Beasts Before Us

The Untold Story of Mammal Origins and Evolution

By: Elsa Panciroli

Narrated by: Ruth Urquhart

For most of us, the story of mammal evolution starts after the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs, but over the last 20 years, scientists have uncovered new fossils and used new technologies that have upended this story.

In Beasts Before Us, paleontologist Elsa Panciroli charts the emergence of the mammal lineage, Synapsida, beginning at their murky split from the reptiles in the Carboniferous period, over 300 million years ago. They made the world theirs long before the rise of dinosaurs.

Elsa crisscrosses the globe to explore the sites where discoveries are being made and meet the people who make them. In Scotland, she traverses the desert dunes of prehistoric Moray, where quarry workers unearthed the footprints of Permian creatures from before the time of dinosaurs. In South Africa, she introduces us to animals that gave scientists the first hints that our furry kin evolved from a lineage of egg-laying burrowers. In China, new, complete fossilized skeletons reveal mammals that were gliders, shovel-pawed Jurassic moles, and flat-tailed swimmers.

This book radically reframes the narrative of our mammalian ancestors and provides a counterpoint to the stereotypes of mighty dinosaur overlords and cowering little mammals. It turns out the earliest mammals weren't just precursors, they were pioneers.

©2021 Elsa Panciroli (P)2021 Tantor

Love this book!

incisive, informative, passionate and sometimes humorous. The reader’s Scottish accent fits since the author is Scottish. So much I didn’t know. Mammals started as early as the reptiles started. So interesting.

Absolutely made me cry

I always love learning something new for the first time and this wonderful book gave me a wealth of knowledge on early mammal history. Epilogue made me weep whilst sharing the story with my partner.

Terrible narrator

Narrator was awful, I needed to listen on 1.25 speed to make her bearable. Constant mispronunciation of terms and unnatural cadence.

Bitter Misandry Historical Fiction

Half the book is spent talking about the archeologists she hates. Would've been 5 stars if she just stuck to the evolutionary tale.

Enjoyable and concise analysis of early mammalian history

This book is great. I really enjoyed Panciroli’s writing style and her lightly sardonic sense of humor made me laugh out loud a couple times. Foremost, her book focus on on how the permian through Jurassic evolution of mammals created the blueprints for traits we see today. In this, her expertise shines. The narrative is both informative and fascinating.
Additionally, her feminist perspective is refreshing and much needed. More importantly, it’s not particularly intrusive in the flow of the book. She simply places women in their well deserved places in paleontological history and highlights their importance. You can ignore the reviews who dwell on “misandry” and and such.