Lilian Brown shares her early adventures with husband Barnum Brown (curator, American Museum of Natural History) on his paleontological expeditions to India and Burma. The focus here is not on Barnum's scientific discoveries, but on the curious cultures and people they encountered as they camped and traveled. From pets to parties, her descriptions of life on a long expedition (often waiting for Barnum to return from his lone wolf forays for fossil beds) shows a very different side than you'll find in an academic journal.

Maniraptora includes the first known bird, Archaeopteryx, the small, four-winged, feathered glider, Microraptor, and the terrestrial runner Bambiraptor. All are considered important links in the origin of flight and a subsequent transition to terrestriality. In cladistic classifications, dromaeosaurid "dinosaurs" were only considered terrestrial cursors. The discovery of a gliding stage within the dromaeosaurs confounds the currently suggested evolutionary framework and lacks predictability for origin of flight scenarios. Paleoclimate was a significant factor for evolution of dinosaur-like birds and birdlike dinosaurs during the Mesozoic. This time is characterized by faunal and floral changes reflecting the cooling trend at end of the Cretaceous. The environment opened up making it difficult for poor fliers and gliders as forested areas became less dense. Secondarily flightless terrestrial forms and birds with full flight capabilities survived best in these new environments. Eventually, birds of modern aspect probably replaced the primitive maniraptorans since they were more efficient fliers and had evolved higher metabolic rates suitable for the cooler climate.

This is an easy to read guide for beginners on how to find real treasure. Learn how to find fossils, rocks, artifacts around the U.S. Great fun for kids, teens and the whole family. This book also includes metal detecting information, a treasure log sheet and links for complete state by state listings of fossil and rock sites.

When dinosaurs were first unearthed in the 19th century, they were reconstructed as lethargic beasts, a stigma associated with ectothermy. This perception prevailed for 150 years. Then John Ostrom rocked the foundations of dinosaur paleontology in the late 1960s. He uncovered evidence that dinosaurs lived dynamic lives, a trait associated with "endothermy" (i.e., warm-bloodedness). Significant scientific advancements were made by ensuing generations of paleontologists following in Ostrom's footsteps. But now there is reason to suspect that dinosaurs were incredible frauds. Dinosaurs Incognito proposes that dinosaurs were ectotherms and exposes how these clever beasts managed to pull off their endothermic charade by presenting them in intriguing ways that both challenges conventional doctrine and encourages alternate thought. The reader is also introduced to a special axiom regarding morphology, provocative new ideas concerning the nitty-gritty of dinosaur life, and some entertaining anecdotes for good measure which are sure to make Dinosaurs Incognito a memorable experience for the general reader and scientist alike.

It's hard to imagine the study of human origins without the Leakey family. Three generations of Leakeys have scratched in the baked, unfriendly soil of East Africa to unearth fossil evidence of the earliest humans and their ancient ancestors. In the process they have practically defined the field of paleoanthropology, while eliciting admiration as well as controversies and criticism. In this engrossing biography, prolific writer and educator Mary Bowman-Kruhm tells the story of three generations of Leakeys. Beginning with patriarch Louis Leakey, a native of Kenya, she describes how he turned his boyhood love of exploring the Kenyan countryside into a scientific profession that eventually garnered international recognition. As the author shows, Leakey struggled in the early years, often barely able to make a living. The end of World War II, a trip to Rusinga Island in Lake Victoria, and an injection of money from a benefactor led to the discovery of Proconsul africanus, an 18-million-year-old skull that was a precursor to both later evolving apes and humans. Then Leakey and his wife, Mary, discovered fragments of what came to be known as Paranthropus boisei, which lived about 1.75 million years ago. These findings brought the Leakeys great attention and important funding from the National Geographic Society.
Bowman-Kruhm intersperses her discussion of the Leakeys' important scientific contributions with interesting asides about their personal life: from the trying 1950s when the Mau Mau revolt in Kenya threatened all of their lives; through Louis's interest in young proteges, including Jane Goodall and Diane Fossey; to the rocky relationship between the Leakeys and Donald Johanson, the discoverer of "Lucy."
By the time of Louis's death in 1972, Mary and their son Richard were making dramatic finds on their own. When Richard discovered a rich cache of fossils in northern Kenya, he soon attained a level of acclaim to rival his father and mother's. Eventually, he turned his attention to fighting for the cause of wildlife conservation, a passion that he continues to the present. Today, the paleontology work of the Leakey family continues, carried on mainly by Meave, Richard's wife, and their daughter, Louise, at Koobi Fora in northern Kenya. They regularly report the results of their research at the Koobi Fora Research Project Web site (www.kfrp.com).

