This book includes a collection of papers, dedicated to Tjalling Waterbolk, on various topics, including palaeobotanical and archaeological research, prehistoric settlement in the province of Drenthe and the coastal areas of Groningen and Friesland, and radiocarbon dating of archaeological samples.

This volume is a record of the 6th International Conference on the Origins of Life and the 3rd Meeting of the International Society for the Study of the Origins of Life. The conference was held under the auspices of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities at Jerusalem from June 22nd to June 27th 1980. A few weeks prior to the conference, Academician Aleksander Ivanovich Oparin passed away. Oparin, the father and founder of the study of the origins of life, proposed over 50 years ago that modern biological molecules had abidogical origins in the past, thus the beginning of life on Earth was preceded by a long period of abiogenic molecular evolution. Oparin was planning to report on his latest work in the opening session of the meeting - "Natural Selection: A Leading Factor in Transition from the Non-Living Matter to Life." This lecture will never be delivered. In Hebrew we say of those who have died "may their memory be bound with the bonds of eternal life." For Aleksander Ivanovich Oparin those words have particular significance, for surely his pioneering work will endure as long as the spirit of scientific enquiry prevails. This meeting was dedicated to the memory of Aleksander Ivanovich Oparin.

The richly fossiliferous Neogene stratigraphic sections of the Dominican Republic serve as one of only a few geological research systems in the world where morphological stasis and punctuated speciation have been investigated in multiple lineages. This research system provides unprecedented opportunities for comparative studies of evolutionary stasis and change and their environmental and ecological contexts. In this volume, a diverse group of geologists and paleobiologists collectively focus their attention on this research system, providing an updated geological framework and a series of novel studies of evolutionary stasis and change among different lineages and associated ecological communities. This collection of studies illustrates the immense potential of collaborative, multidisciplinary, and field-based paleobiological research for studies of macroevolutionary change in the fossil record.

Peter Ward, a distinguished paleontologist and author of five trade books, recreated, in dramatic and colorful language, the global environment of the end of the last great Ice Age. The last of the great woolly mammoths existed on Wrangel Island thousands of years after their extinction elsewhere on earth. Ward examines competing theories about the courses of the great extinction and considers in detail the role of human settlements on these events.

Bryozoa are a colonial animal phylum with a long evolutionary history, having existed from the early Ordovician (480 My) onward and still flourishing today. Several mass extinctions in earth history shaped and triggered bryozoan evolution through drastic turnover of faunas and new evolutionary lineages. Bryozoa are widespread across all latitudes from Equator to Polar Regions and occur in marine and freshwater environments. They are shaping benthic ecosystems and recording ambient environmental conditions in their skeletons. The book provides a synthesis of the current main topics of research in the field of Bryozoology including combined research on both extant, and extinct taxa. Fields or current research span molecular genetics and phylogeny, life history, reproduction and anatomy, biodiversity and evolutionary patterns in time and space, taxonomy, zoogeography, ecology, sediment interactions, and climate response.

This book discusses how and why animals evolved into particular shapes. The book identifies the physical laws which decide over the evolutionary (selective) value of body shape and morphological characters. Comparing the mechanical necessities with morphological details, the author attempts to understand how evolution works, and which sorts of limitations are set by selection. The book explains morphological traits in more biomechanical detail without getting lost in physics, or in methods. Most emphasis is placed on the proximate question, namely the identification of the mechanical stresses which must be sustained by the respective body parts, when they move the body or its parts against resistance. In the first part of the book the focus is on 'primitive' animals and later on the emphasis shifts to highly specialized mammals. Readers will learn more about living and fossil animals. A section of the book is dedicated to human evolution but not to produce another evolutionary tree, nor to refine a former one, but to contribute to answering the question: "WHY early humans have developed their particular body shape".

What was the state of wildlife in Britain and Ireland before modern records began? The Atlas of Early Modern Wildlife looks at the era before climate change, before the intensification of agriculture, before even the Industrial Revolution. In the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, beavers still swim in the River Ness. Isolated populations of wolves and lynxes linger in the uplands. Sea eagles are widespread around the coasts. Wildcats and pine martens remain common in the Lake District. In this ground-breaking volume, the observations of early modern amateur naturalists, travellers and local historians are gathered together for the very first time. Drawing on more than 10,000 records from across Britain and Ireland, the book presents maps and notes on the former distribution of over 160 species, providing a new baseline against which to discuss subsequent declines and extinctions, expansions and introductions. A guide to identification describes the reliable and unreliable names of each species, including the pre-Linnaean scientific nomenclature, as well as local names in early modern English and, where used in the sources, Irish, Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish and Norn. Raising a good number of questions at the same time as it answers many others, this remarkable resource will be of great value to conservationists, archaeologists, historians and anyone with an interest in the natural heritage of Britain and Ireland.

