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Books : Science : Evolution : Paleontology : Vertebrate
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This book presents a major summary of what is currently known about North American amphibians and fossils in the Pleistocene. The only book available on the subject, it includes a general treatment of the Pleistocene and its effects on the physical and biological world, and features an illustrated bestiary of the herpetological families and genera as well as a discussion of the identification of fossils. The changes in the North American herpetofauna from the Cretaceous to the Pleistocene are cogently summarized, and complete herpetofaunal lists from the seven designated Pleistocene regions of North America are included. The concluding chapter details range adjustments and extinction patterns, and contrasts the evolutionary "stasis" of the herpetofauna with the avian and mammalian fauna. The work will be considered an essential reference for paleontologists.
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The author describes the postcrania of the Miocene marsupials Ilaria illumidens and Ngapakaldia tedfordi and compares them with those of other vombatiforms and out-group marsupials. A cladistic analysis of postcranial characters shows Ilaria to be most closely related to the wombats, primarily on the basis of the highly derived manus. Ngapakaldia's postcranium is more plesiomorphic and most similar to the phalangeriform possums.
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The first English translation of Johannes Weigelt's 1927 classic makes available the seminal work in taphonomy, the study of how organisms die, decay, become entombed in sediments, and fossilize over time. Weigelt emphasized the importance of empirical work and made extensive observations of modern carcasses on the Texas Gulf Coast. He applied the results to evidence from the fossil record and demonstrated that an understanding of the postmortem fate of modern animals is crucial to making sound inferences about fossil vertebrate assemblages and their ecological communities.
Weigelt spent sixteen months on the Gulf Coast in the mid-1920s, gathering evidence from the carcasses of cattle and other animals in the early stages of preservation. This book reports his observations. He discusses death and decomposition; classifies various modes of death (drowning, cold, dehydration, fire, mud, quicksand, oil slicks, etc.); documents and analyzes the positions of carcasses; presents detailed data on carcass assemblages at the Smither's Lake site in Texas; and, in a final chapter, makes comparisons to carcass assemblages from the geologic past. He raises questions about whether much of the fossil record is a product of unusual events and, if so, what the implications are for paleoecological studies.
The English edition of Recent Vertebrate Carcasses includes a foreword and a translator's note that comment on Weigelt's life and the significance of his work. The original bibliography has been brought up to date, and, where necessary, updated scientific and place names have been added to the text in brackets. An index of names, places, and subjects is included, and Weigelt's own photographs of carcasses and drawings of skeletons illustrate the text.
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This volume brings together a series of papers that address the topic of reconstructing behavior in the primate fossil record. Here is offered a review of broad issues related to reconstructing various aspects of behavior -- such as diet and social systems -- from very different types of evidence. For example: comparative analysis and adaptation, ontogenetic evidence, paleoenvironmental and paleo-community analysis, experimental functional analysis, and comparative socioecology. Hopefully, the reader will gain a perspective on the various types of evidence that can be brought to bear on reconstructing behavior, the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches, and, perhaps, new approaches to the topic. Authors review not only the types of evidence that can be used to reconstruct behavior, but also the limitations of the evidence, only emphasizing the weakness of behavioral reconstruction as a basis and inspiration for further research.
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This book looks at how an animal is organized to carry out a difficult task - that of feeding on plants. The complex adaptations necessary to enable animals to obtain nutrients successfully from a herbivorous diet are many. For the first time these problems are examined here purely from the perspective of reptiles. Common themes are teased out and arranged chronologically to help gain an understanding of the patterns of diversity change in the group. This book will be of great interest to researchers and students of zoology, palaeontology, evolution, ecology, functional anatomy and morphology.
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Throughout history man has been discovering fossil bones. Our interpretations of these discoveries through the centuries provides an insight into the development of scientific knowledge. This book traces the history of vertebrate palaeontolgoy from the discoveries and interpretations of fossil bones by the Greeks and Romans and their role as evidence for the biblical flood through to the formulation of the synthetic theory of evolution after the First World War. The author shows how the pioneering work of Cuvier in the 19th century and the inspiration of Darwin and others led to modern theories of evolution. He goes on to look at the great palaeontological finds which resulted from the opening-up of the American West, the industrial exploitation of minerals in Europe and colonial expansion in Asia and Africa.
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This volume provides the first full description and analysis of the postcranial skeleton of the Tertiary canid subfamily Borophagine. Borophagines have been stereotyped as noncursorial, bone-crushing scavengers, but comparisons with Recent digitigrade carnivores reveal a surprising diversity of habit among borophagines. The author relates functional characteristics to various aspects of borophagine paleoecology, including habitat, diet, social organization, and extinction.
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Science meets the great outdoors in this personal perspective of the Sternbergs, who formed the world's first family-run fossil-hunting business. Updated and revised, this new edition includes a chapter on the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, which opened in Hays, Kansas, in March 1999.
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This comprehensive volume covers a range of topics related to the history of animal life, on land or in water. Issues discussed include the impact of palaeontology on the general public and scientific concepts related to the study of dinosaur extinction; others address more specific topics such as vertebrate biochronology of the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary. Accompanying these formidable research topics are more 'popular' aspects of palaeontology, examining the fascination that the public has had for dinosaurs over the last 150 years and the use of the word dinosaur in the English language.
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This volume fulfills a long-standing need of vertebrate paleontologists--whether amateurs attending their first excavation, or preparators and curators--for a book that describes and explains modern paleontological techniques and practice. The authors of this volume are all exceptional technicians in their fields and the book covers everything from field specimen collecting, through conservation methods, chemical preparation, molding, casting and painting, and mounting of vertebrate skeletons, to the final chapter devoted to the use of CT scans and X-ray methods. This book aims to describe modern preparatory techniques and skills that have usually only been passed down by example and demonstration, and that until now, have rarely been standardized or put down in print.