This work sets out to examine four taxa of birds from the Quaternary of Europe that exhibit interesting morphological anomalies cranes (Grus), grouse/ptarmigans (Lagopus), ravens (Corvus corax) and starlings (Sturnus) to address whether these were the result of inter- or intraspecific processes. Modern skeletal material of these taxa from a wide geographical area was examined so as to make a more realistic assessment of the fossils than had previously been achieved. Similarly, fossils were studied from a wider geographical and temporal range than before. The study of the four chosen taxa was carried out with an acknowledgement of a variety of theoretical issues in biology, which affect the interpretation of such fossils.

Initially conceived as an attempt to disprove the idea that cowrie shells served as currency during the period of the Hungarian invasion in the Carpathian basin (10th century AD), this study has grown into somehting much larger. It collects data for the presence of cowrie shells as grave goods over a far wider spatial and chronological range as part of a comparative anthropological study to determine their various functions, in particular as fertility amulets, as well as tracing their spread from the Eurasian Steppe to western Europe during the migration period.

Papers from the Second ICAZ Animal Palaeopathology Working Group Conference held at Nitra, Slovakia in September 2005. 1) Introduction: current research in animal palaeopathology (R. Thomas & Z. Miklikova); 2) Environmental stress in early domestic sheep (L. Bartosiewicz); 3) A developmental anomaly of prehistoric roe deer dentition from Svodin, Slovakia (M. Fabis, R. Thomas, V. Paral & D. Vondrak); 4) A possible case of tuberculosis or brucellosis in an Iron Age horse skeleton from Viables Farm, Basingstoke, England (R. Bendrey); 5) Animal palaeopathology at two Roman sites in central Britain (S. Vann); 6) Understanding past human-animal relationships through the analysis of fractures: a case study from a Roman site in The Netherlands (M. Groot); 7) Pathology in horses from a Roman cemetery (K. Lyublyanovics); 8) Animal diseases at a Celtic-Roman village in Hungary (M. Daroczi-Szabo); 9) Skeletal alterations of animal remains from the early medieval settlement of Bajc, southwest Slovakia (Z. Miklikova); 10) Animal diseases from medieval Buda (P. Csippan & L. Daroczi-Szabo); 11) Broken-winged: fossil and sub-fossil pathological bird bones from recent excavations (E. Gal); 12) Osteoporosis in animal palaeopathology (M. Martiniakova, R. Omelka, M. Vondrakova, M. Bauerova, P. Massanyi & M. Fabis); 13) Cranial perforations in Armenian cattle (N. Manaseryan).

The Cambrian Period (542 to 488 Ma) marks the beginning of an abundant fossil record, and the Burgess Shale Biota was the first fully described fossil assemblage that contains a relatively complete picture of a benthic Cambrian community. More Burgess Shale-type (BST) fossil assemblages have been discovered since then and are ready to be utilized to test hypotheses about the ecology of the Cambrian explosion, which is the most important event in the evolution of metazoans. This book focuses on the Kaili Biota (http: //hdl.handle.net/1811/24227), an important deposit bridging the stratigraphic gap between Chengjiang Biota and Burgess Shale Biota. It allows us to gain a more complete understanding of the Cambrian life through the window of BST deposits. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 includes stratigraphic background of Kaili Formation. Part 2 contains discussions on taphonomy. Part 3 provides new observation for Cambrian paleoecology, including animal-substrate relations, spawning habits, teiring community, and faunal succession. Part 4 presents hypotheses on arthropod, echinoderm evolution, and the evolution of biosphere.

A photographic guide to Oklahoma's Devonian trilobites. The geological history of Coal County, Oklahoma. Descriptions of rock formations where trilobites are found. Excavation and restoration of trilobites. A photographic atlas of the Lower Devonian trilobites of Oklahoma, with helpful information to aid in their identification.

Trilobites are a well-known fossil group, possibly second most famous only to dinosaurs. With their easily fossilized exoskeleton, they left an extensive and diverse fossil record. They began a drawn-out decline to extinction during Late Devonian time, when all but one of the trilobite orders died out.

This meticulously researched reference guide is a photographic atlas and descriptive compendium on the trilobites of Coal County, Oklahoma. The species described lived during the Lower Devonian in a shallow tropical ocean that had advanced over the landscape of North America. More than twenty species are exquisitely preserved in Oklahoma's limestone rocks.

