ANOXIA defines the lack of free molecular oxygen in an environment. In the presence of organic matter, anaerobic prokaryotes produce compounds such as free radicals, hydrogen sulfide, or methane that are typically toxic to aerobes. The concomitance of suppressed respiration and presence of toxic substances suggests these habitats are inhospitable to Eukaryota. Ecologists sometimes term such environments 'Death Zones'. This book presents, however, a collection of remarkable adaptations to anoxia, observed in Eukaryotes such as protists, animals, plants and fungi. Case studies provide evidence for controlled beneficial use of anoxia by, for example, modification of free radicals, use of alternative electron donors for anaerobic metabolic pathways, and employment of anaerobic symbionts. The complex, interwoven existence of oxic and anoxic conditions in space and time is also highlighted as is the idea that eukaryotic inhabitation of anoxic habitats was established early in Earth history.

This multidisciplinary book focuses on the relationships and interactions between palaeobiogeography, biogeography, dispersal, vicariance, migrations and evolution of organisms in the SE Asia-Australasian region. The book investigates biogeographic links between SE Asia and Australasia which go back more than 500 million years. It also focuses on the links between geological evolution and biological migrations and evolution in the region. It was in the SE Asian region that Alfred Russell Wallace established his biogeographic line, now known as Wallace's Line, which was the beginning of biogeography. Wallace also independently developed his theory of evolution based on his work in this area.;The book brings together, for the first time, geologists, palaeontologists, zoologists, botanists, entomologists, evolutionary biologists and archaeologists, in the one volume, to relate the region's geological past to its present biological peculiarities. The book is organized into six sections. Section 1 Paleobiogeographic Background provides overviews of the geological and tectonic evolution of SE Asia-Australasia, and changing patterns of land and sea for the last 540 million years. Section 2 Palaeozoic and Mesozoic Geology and Biogeography discusses Palaeozoic and Mesozoic biogeography of conodonts, brachiopods, plants, dinosaurs and radiolarians and the recognition of ancient biogeographic boundaries or Wallace Lines in the region. Section 3 Wallace's Line focuses on the biogeographic boundary established by Wallace, including the history of its establishment, its significance to biogeography in general and its applicability in the context of modern biogeography.;Section 4 Plant biogeography and evolution includes discussion on primitive angiosperms, the diaspora of the southern rushes, and environmental, climatic and evolutionary implications of plants and palynomorphs in the region. The biogeography and migration of insects, butterflies, birds, rodents and other non-primate mammals is discussed in section 5, Non Primates. The final section 6 Primates focuses on the biogeographic radiation, migration and evolution of primates and includes papers on the occurrence and migration of early hominids and the requirements for human colonization of Australia.

This impeccably-researched volume skillfully reports and discusses advances in phytolith research, addressing in particular the use of phytoliths for deciphering fundamental issues in earth science and human history. Comprising thirty reviews and original papers, findings are presented in the following five sections:
A- phytoliths in palaeoclimatology and palaeoecology
A- phytoliths, diet and health
A- archaeological structures, ancient agricultures and palaeoethnobotany
A- methodology, taxonomy and taphonomy
A- soil-plant interaction.

This book examines case studies of North American Quaternary mammalian evolution within the larger domain of modern evolutionary theory. It presents previously unpublished studies of a variety of taxa (xenarthrans, rodents, carnivores, ungulates) examined over several temporal scales, from a few thousand years during the Holocene to millions of years of late Pliocene and Pleistocene time. Different organizational levels are represented, from mosaic population variation, to a synopsis of Quaternary evolution of an entire order (Rodentia). In addition to specific case histories, the book includes purely theoretical and methodological contributions, for example, on the statistical recognition of stasis in the fossil record, new ways to calculate evolutionary rates, and the use of digital image analysis in the study of dental ontogeny. Perhaps the most important aspect of the studies reported in this book is that they span the time between the "ecological moment" and "deep time." Modern taxa can be traced back into the fossil record, and variation among extant taxa can be used as a control against which variation in the extinct ones can be understood.

This textbook documents and explains the natural climatic and ecological changes that have occurred during the past 2.6 million years. It also outlines the emergence and global impact of humans during this period. Exploring a wide range of records of climate change, the authors demonstrate the connections between the components of the Earth's climate system, show how the evidence for such change is obtained, and explain some of the problems in collecting and dating proxy climate data.
The book reveals how the rise of humankind coincided with the beginnings of major environmental changes and a mass extinction. It shows that human effects on the world are not merely modern matters but date back a million years or more.

The Great Ice Age documents and explains the natural climatic and palaeoecologic changes that have occurred during the past 2.6 million years, outlining the emergence and global impact of our species during this period. Exploring a wide range of records of climate change, the authors demonstrate the interconnectivity of the components of the Earths climate system, show how the evidence for such change is obtained, and explain some of the problems in collecting and dating proxy climate data.
One of the most dramatic aspects of humanity's rise is that it coincided with the beginnings of major environmental changes and a mass extinction that has the pace, and maybe magnitude, of those in the far-off past that stemmed from climate, geological and occasionally extraterrestrial events. This book reveals that anthropogenic effects on the world are not merely modern matters but date back perhaps a million years or more.

