"Ever since the beginnings of paleontology in America, New Jersey has been 'the place' and William Gallagher--who terrorized his South Jersey mother by traipsing home with green mud, marl, and fossils--is the ideal guide to the wonderful dinosaurs and other fossils of the region. High school and college students, their teachers, interested general readers and professional paleontologists will all enjoy this book "-Earle E. Spamer, The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia "Citizens of New Jersey have needed this book for a long time . . . . William Gallagher shows all New Jerseyans why they can be proud of their state's role in dinosaur paleontology and in science as a whole."-David Parris, curator of natural history, New Jersey State Museum "A very enjoyable read--and an ambitious work that not only deals with dinosaurs of the New Jersey region, but much more besides. The hard-core dinosaur crowd will certainly want it, no matter where they live."-Louis Jacobs, author of Lone Star Dinosaurs and Quest for the African Dinosaurs "An impressive historical account of the search for dinosaur fossils in New Jersey . . . a fascinating account of prehistoric New Jersey when dinosaurs and other extinct creatures roamed its environs. It has great historical and scientific value."-Richard K. Olsson, professor of geological sciences, Rutgers University Did you know that Benjamin Franklin examined the first dinosaur bone in America from Woodbury, Gloucester County, in 1787--decades before the word dinosaur was even coined? Or that when the first reasonably complete dinosaur skeleton in the world was unearthed in Haddonfield, Camden County, in 1858, it was a major scientific breakthrough which forced paleontologists to completely revise their picture of dinosaur anatomy? Few people know that New Jersey is the nursery of American vertebrate paleontology When Dinosaurs Roamed New Jersey provides a succinct and readable history of the geology and paleontology of New Jersey from the time the region was covered by Cambrian seas 543 million years ago to the Pleistocene Ice Age only 10 to 15,000 years ago. William Gallagher tells the stories of professional and amateur fossil hunters, their discoveries, and their impact on the history of paleontological thought. He points out places in New Jersey and nearby where specimens characteristic of each era can be found. He shows how fossil evidence discovered in the state is helping paleontologists reconstruct the ecological interactions and behavior of dinosaurs, and discusses such continuing scientific controversies as the reason for the extinction of the dinosaurs. From tracking dinosaur footprints across the Newark basin, to digging for the last dinosaurs in the greensands of South Jersey, to finding a mushroom in ancient amber in East Brunswick, this book is the ideal introduction to the Garden State's fossils and prehistory. Dr. William B. Gallagher is the registrar of natural history at the New Jersey State Museum and a visiting lecturer in dinosaur paleontology at Rutgers University.

Rain of Iron and Ice shows us the unmistakable evidence--from spaceprobe flybys of the planets to the scars on our own Earth--of cataclysmic comet and asteroid impacts. By comparing what we know about the earth's geology and paleontology with the ages of the other planets and moons in our solar system, Lewis makes the strongest case yet for sudden, dramatic extinctions and assesses the risks to planet Earth.

Scientist believe that we would not be here if it were not for three great cataclysms in the early history of Earth and of the universe. This is the first book to explore the deep connection between the events that shaped life on Earth: the 'Big Bang' that spawned an entire universe; the explosion of a supernova, which seeded the solar system with heavy elements; and the crash of a comet or asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and clear the way for the evolution of mammals.

The renaissance in stratigraphy has promoted a more thorough examination of the geologic record of particular fossil bearing strata. The subject of paleontological events whether sedimentographic or biological in nature, is now emerging as an important topic in earth history, particularly with regard to the temperature and nature of sedimentologic and biologic change.

Representing the state of the art in evolutionary paleobiology, this book provides a much-needed overview of this rapidly changing field. An influx of ideas and techniques both from other areas of biology and from within paleobiology itself have resulted in numerous recent advances, including increased recognition of the relationships between ecological and evolutionary theory, renewed vigor in the study of ecological communities over geologic timescales, increased understanding of biogeographical patterns, and new mathematical approaches to studying the form and structure of plants and animals.
Contributors to this volume--a veritable who's who of eminent researchers--present the results of original research and new theoretical developments, and provide directions for future studies. Individually wide ranging, these papers all share a debt to the work of James W. Valentine, one of the founders of modern evolutionary paleobiology. This volume's unified approach to the study of life on earth will be a major contribution to paleobiology, evolution, and ecology.