In the present book the Paleogene fossil record of birds is detailed for the first time on a worldwide scale. I have developed the idea for such a project for several years, and think that it is an appropriate moment to present a summary of our c- rent knowledge of the early evolution of modern birds. Meanwhile not only is there a confusing diversity of fossil taxa, but also significant progress has been made concerning an understanding of the higher-level phylogeny of extant birds. Hypotheses which were not considered even a decade ago are now well supported by independent analyses of different data. In several cases these group together morphologically very different avian groups and allow a better understanding of the mosaic character distribution found in Paleogene fossil birds. The book aims at bringing some of this information together, and many of the following data are based on first-hand examination of fossil specimens.

Provides an up-to-date account of evolution of vertebrates Includes numerous beautiful color reconstructions of prehistoric vertebrates Describes extinct vertebrates and their evolutionary history Discusses and illustrates the first vertebrates, as well as familiar lineages of fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals Reviews mass extinctions and other important events in the diversification of vertebrates

The time machine is one of the classic devices of science fiction, a source of endless wonder and inventiveness. In a book that transfers that sense of wonder and inventiveness to the realm of nonfiction, Peter Ward shows that paleontologists do indeed use time machines to probe the deep geological past, and that both the machines and the people using them come in a fantastic variety of types. Sometimes the time machine is as simple as a rock hammer or as humble as a magnifying glass; other times it is an esoteric piece of equipment such as a mass spectrometer. Always, the most important element is the imagination of the scientists willing to take the scientific and creative risks of plumbing the distant past of our planet and its great bestiary. In 10 separate essays united by this common theme, Time Machines prowls the world of steamy Mesozoic days and fetid Paleozoic nights to rediscover the grace and beauty of Earth's faraway past.

This book presents perspectives on the past and present state of the understanding of snake origins. It reviews and critiques data and ideas from paleontology and neontology (herpetology), as well as ideas from morphological and molecular phylogenetics. The author reviews the anatomy and morphology of extant snakes. Methods are also critiqued, including those empirical and theoretical methods employed to hypothesize ancestral ecologies for snakes. The modern debate on squamate phylogeny and snake ingroup phylogeny using molecules and morphology is examined critically to provide insights on origins and evolution. Key Features Important major evolutionary transformation in vertebrate evolution Continuing historical debate in vertebrate paleontology Of wide interest to a core audience of paleontologists, herpetologists, and morphologists Author acknowledged as prominent contributor to debate over snake origins Based on remarkable well preserved fossil specimens

This book envisages a multi-proxy approach using stable isotopes, geochemical proxies, magnetic susceptibility and associated biotic events for paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental interpretations of the Mesozoic sedimentary record of India. Mesozoic rocks of India record abnormal sea level rise, greenhouse climate, intensified volcanism, hypoxia in seawater, extensive black shale deposition, and hydrocarbon occurrence. The Mesozoic has also witnessed mass extinction events, evolution of dinosaurs, and breakdown of the supercontinent Pangea and the formation of Gondwana. Although the Mesozoic geology of India has witnessed significant progress in the last century, literature survey reveals a huge gap in knowledge regarding sequence stratigraphy, chemostratigraphy and key geological events. A synthesis of sedimentological, paleontological and chemical data is included to presenting a comprehensive understanding of the Indian Mesozoic record to students, researchers and professionals.

Take a virtual tour of the National Museum of Natural History with this high-interest STEAM book! Along the way, learn about the challenges that museums face when designing fossil exhibits. You'll also learn how studying fossils helps scientists learn about prehistoric species such as dinosaurs and their habitats. Created in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, this STEAM book will ignite a curiosity about STEAM topics through real-world examples. It features a hands-on STEAM challenge that is perfect for makerspaces and that guides students step-by-step through the engineering design process. Make STEAM career connections with career advice from Smithsonian employees working in STEAM fields. This STEAM book is ideal for ages 6-8 and is especially appealing to reluctant readers.

It is widely acknowledged that life has adapted to its environment, but the precise mechanism remains unknown since Natural Selection, Descent with Modification and Survival of the Fittest are metaphors that cannot be scientifically tested. In this unique text, invertebrate and vertebrate biologists illuminate the effects of physiologic stress on epigenetic responses in the process of evolutionary adaptation from unicellular organisms to invertebrates and vertebrates, respectively. This book offers a novel perspective on the mechanisms underlying evolution. Capacities for morphologic alterations and epigenetic adaptations subject to environmental stresses are demonstrated in both unicellular and multicellular organisms. Furthermore, the underlying cellular-molecular mechanisms that mediate stress for adaptation will be elucidated wherever possible. These include examples of 'reverse evolution' by Professor Guex for Ammonites and for mammals by Professor Torday and Dr. Miller. This provides empiric evidence that the conventional way of thinking about evolution as unidirectional is incorrect, leaving open the possibility that it is determined by cell-cell interactions, not sexual selection and reproductive strategy. Rather, the process of evolution can be productively traced through the conservation of an identifiable set of First Principles of Physiology that began with the unicellular form and have been consistently maintained, as reflected by the return to the unicellular state over the course of the life cycle.

