 'based directly on the skeletal evidence available and [...] not merely slightly altered versions of living cats with the addition of large fangs,' are perhaps the finest ever published. They are intertwined with Turner's cogent text in an eloquent demonstration of the interplay between art and science, paleontology and zoology, predator and prey, ecology and behavior, and anatomy and geography."
– Dawn A. Adams, Science