'Vivid, thrilling, a delight ... Tim Flannery is a palaeontologist and ecologist of global standing, and this is a compelling and authoritative narrative of the evolution of Europe's flora and fauna, from the formation of the continent to its near future ... an exciting book, full of wonder' James McConnachie, Sunday Times A place of exceptional diversity, rapid change, and high energy, Europe has literally been at the crossroads of the world ever since the interaction of Asia, North America and Africa formed the tropical island archipelago that would become the continent of today. In this unprecedented evolutionary history, Tim Flannery shows how for the past 100 million years Europe has absorbed wave after wave of immigrant species; taking them in, transforming them, and sometimes hybridising them. Flannery reveals how, in addition to playing a vital role in the evolution of our own species, Europe was once the site of the formation of the first coral reefs, the home of some of the world's largest elephants, and now has more wolves than North America. This groundbreaking book charts the history of the land itself and the forces shaping life on it - including modern humans - to create a portrait of a continent that continues to exert a huge influence on the world today.

The first section of the book describes how zoo-archaeologists go about studying faunal remains from archaeological sites, and to explore the nature of these remains, and some of the information they provide. The second part discusses the relationship between humans and animals from earliest Africa to post-Medieval Britain. The latter can, of course, not be a complete survey; instead it sets out to describe some of the types of relationship that have existed throughout history, and the material consequences of those behaviours in the archaeological record. Helpful bibliography. One of the most lucid expositions on archaeozoology available' New Scientist.

George Poinar began collecting amber specimins over thirty years ago, but it was only recently that he, Roberta Poinar, and the rest of his research team astounded the scientific community with the news that they had obtained "live" DNA strands from an insect over 40 million years old. The news was so significant that it made headlines throughout the world. Since that time, their lab has remained extraordinarily active, and in the summer of 1993, they were able to announce the successful extraction of preserved DNA strands over 125 million years old. Thus, there is now DNA available for study dating from the early dinosaur period.In passages that read more like an Indiana Jones screenplay than a story about scientific research, the Poinars describe how what began as a hobby grew into a semi-obsession which ultimately led to a breakthrough scientific discovery. Along the way, they encounter all manner of unusual characters, from threatening black marketeers and gun-toting guerrillas to extraordinarily talented scientists, and of course, the luminously beautiful specimins captured in the still-life of amber.

The partial skeleton of Homo erectus found in Kenya by Alan Walker, Richard Leakey, and others is truly one of the great discoveries in paleoanthropology, after the world's best paleoanthropologists have diligently searched for traces of Homo erectus in Africa and Asia for a century. In this book, the authors present descriptions and photographs of all parts of the skeleton and accompany these with a thorough analysis. It consists of three parts. The first part covers the geology, dating, paleoenvironments, and the taphonomy of the site. The second part is a description of the specimen and a review of other Homo erectus specimens from the Lake Turkana region. The last part is composed of analytical papers on certain aspects of the boy's biology as they apply to other Homo erectus specimens. "What impresses me most about the volume is that apart from the basic description of the fossil, which itself is of great importance, the editors have sought out leading experts to tackle problems relating to specific issues in the evolutionary biology of Homo erectus. Many of these chapters would stand alone as major contributions. Together, they make a remarkable volume that will become a standard reference." (Robert A. Foley, Professor of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge)

This study is organized around three themes: the origin and early diversification of life during the Archean Eon; the maturation of life and the Earth during the long Proterozoic Eon; and the explosive diversification of multicellular life that marks the dawn of the Phanerozoic Eon. The contributors discuss the coherence of history, the combinatorial generation of taxonomic diversity, early Metazoan evolution, and the Cambrian explosion.

