Big Meg: The Story of the Largest and Most Mysterious Predator that Ever Lived

(Paperback)

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When Tim Flannery was a boy he found a fossilised tooth of the giant shark megalodon at a Port Philip Bay beach near his home. This remarkable findthe tooth was large enough to cover his palmsparked an interest in palaeontology that was to inform his lifes work and a lifelong quest to uncover the secrets of the worlds largest ever predator, the great shark Otodus megalodon.

Tim passed on his love of the natural world and interest in the fossil record to his daughter, Emma, a scientist and writer. And now, together, they have written a fascinating account of this ancient marine creature.

Big Meg charts the evolution of megalodon, its super-predator status for about fifteen million years and its decline and extinction. It delves into the fossil record to answer questions about its behaviour and role in shaping marine ecosystems as well as its impact on the human psyche. It contains stories of the scientist and amateur fossil hunters who have scoured the seas, and land, for fossil remains, drawn to the beauty and mystique of the great shark, sometimes meeting their death in the process.

Like the fossil record itself, this enthralling story is a piece of the great natural history of our planet.

Reviews

An exciting book, full of wonder, affection and hope. * Sunday Times on Europe *
A masterclass in science writing. * New Zealand Listener on Europe *

Flannery is a writer who sneezes at political correctness and charges into the densely land-mined territory of the biological determinants of human behaviour.

* Washington Post on The Climate Cure *

Flannery combines scientific understanding with political noushis prose is crystal clear about the nature and extent of both catastrophe and cure[He] offers hope over despair.

* Australian Book Review on The Climate Cure *

While global environmental challenges are immense, he [Flannery] argues here, they are not insurmountableFlannery has a great ability to distil complex subject matter into something you can wrap your head around.

* North & South on Sunlight and Seaweed *

Written in easy-to-understand language and he sets out a positive path for this planets future.'

* Weekly Times on Sunlight and Seaweed *

'Herin lies the real strength of this book and the reason it should be read. [Flannery's] positive attitude brings a mature voice to the problem.'

* Herald Sun on Here on Earth *

Flannery is not merely a scientist, he is also an entertainerHe deploys fantastic imagery and eye-popping factoids with aplomb, while condensing great volumes of hard science into his textHe brings to the most arcane topics an infectious enthusiasm coupled with a real talent for narrative and explanation.

* Weekend Australian on Here on Earth *

Author Bio

Tim Flannery is a palaentologist, an explorer, a conservationist and a leading writer on climate change. He has held various academic positions including visiting Professor in Evolutionary and Organismic Biology at Harvard University, Director of the South Australian Museum, Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Museum, Professorial Fellow at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne, and Panasonic Professor of Environmental Sustainability, Macquarie University. His books include the award-winning international bestseller The Weather Makers, Here on Earth, Atmosphere of Hope and Europe: The First 100 Million Years.