Rise of Amphibians: 365 Million Years of Evolution by Robert Carroll. 
 
For nearly 100 million years, amphibians and their ancestors reigned over both the terrestrial and shallow water environments of the earth. Archaic animals with an amphibious way of life produced modern frogs, salamanders, and caecilians, and also the ancestors of reptiles, birds, and mammals. In this landmark publication, one of the worlds leading paleontologists of our time, Robert Carroll, shares a landmark moment in vertebrate evolution - the rise of amphibians. With findings from the rich and extremely diverse fossil record of amphibians, Robert Carroll traces their origins back 365 million years - the moment when when a particular species of fish traveled down the evolutionary pathway of fin modification that gave rise to legs. This period of dramatic radiation was followed by a cataclysmic extinction 250 million years ago. After a long gap, modern amphibian groups finally started to emerge. Yofsy the quantity of amphibian species and individuals that enhabit the tropical and temperate regions of the earth exceeds that the number of mammal species. The Rise of Amphibians is the most comprehensive examination of amphibian evolution ever published.  The Rise of Amphibians is an essential resource for paleontologists, herpetologists, geologists, and evolutionary biologists.