This new text sets out to establish the key role played by systematics in deciphering patterns of evolution from the fossil record. It begins by considering the nature of the species in the fossil record and then outlines recent advances in the methodology used to establish phylogenetics relationships, stressing why fossil evidence can be crucial. The way species are grouped into higher taxa, and how this affects their utility in evolutionary studies is also discussed. Because the fossil record abounds with sampling and preservational biases, the book emphasizes that observed patterns can rarely be taken at face value. It is argued that evolutionary trees, constructed from combining phylogenetic and biostratigraphic data, provide the best approach for investigating patterns of evolution through geologic time.
The only integrated text covering the study of evolutionary patterns from a phylogenetic stance.

The eminent historian Richard Bushman here reflects on his faith and the history of his religion. By describing his own struggle to find a basis for belief in a skeptical world, Bushman poses the question of how scholars are to write about subjects in which they are personally invested. Does personal commitment make objectivity impossible? Bushman explicitly, and at points confessionally, explains his own commitments and then explores Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon from the standpoint of belief.Joseph Smith cannot be dismissed as a colorful fraud, Bushman argues, nor seen only as a restorer of religious truth. Entangled in nineteenth-century Yankee culture -- including the skeptical Enlightenment -- Smith was nevertheless an original who cut his own path. And while there are multiple contexts from which to draw an understanding of Joseph Smith (including magic, seekers, the Second Great Awakening, communitarianism, restorationism, and more), Bushman suggests that Smith stood at the cusp of modernity and presented the possibility of belief in a time of growing skepticism. When examined carefully, the Book of Mormon is found to have intricate subplots and peculiar cultural twists. Bushman discusses the book's ambivalence toward republican government, explores the culture of the Lamanites (the enemies of the favored people), and traces the book's fascination with records, translation, and history. Yet Believing History also sheds light on the meaning of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon today. How do we situate Mormonism in American history? Is Mormonism relevant in the modern world? Believing History offers many surprises. Believers will learn that Joseph Smith is more than an icon, and non-believers will find that Mormonism cannot be summed up with a simple label. But wherever readers stand on Bushman's arguments, he provides us with a provocative and open look at a believing historian studying his own faith.

Carefully examines the events recorded at the major Permo-Triassic boundary sections and documents the patterns of extinction and survival among the major groups of marine and terrestrial plants and animals. Erwin also provides a detailed summary of the climatic, geologic, geophysical and geochemical events of the Late Permian and Early Triassic.

Carefully examines the events recorded at the major Permo-Triassic boundary sections and documents the patterns of extinction and survival among the major groups of marine and terrestrial plants and animals. Erwin also provides a detailed summary of the climatic, geologic, geophysical and geochemical events of the Late Permian and Early Triassic.

Introduction by Stephen Jay Gould

In the geological record, there are five major mass extinctions—the "Big Five." The most famous happened at the end of the Cretaceous Period, when the dinosaurs and two-thirds of all marine animal species were wiped out, opening the door for the age of mammals and the rise of Homo Sapiens. Using this example as a springboard, David M. Raup leaps into an egaging discussion of the theories, assumptions, and difficulties associated with the science of species extinction. Woven is along the way are stories of the trilobite eye, tropical reefs, flying reptiles, and the fate of the heath hen on Martha's Vineyard, a very modern extinction.

This is the first major book to present a comprehensive overview of the current state of extinction studies. At the end of the journey, Raup has put forward the best science of the day to answer the question posed by the title: Bad genes or bad luck?

