WASHINGTON, DC.- The history of all living things can be found in the ground; tales of survival, migration, evolution and destruction are hidden in the buried remains of animals and plants that lived long ago. A History of Life in 100 Fossils, forthcoming from Smithsonian Books Oct. 14, showcases the remarkable fossil discoveries that illustrate the evolution of life on Earth.

Paul D. Taylor and Aaron O’Dea explain the importance of each fossil and tell the engaging stories of the sharp-eyed and sharp-witted people who discovered them. Readers will discover Cambrian worms from Canada that provide a window on early animal life in the sea, ancient insects encapsulated by amber, the first fossil bird Archaeopteryx and the last ancestor of humankind.

The fossils were selected from the collections of two premier natural history museums, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and the Natural History Museum in London. They were chosen not only for their importance in the history of life but also because of the visual story they tell. A History of Life in 100 Fossils showcases the wonders and mysteries of bygone eras—from the Glyptodont, the car-sized cousin of the armadillo, to the Conulariid, the cone-shaped cousin of the jellyfish—and inspires curiosity about what is still left to be uncovered.

Paul D. Taylor has worked for 30 years in the Department of Paleontology at the Natural History Museum in London, heading the Invertebrate and Plants Division between 1990 and 2003. His research focuses on fossil and living bryozoans, with subsidiary interests in evolution, paleoecology and fossil folklore. He is the author of Fossil Invertebrates. Aaron O’Dea is an associate staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. He uses the fossil record to understand past climatic changes in the seas and their role in extinction and speciation, and how life in the past can help us predict the future.