Each species is carefully illustrated, including thorough descriptions, so that those familiar and unfamiliar can understand and appreciate these amazing creatures. The most current scientific research on these trilobites is also included. For those wishing to pursue a deeper interest in trilobites, a comprehensive bibliography lists hundreds of sources of information for further study.

Shawnee legend tells of a herd of huge bison rampaging through the Ohio Valley, laying waste to all in their path. To protect the tribe, a deity slew these great beasts with lightning bolts, finally chasing the last giant buffalo into exile across the Wabash River, never to trouble the Shawnee again. The source of this legend was a peculiar salt lick in present-day northern Kentucky, where giant fossilized skeletons had for centuries lain undisturbed by the Shawnee and other natives of the region. In 1739, the first Europeans encountered this fossil site, which eventually came to be known as Big Bone Lick. The site drew the attention of all who heard of it, including George Washington, Daniel Boone, Benjamin Franklin, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, and especially Thomas Jefferson. The giant bones immediately cast many scientific and philosophical assumptions of the day into doubt, and they eventually gave rise to the study of fossils for biological and historical purposes. Big Bone Lick: The Cradle of American Paleontology recounts the rich history of the fossil site that gave the world the first evidence of the extinction of several mammalian species, including the American mastodon. Big Bone Lick has played many roles: nutrient source, hallowed ground, salt mine, health spa, and a rich trove of archaeological and paleontological wonders. Natural historian Stanley Hedeen presents a comprehensive narrative of Big Bone Lick from its geological formation forward, explaining why the site attracted animals, regional tribespeople, European explorers and scientists, and eventually American pioneers and presidents. Big Bone Lick is the history of both a place and a scientific discipline: it explores the infancy and adolescence of paleontology from its humble and sometimes humorous beginnings. Hedeen combines elements of history, geology, politics, and biology to make Big Bone Lick a valuable historical resource as well as the compelling tale of how a collection of fossilized bones captivated a young nation.

This volume presents state-of-the-art papers on important topics and methods in the analysis of vertebrate microfossil assemblages. The minute remains of animals and plants have proven very useful to paleontologists as tools for dating large fossils, describing the environments which existed at the time the fossils were deposited, and identifying and mapping the extent of local floras and faunas, among other things. Due to the large sample sizes that can be obtained, the chance to recover rare taxa is much higher than it is during a search for skeletal remains. Analysis of the data produced from microvertebrate localities can address a wide range of questions as these papers clearly demonstrate.

Today the Upper Thames Valley is a region of green pastures and well-managed farmland, interspersed with pretty villages and intersected by a meandering river. The discovery in 1989 of a mammoth tusk in river gravels at Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, revealed the very different ancient past of this landscape. Here, some 200,000 years ago, mammoths, straight-tusked elephants, lions, and other animals roamed across grasslands with scattered trees, occasionally disturbed by small bands of Neanderthals. The pit where the tusk was discovered, destined to become a waste disposal site, provided a rare opportunity to conduct intensive excavations that extended over a period of 10 years. This work resulted in the recording and recovery of more than 1500 vertebrate fossils and an abundance of other biological material, including insects, molluscs, and plant remains, together with 36 stone artefacts attributable to Neanderthals. The well-preserved plant remains include leaves, nuts, twigs and large oak logs. Vertebrate remains notably include the most comprehensive known assemblage of a distinctive small form of the steppe mammoth, Mammuthus trogontherii, that is characteristic of an interglacial period equated with marine isotope stage 7 (MIS 7). Richly illustrated throughout, Mammoths and Neanderthals in the Thames Valley offers a detailed account of all these finds and will be of interest to Quaternary specialists and students alike.

Understanding Paleolithic animal exploitation requires a multifaceted approach. Inferences may derive from research on paleoenvironments and taphonomy, the development of new methods for interpreting seasonality patterns, and ethnoarchaeological observations. A full understanding of Paleolithic economies also requires a multiregional perspective. This volume brings together a group of scholars with research interests from across the globe to understand the nature of animal exploitation practices through the lens of taphonomy. The chapters include case studies on the types of animals that Paleolithic peoples hunted and gathered through time and space, and taphonomic analyses of non-human animal bone assemblages.