The return of Halley's Cornet in 1986 has generated much ex citement in the scientific community with preparations already afoot for an International Cornet Watch and a cornet launch by the European Space Community, the Japanese and Soviet Space Scientists. The meet ing held at the University of Maryland in October 1980 was primarily stimulated by the preparations for further study of this cornet and by one of the most important unanswered questions related to comets, name ly, whether they may have made a eontribution to the origin of life on earth. Our un"derstanding of the role of comets in the origin of life must necessarily come from our studies of the astronomy and the chem istry of comets. Some clues to the processes which led to the for mation of organic molecules and eventually to the appearance of life have come from these studies of comets, perhaps the most ancient of all objects in our solar system. Whether there is, however, a biology of comets still remains to be seen, although some claims have been made that perhaps comets might themselves provide an environment for even the beginnings of life. Scientists with the latest available information on comets and differing opinions as to the role of comets in the origin of life attended this symposium. The formal papers presented are now being made available to the students of chemical evolution within the pages of this volume."

This new and significantly updated authored dictionary is a unique glossary of paleontological terms, taxa, localities, and concepts. It focuses primarily on identifying the most significant groups of fossil animals and plants in relation to their evolution and phylogeny. It also focuses on mass extinctions, on taxa that are problematic in some significant way, on the principal fossil-Lagerstatten of the world, and on historical turning points marked by index fossils. Although there are many current resources on the subject, none contains an accurate representation of the paleontological lexicon. Although well aware that the fast-changing field of paleontology will always defy any attempt at complete description, the author has attempted to provide an accurate and comprehensive set of about 4,000 entries that will be useful to professionals as well as to general readers of scientific literature without a background in paleontology.

"Splendid and important .... Scientifically rigorous and written with a clarity and candor that create a gripping tale ... [Boehme's] account of the history of Europe's lost apes is imbued with the sweat, grime, and triumph that is the lot of the fieldworker, and carries great authority."-Tim Flannery, The New York Review of Books In this "fascinating forensic inquiry into human origins" (Kirkus STARRED Review), a renowned paleontologist takes readers behind-the-scenes of one of the most groundbreaking archaeological digs in recent history. Somewhere west of Munich,paleontologist Madelaine Boehme and her colleagues dig for clues to the origins of humankind. What they discover is beyond anything they ever imagined: the twelve-million-year-old bones of Danuvius guggenmosi make headlines around the world. This ancient ape defies prevailing theories of human history-his skeletal adaptations suggest a new common ancestor between apes and humans, one that dwelled in Europe, not Africa. Might the great apes that traveled from Africa to Europe before Danuvius's time be the key to understanding our own origins? All this and more is explored in Ancient Bones. Using her expertise as a paleoclimatologist and paleontologist, Boehme pieces together an awe-inspiring picture of great apes that crossed land bridges from Africa to Europe millions of years ago, evolving in response to the challenging conditions they found. She also takes us behind the scenes of her research, introducing us to former theories of human evolution (complete with helpful maps and diagrams), and walks us through musty museum overflow storage where she finds forgotten fossils with yellowed labels, before taking us along to the momentous dig where she and the team unearthed Danuvius guggenmosi himself-and the incredible reverberations his discovery caused around the world. Praise for Ancient Bones: "Readable and thought-provoking. Madelaine Boehme is an iconoclast whose fossil discoveries have challenged long-standing ideas on the origins of the ancestors of apes and humans."-Steve Brusatte, New York Times-bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs "An inherently fascinating, impressively informative, and exceptionally thought-provoking read."-Midwest Book Review "An impressive introduction to the burgeoning recalibration of paleoanthropology."-Kirkus Reviews(starred review)

Reading the Soil Archives: Unraveling the Geoecological Code of Palaeosols and Sediment Cores, Volume 19, provides details of new techniques for understanding geological history in the form of quantitative pollen analyses, soil micromorphology, OSL (Optically Stimulated Luminescence) dating, phytolith analysis and biomarker analysis. The book presents the genesis of a cultural landscape, based on multi-proxy analysis of paleosoils and integration of geomorphological, pedological and archaeological research results, which can be a model for geoecological landscape studies. Beginning with analytical methods for interpreting soil archives, the book examines methods for reconstructing the landscape genesis. The book presents strengths and weaknesses of applications, especially in relation to the data from case studies in the Netherlands. The final chapter of the book addresses landscape evolution in different cultural periods. This book offers an integrated approach to geoecological knowledge that is valuable to students and professionals in quaternary science, physical geography, soil science, archaeology, historical geography, and land planning and restructuring.

Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on the Origin of Life and the First Meeting of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life (ISSOL), Barcelona, June 25-28, 1973. Vol. II: Contributed Papers

Epigenetic Mechanisms of the Cambrian Explosion provides readers with a basic biological knowledge and epigenetic explanation of the biological puzzle of the Cambrian explosion, the unprecedented rapid diversification of animals that began 542 million years ago. During an evolutionarily instant of ~10 million years, which represents only 0.3% of the time of existence of life on Earth, or less than 2% of the time of existence of metazoans, all of the 30 extant body plans, major animal groups (phyla) and several extinct groups appeared. The work helps address this phenomena and tries to answer remaining questions for evolutionary biology, epigenetics, and scientific researchers. The book recognizes and presents objective representations of alternative theories for epigenetic evolution in this period, with the author drawing on his epigenetic theory of evolution to explain the causal basis of the Cambrian explosion. Both empirical evidence and theoretical arguments are presented in support of this thought-provoking epigenetic theory.

This volume describes and explores the emerging discipline of conservation paleobiology, and addresses challenges faced by established and young Conservation Paleobiologist's alike. In addition, this volume includes applied research highlighting how conservation paleobiology can be used to understand ecosystem response to perturbation in near and deep time. Across 10 chapters, the book aims to (1) explore the goals of conservation paleoecology as a science, (2) highlight how conservation paleoecology can be used to understand ecosystems' responses to crises, (3) provide case studies of applications to modern ecosystems, (4) develop novel applications of paleontological approaches to neontological data, and (5) present a range of ecosystem response and recovery through environmental crises, from high-resolution impacts on organism interactions to the broadest scale of responses of the entire marine biosphere to global change. The volume will be of interest to paleoecologists, paleobiologists, and conservation biologists.

This edited book discusses various challenges in teaching structural geology and tectonics and how they have been overcome by eminent instructors, who employed effective and innovative means to do so. All of the chapters were written by prominent and active academics and geoscientists fully engaged in teaching Structural Geology and Tectonics. New instructors will find this book indispensible in framing their teaching strategy. Effective teaching of Structural Geology and Tectonics constitutes the backbone of geoscience education. Teaching takes place not only in classrooms, but also in labs and in the field. The content and teaching methodologies for these two fields have changed over time, shaped by the responsibilities that present-day geoscientists are expected to fulfill.

Reconstructing the paleobiology of fossil non-human primates, this book is intended as an exposition of non-human primate evolution that includes information about evolutionary theory and processes, paleobiology, paleoenvironment, how fossils are formed, how fossils illustrate evolutionary processes, the reconstruction of life from fossils, the formation of the primate fossil record, functional anatomy, and the genetic bases of anatomy. Throughout, the emphasis of the book is on the biology of fossil primates, not their taxonomic classification or systematics, or formal species descriptions. The author draws detailed pictures of the paleoenvironment of fossil primates, including contemporary animals and plants, and ancient primate communities, emphasizing our ability to reconstruct lifeways from fragmentary bones and teeth, using functional anatomy, stable isotopes from enamel and collagen, and high resolution CT-scans of the cranium. Fossil Primates will be essential reading for advanced undergraduates and graduate students in evolutionary anthropology, primatology and vertebrate paleobiology.

This volume addresses major evolutionary changes that took place during the Mesozoic and the Cenozoic. These include discussions on major evolutionary radiations and ecological innovations on land and at sea, such as the Mesozoic marine revolution, the Mesozoic radiation of vertebrates, the Mesozoic lacustrine revolution, the Cenozoic radiation of mammals, the evolution of paleosol biotas, and the evolution of hominins. The roles of mass extinctions at the end of the Triassic and at the end of the Cretaceous are assessed. This volume set provides innovative reviews of the major evolutionary events in the history of life from an ichnologic perspective. Because the long temporal range of trace fossils has been commonly emphasized, biogenic structures have been traditionally overlooked in macroevolution. However, comparisons of ichnofaunas through geologic time do reveal the changing ecology of organism-substrate interactions. The use of trace fossils in evolutionary paleoecology represents a new trend that is opening a window for our understanding of major evolutionary radiations and mass extinctions. Trace fossils provide crucial evidence for the recognition of spatial and temporal patterns and processes associated with paleoecologic breakthroughs.