"An eminently entertaining and informative read." —Malcolm W. Browne, New York Times Book Review

"A delightful little book about life on this planet and about extinctions, in particular. It is as much about the philosophy and methodology of science as about the downside of evolution." —Clark R. Chapman, Planetary Science Institute

"David Raup's Extinction will change the way many of us perceive our world. In a style that is both elegant and persuasive, Raup undercuts the popular and comfortable notions that extinction is a mark of failure. . . . We are shown a world that is less certain, but in many ways more interesting than the one we imagined we occupied." —Roger Lewin, author of Bones of Contention

Illustrated Key to Skulls of Genera of North American Land Mammals is a manual that contains illustrations of North American land mammals such as marsupials, shrews, bats, moles among many others. This manual is a well-illustrated key, useful for identifying mammals through cranial characteristics. It also contains line-drawings, and many photographs to aid in identifying related genera. The distribution, diversity, and characteristics of each order and family of land mammals found in North American and to the north of Mexico are briefly discussed. J. Knox Jones, Jr., has been a practicing mammalogist for more than 40 years. Currently he is a Paul Whitfield Horn Professor of Biological Sciences at Texas Tech and a Curator in the Museum there. Jones has authored or edited 14 books among is more than 350 publications, and has studied mammals on five continents. He is a past president of the American Society of Mammalogists and has been awarded the C. Hart Merriam Award, the H. H. T. Jackson Award, and Honorary Membership by that society. In 1992, he was selected as Texas Distinguished Scientist of the Year by the Texas Academy of Science, and was awarded the Donald W. Tinkle Research Excellence Award by the Southwestern Association of Naturalists. Richard W. Manning is a member of the faculty of Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos. He has authored more than 40 publications, most of which deal with mammals. Manning has had considerable instructional experience in laboratories in mammalogy, and has been cited for his excellence in teaching. He is also an avid field biologist, and thus has studied mammals in their natural habitats as well. Manning took most of the photographs used in this laboratory manual and made many of the line drawings.

Breathtaking in scope, this is the first survey of the entire
ecological history of life on land--from the earliest traces
of terrestrial organisms over 400 million years ago to the
beginning of human agriculture. By providing myriad insights
into the unique ecological information contained in the
fossil record, it establishes a new and ambitious basis for
the study of evolutionary paleoecology of land ecosystems.
A joint undertaking of the Evolution of Terrestrial
Ecosystems Consortium at the National Museum of Natural
History, Smithsonian Institution, and twenty-six additional
researchers, this book begins with four chapters that lay out
the theoretical background and methodology of the science of
evolutionary paleoecology. Included are a comprehensive
review of the taphonomy and paleoenvironmental settings of
fossil deposits as well as guidelines for developing
ecological characterizations of extinct organisms and the
communities in which they lived. The remaining three
chapters treat the history of terrestrial ecosystems through
geological time, emphasizing how ecological interactions have
changed, the rate and tempo of ecosystem change, the role of
exogenous "forcing factors" in generating ecological change,
and the effect of ecological factors on the evolution of
biological diversity.
The six principal authors of this volume are all associated
with the Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems program at the
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

This edited volume explores the various views on the origins of tetrapods-amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals-views that agree or differ depending in part on how certain fossil animals are classified and which methodology is used for classification. Eighteen chapters by an international group of paleontologists and neontologists here present current hypotheses, emphasizing the kinds of data needed to answer controversial questions, as well as the variety of solutions that emerge from diferent analyses of the same data set. The book is arranged in five sections, each of which contains an overview essay that either describes the development of various schools of thought regarding the origin of the tetrapod group in question or critically summarizes the arguments presented in the section. The first section addresses the origins of tetrapods as a group, focusing on lobe-finned fishes and early tetrapods. Next is a section dealing with amphbians, followed by one on reptiles. The fourth section concerns avian origins, and the final section treats the origins and early diversification of mammals. With an overall goal of stimulating critical evaluation by the reader rather than providing unequivocal answers, this volume will be of particaular interest to vertebrate paleontologists, evolutionary morphologists, and ichthyological, herpatological, avian, and mammalian systematists.

Essays discuss size, time, the landscape, the world view of modern biology, two-dimensional animals, sabertooth tigers, evolution, and the scientific method.