AN INTRODUCTION TO PALEOBOTANY By CHESTER A. ARNOLD. PREFACE The preparation of this book was motivated by a longfelt need for a concise yet fairly comprehensive textbook of paleobotahy for use in American colleges and universities. Although se jftrate courses in paleobotany are not offered in many institutionsfifr ssil plants are fre quently treated in regular courses in botany and aleontology. In these courses both student and instructor are often compelled to resort to widely scattered publications, which are not always conveniently avail able. Lack of ready access to sources of information has retarded instruction in paleobotany and has lessened the number of students specializing in this field. Another effect no less serious hag bteen the frequent lack of appreciation by botanists and paleontologists yf the importance of fossil plants in biological and geological science. The two works of reference principally used by British and American students of paleobotany within recent decades have been Sewards Fossil Plants and Scotts Studies in Fossil Botany the former con sisting of four volumes, published - at intervals between 1898 and 191 7, and the latter of two volumes, the last edition of which appeared in 1920 and 1923. Both are now put of print, and although they will continue to occupy a prominent place among the great works in paleobotany, they are already in many respects obsolete. Since the publication of the last edition of Scotts Studies, many new and important discoveries have been made, which have not only added greatly to our knowledge of fossil plants but which have altered our interpretations of some of them. Many of the newer contributions have resulted from techniquesscarcely known to the writers of the first quarter of the present century. Thfese new techniques have also brought about certain shifts of emphasis, which are evident when one compares certain portions of this book with the writings of 30 years ago. The arrangement and scope of the subject matter is in part the result of 17 years of experience in teaching a small course in paleobotany open to advanced undergraduate and graduate students, most of whom were majors or minors in botany or biology. The approach to the subject is therefore essentially botanical. Paleobotany as a subdivision of paleon tology can be treated either biologically or geologically, but the two approaches are so different that to tiy to combine them would result only in confusion and lack of clarity. The present arrangement, therefore, is vii viii PREFACE followed partly because of the necessity of making a choice, but mostly because of the authors conviction that it is best for instructional purposes. The author is not unaware of the preoccupation with paleo botany of many geologists who might with good reason prefer a presenta tion following the geologic time scale. Their requirements are met to some extent by the inclusion of the chapter on The Sequence of the Plant World in Geologic Time, in which an effort is made to summarize the floras of the eras and periods. Then, in dealing with some of the plant groups, the most ancient members are described first, thereby giving some idea of the major steps in development from their first appearance down to the present. In making selections of subject matter an author can hardly avoid being partial to his particular interests to the neglect of other material. In spite ofan effort to avoid bias, the ready admission is made that this book is not free from it...

Call them "mudpuppies," "hellbenders," or "mud eels," salamanders are puzzling animals to most people. They come in forms that look like flattened fish with legs, like eels, like slimy lizards, or like lizards with toad-like skins. Their life history imitates the ancient evolutionary transition from aquatic to terrestrial vertebrates, though several groups remain permanently aquatic. Until now, no one has written about their ancient ancestors. Holman details the process of the identification and interpretation of the fossils. He presents a detailed systematic account of the known fossil salamanders of North America, illustrates and discusses the extinct salamanders, re-diagnosing or redescribing some on the basis of additional information and fossil material. He also gives the modern characteristics, ecological attributes, and modern ranges of the fossil taxa that are still living. The book begins with an overview of the Caudata and describes their early evolution. Then follow the systematic and chronological accounts of the salamanders. The book concludes with a discussion of the study of fossil salamanders as it relates to the development of a realistic phylogeny and classification of the group.

The meat-eating dinosaurs, or Theropoda, include some of the fiercest predators that ever lived. Some of the group s members survive to this day as birds. The theropod/bird connection has been explored in several recent works, but this book presents 17 papers on a variety of other topics. It is organized into three parts. Part I explores morphological details that are important for understanding theropod systematics. Part II focuses on specific regions of theropod anatomy and biomechanics. Part III examines various lines of evidence that reveal something about theropods as living creatures.

The contributors are Ronan Allain, Rinchen Barsbold, Kenneth Carpenter, Karen Cloward, Rodolfo A. Coria, Philip J. Currie, Peter M. Galton, Robert Gay, Donald M. Henderson, Dong Huang, James I. Kirkland, Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, Eva B. Koppelhus, Peter Larson, Junchang Lu, Lorrie A. McWhinney, Clifford Miles, Ralph E. Molnar, N. Murphy, John H. Ostrom, Gregory S. Paul, Licheng Qiu, J. Keith Rigby, Jr., Bruce Rothschild, Christopher B. Ruff, Leonardo Salgado, Frank Sanders, Julia T. Sankey, Judith A. Schiebout, David K. Smith, Barbara R. Standhardt, Kathy Stokosa, Darren H. Tanke, Francois Therrien, David Trexler, Kelly Wicks, Douglas G. Wolfe, and Lowell Wood."

