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by Ross Barnett (Author)
The story of the magnificent lynx--what its extinction in Britain signifies, and how we might turn the ecological tide.
In The Missing Lynx, Ross Barnett uses case studies, new fossil discoveries, biomolecular evidence and more to paint pictures of these extinct species, and to explore the significance of the lynx's disappearance in ecological terms. He also discusses how the Britons that these animals shared their home with might have viewed them, and why some survived while others vanished. Barnett also looks in detail and the realistic potential of reintroductions and even of resurrection--topics that capture public interest today. With Beaver now wild again in various parts of Britain and even Great Bustard on Salisbury Plain, what about the return of sabretooths, mammoths, and the aurochs to modern ecosystems? Will we ever be able to bring these animals back? And should we? At a time where rewilding is moving from pie-in-the-sky to actual reality, this timely and important book looks from a scientific perspective at the magnificent megafauna we've lost, why we lost it and what happened as a result, and how we might realistically turn the ecological tide.Author Biography
Ross Barnett is a palaeontologist with a PhD in Zoology from the University of Oxford. He specialises in seeking, analysing and interpreting ancient DNA, but his area of expertise is the genetics and phylogeny of cats, especially extinct sabretooths. Barnett's research has led to many remarkable findings in recent years and involved investigating escaped lynx in Edwardian Devon, rubbishing claims that the yeti is an ice-age polar bear and seeking the ancestral home of the enigmatic Orkney vole. In 2018, he received the Palaeontological Association's Gertrude Elles Award for Public Engagement. Ross lives in the Highlands of Scotland with his wife and two daughters.