The authors argue that the growth pattern and form of the colony in many bryozoans is an adaptive strategy rather than a stable genetic character. "Bryozoan Evolution is profusely illustrated and has a bibliography of over 400 titles. It will find an appreciative audience of paleontologists, invertebrate zoologists, and ecologists thanks to its innovative and detailed evaluations of the roles of ecology, adaptive and functional morphology, life histories, biomechanics, developmental constraints, and chance on the evolution of the marine taxa of this speciose group."--Russel L. Zimmer, Science "This book is an excellent source of information on the functional morphology and variety of colonial architecture in bryozoans, very well illustrated, and worth reading at least twice."-Robert L. Anstey, Paleobiology "Even as one of the converted, I found the book a stimulating combination of paleobiology and ecology. In many ways it is a 'teaser'-the authors suggest a number of interesting hypotheses, and can test only some of them. Perhaps most important, McKinney and Jackson provide a plethora of fascinating ideas and examples that demonstrate the potential of this group of animals, and that should stimulate more work."-Michael S. Keough, TREE "This stimulating book is sure to promote further interest in bryozoans. It will appeal to biologists and paleontologists alike."-Paul Taylor, Times Higher Education Supplement

In this volume the author examines the pervasive pattern of alternation of structure and height of vertebral neural spines in the context of a larger review of axial structure in the most terrestrial of primitive Permo-Carboniferous tetrapods. He concludes that a coupled pattern of axial dorsiflexion and rotation played a significant role in primitive terrestrial locomotion.

Frozen mammals of the Ice Age, preserved for millennia in the tundra, have been a source of fascination and mystery since their first discovery over two centuries ago. These mummies, their ecology, and their preservation are the subject of this compelling book by paleontologist Dale Guthrie. The 1979 find of a frozen, extinct steppe bison in an Alaskan gold mine allowed him to undertake the first scientific excavation of an Ice Age mummy in North America and to test theories about these enigmatic frozen fauna.
The 36,000-year-old bison mummy, coated with blue mineral crystals, was dubbed "Blue Babe." Guthrie conveys the excitement of its excavation and shows how he made use of evidence from living animals, other Pleistocene mummies, Paleolithic art, and geological data. With photographs and scores of detailed drawings, he takes the reader through the excavation and subsequent detective work, analyzing the animal's carcass and its surroundings, the circumstances of its death, its appearance in life, the landscape it inhabited, and the processes of preservation by freezing. His examination shows that Blue Babe died in early winter, falling prey to lions that inhabited the Arctic during the Pleistocene era.
Guthrie uses information gleaned from his study of Blue Babe to provide a broad picture of bison evolutionary history and ecology, including speculations on the interactions of bison and Ice Age peoples. His description of the Mammoth Steppe as a cold, dry, grassy plain is based on an entirely new way of reading the fossil record.

Paleoethnobotany offers powerful tools for reconstructing past cultures by examining the interaction of human populations with the plant world. Plant remains from archaeological sites can provide information for a number of disciplines: archaeologists may use such remains to examine how plants were used, how agriculture changed over time, or how plant offerings in burials signaled social status; ecologists and botanists may use them to study morphological changes in plants due to domestication.
Combining case studies and theoretical discussions, Current Paleoethnobotany presents the first full discussion of the major stages and problems of paleoethnobotanical research, from designing and testing equipment, such as flotation machines, to quantification and interpretation. The volume explores a wide range of issues concerning collection techniques, analytical procedures, and interpretive models that will provide accurate information about past human societies from plant remains. The contributors offer data on specific regions as well as more general background information on the basic techniques of paleoethnobotany for the nonspecialist. Throughout, they explicitly examine the assumptions underlying paleoethnobotanical methods and the ways in which those assumptions affect anthropological and ecological research questions.
Based on a symposium presented at the 1985 meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Current Paleoethnobotany moves beyond a technique-oriented view of paleoethnobotany to successfully integrate current thinking about both procedures and research goals. The contributors demonstrate the potential value of the field of paleoethnobotany and open the way for further discussion and improvement.