The Last Giant of Beringia: The Mystery of the Bering Land Bridge

The intriguing theory of a land bridge linking Siberia and Alaska during the coldest pulsations of the Ice Ages had been much debated since Jose De Acosta, a Spanish missionary working in Mexico and Peru, first proposed the idea of a connection between the continents in 1589. But proof of the land bridge - now named Beringia after eighteenth-century Danish explorer Vitus Bering - eluded scientists until an inquiring geologist named Dave Hopkins emerged from rural New England and set himself to the task of solving the mystery. This compelling narrative follows the life story of the eclectic Hopkins - the shy California geologist with glasses, long hair and a patchy beard who would draw on natural history, oral history and other specialties to piece together the story of the lost world of Beringia. Solving this mystery creates an international stir that solidified his place in history. The Last Giant of Beringia is a fascinating science detective story that at last confirmed the existence of the land bridge that served as the intercontinental migration route for such massive Ice Age beasts as woolly mammoths, steppe bison, giant stag-moose, dire wolves, short-faced bears and saber-toothed cats - and for the first humans to enter the New World from Asia. After proving unambiguously that the land bridge existed, Hopkins went on to show that the Beringian landscape cannot have been the "polar desert" that many had claimed, but provided forage enough to sustain a diverse menagerie of Ice Age behemoths. Thrilling and easily accessible, The Last Giant of Beringia is popular science writing at its best.

Author: Dan O'Neill
Publisher: Basic Books
Extra Details: Pictorial Card Covers 6 x 9 inches tall.240 Pages.Illustrated.NEW