The large, quadrupedal herbivores known as sauropods were widespread around the planet from the Jurassic to the end of the Cretaceous. With the longest necks and tails of all of the dinosaurs, some sauropods were 40 meters in length and weighed upwards of 100,000 kilograms, more than 20 tons. The popular image of these lumbering giants, placidly consuming ferns has been greatly revised in recent years. New discoveries and new theories about behavior and physiology have continued to enrich the study of these remarkable beasts. This book presents 21 new studies of the sauropods. The book is organized into four parts. The first part looks at some sauropods old and new, the second at juvenile and adult specimens and ontogenetic variation within species. Part three concerns morphology and biomechanics, while part four takes up issues of biogeography.

The contributors are Sebastian Apesteguia, Malcolm W. Bedell, Jr., David S. Berman, Matthew F. Bonnan, Kenneth Carpenter, Sankar Chatterjee, Rodolfo A. Coria, Fabio M. Dalla Vecchia, John Foster, Peter M. Galton, Jacques van Heerden, Takehito Ikejiri, Jean Le Loeuff, D. M. Mohabey, John S. McIntosh, J. Michael Parrish, Bruce M. Rothschild, Leonardo Salgado, Steven W. Salisbury, Allen Shaw, Kenneth Stadtman, Kent A. Stevens, Virginia Tidwell, David Trexler, Ray Wilhite, Adam M. Yates, and Zhong Zheng."

Alice Gerard has crossed the Atlantic a dozen times in the last ten years in her efforts to help solve the mystery of the controversial French site of Glozel, which has been called the "Dreyfus Affair" of archaeology. Accusations of fraud made by members of the archaeological establishment have contributed to the stormy history of the site during the last 80 years."Glozel" describes the exhaustive attempts Alice and her husband have made, working with other researchers, to understand the tombs, the tablets covered with unknown writing, the bones engraved with reindeer, and the phallic idols found at the site. In the process the Gerards made and lost good friends, became informed about a number of esoteric subjects, and finally developed a theory that might explain Glozel. The story is not finished; they hope the site will be recognized as authentic while Emile Fradin, who discovered the first artifacts in 1924, is still alive.

Quaternary Palaeoecology, first published in 1980, discusses the methods and approaches by which Quaternary environments can be reconstructed from the fossil and sedimentary record. This knowledge is of great value as the Quaternary was a time of rapid ecological change, culminating in the present pattern and diversity of ecosystems. It is possible not only to relate these changes to fluctuating climates but also to infer what Man's early influence may have been. The authors describe how past flora and fauna can be reconstructed and how the numbers of fossils can be used to reconstruct past plant and animal populations and communities, and past environments. John Birks has researched in a variety of fields within Quaternary palaeoecology, including pollen analysis and vegetation history, environmental change, past climate reconstruction, and palaeolimnology. Since the 1980s he has introduced and developed numerical methods and quantitative approaches into palaeoecology and palaeolimnology. Besides research in Norway and the UK, he has also worked on palaeoecological problems in Svalbard, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Minnesota, and the Yukon. He serves on the editorial boards of several journals and has published widely on many aspects of Quaternary palaeoecology. He is currently Professor of Quantitative Palaeoecology at the University of Bergen, Norway, and University College London, UK. Hilary Birks researches on palaeoecology and past climates primarily through the use of plant macrofossil analysis. She took up the study of plant macrofossils in Minnesota, USA in 1970, where she investigated the modern representation of plants in lake sediments by their fruits and seeds, and also worked on the palaeolimnological record of recent eutrophication and late-glacial palaeoecology. Since then she has extended her macrofossil studies to the late-glacial of Scotland and western Norway, the full-glacial of Beringia (Alaska) and recent changes in North African lakes brought about by human activities. She is Professor of Palaeoecology at the University of Bergen, Norway and teaches palaeoecology at the University of Bergen and University College London, UK.

“A superb introduction to paleontology as it really is and how it is done, from fish to dinosaur, bird, and mammal.” —Edward O. Wilson

Michael Novacek, a renowned paleontologist who has discovered important fossils on virtually every continent, is an authority on patterns of evolution and on the relationships among extinct and extant organisms. Time Traveler is his captivating account of how his boyhood enthusiasm for dinosaurs became a lifelong commitment to vanguard science. Novacek writes of the alluring perils of fieldwork with affection and discernment, and he illuminates the most exciting issues in paleontology today.

Based on an analysis of remains recovered from middens excavated at Mesolithic sites in Denmark, Milner's thesis aims to provide a methodology for identifying the seasonality of the European oyster. This in turn increases our understanding of the subsistence patterns of European hunter-gatherers. Much of the study examines the results of a modern control experiment. Includes an index of sites.