What We Are Reading Today: ‘Elephants and Their Fossil Relatives’

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Updated 07 April 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Elephants and Their Fossil Relatives’

Authors: Asier Larramendi & Marco P. Ferretti

Today, only three species of elephants survive—the African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus).

However, these modern giants represent just a fraction of the vast and diverse order of Proboscidea, which includes not only living elephants but also their many extinct relatives. 

Over the past 60 million years, proboscideans have evolved and adapted across five continents, giving rise to an astonishing variety of forms.

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Planetary Climates’

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Updated 26 December 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Planetary Climates’

  • As this book makes clear, the better we can understand how various planetary climates formed and evolved, the better we can understand Earth’s climate history and future

Author: ANDREW INGERSOLL 

This concise, sophisticated introduction to planetary climates explains the global physical and chemical processes that determine climate on any planet or major planetary satellite—from Mercury to Neptune and even large moons such as Saturn’s Titan.

Although the climates of other worlds are extremely diverse, the chemical and physical processes that shape their dynamics are the same.

As this book makes clear, the better we can understand how various planetary climates formed and evolved, the better we can understand Earth’s climate history and future.