This book serves as an introduction to the Cretaceous geology and palaeontology of south-central Africa, covering the whole of Southern and Eastern Africa and Angola. Fifty two plates illustrate almost 1000 species and provide a field guide to the macrofossils of the subcontinent. The book will be of value to field geologists, students and non-specialists with an interest in the natural world. A bibliography of the Cretaceous palaeontology and stratigraphy of the subcontinent is provided. Features: Provides a concise account of the Cretaceous geology for 13 African regions Includes beautiful illustrations and a comprehensive bibliography Fossils are presented in stratigraphical order, allowing easy determination of the age deposits.

"This is the major text on the integration of field palaeontology and sedimentology, particularly valuable for both practical lab exercises and students working independently and unsupervised on field projects" Reviewer's comment Field Palaeontology provides a comprehensive, rigorous and unique approach to the analysis of fossils and sediments and offers a practical field guide which no palaeontology student can afford to be without. The past decade has seen immense changes in palaeontology and in the study of sedimentary rocks in general. This edition has been thoroughly revised to take into account these advancements in the subject to produce a book that is unique in its coverage of palaeontology and sedimentology. It aims to provide a basis for evaluating the information potential of fossiliferous sediments, and then to give an outline of the strategy and tactics whicn can be adopted in the field. Field Palaeontology is written for advanced undergraduate courses in palaeontology, palaeoecology, palaeobiology, sedimentology and biostratigraphy within geoscience and geology degrees. It is also useful reading for Masters earth science students and first year postgraduates looking for a grounding in the basics of the subject.

Our knowledge of extinct animals depends almost entirely upon the study of fossils. This richly illustrated book clothes the skeletons of dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles with flesh, and shows how these fascinating animals evolved and probably lived. Expert author John L. Cloudsley-Thompson provides an interesting synthesis of current views on their ecology, physiology and behaviour, and outlines the various hypotheses that have been proposed to explain their extinction. Numerous beautiful drawings of the animals and their environment illustrate this exciting monograph.

The 11 chapters provide a wide ranging perspective on some of the problems under investigation and several of the systematic approaches currently in use by those concerned with refining the knowledge of the changing environments in the world's drylands during the latter part of the Quaternary. Dealing with a part of the globe that is highly sensitive to small changes of climate, or other stresses such as human impact, this book brings together a set of excellent reviews that will be of great value to students beginning to understand the subject and to paleoenvironmental scientists actively concerned with finding solutions to problems of the region. Additionally, it will be an invaluable archive of important references covering the subject of arid lands palaeoenvironmental research. This volume achieves the aspirations of the International Geological Correlation Programme.

What can the interactions of ancient mammals and their environments tell us about the present-and the future? Classic paleontology has focused on the study of fossils and the reconstruction of lineages of extinct species. But as diverse fossils of animals and plants were unearthed and catalogued, it became possible to reconstruct more elaborate ecosystems, tying together plants, animals, and geology. By the second half of the twentieth century, this effort gave birth to the field of paleoecology: the study of the interactions between organisms and their environments across geologic timescales. In Mammalian Paleoecology, Felisa Smith broadly considers extinct mammals in an ecological context. Arguing that the past has much to teach us and that mammals, which display an impressive array of diverse life history and ecological characteristics, are the ideal organism through which to view the fossil record, Smith * reviews the history, major fossil-hunting figures, and fundamental principles of paleoecology, including stratigraphy, dating, and taphonomy * discusses the importance of mammal body size, how to estimate size, and what size and shape reveal about long-dead organisms * explains the structure, function, and utility of different types of mammal teeth * highlights other important methods and proxies used in modern paleoecology, including stable isotopes, ancient DNA, and paleomidden analyses * assesses nontraditional fossils * presents readers with several case studies that describe how the fossil record can help inform the scientific discussion on anthropogenic climate change Mammalian Paleoecology is an approachable overview of how we obtain information from fossils and what this information can tell us about the environments of the distant past. It will profoundly affect the way paleontologists and climatologists view the lives of ancient mammals.

This symposium, held in Argentina in March 2003, commemorates Otto Nordenskjoeld's 1901 expedition, and pays tribute to the Swedish and Argentinian explorers who took on the challenge of early fieldwork in Patagonia and Antarctica. This theme is extended to include recent fieldwork in the natural sciences in the Archipelago of Tierra del Fuego, the Antarctic Peninsula and the sub-Antarctic seas, and celebrates the fruitfulness of continuing Swedish-Argentinian scientific cooperation. The symposium and associated activities took place in the cities of Buenos Aires, La Plata and Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego), and this book includes a selection of the most significant contributions presented at the meeting.

These proceedings record the results of climate change in many areas which are hyper-arid deserts today but which, almost cyclically, at intervals of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years, have had a much more humid climate.

This volume presents the proceedings of Symposium on Marine Geology and Palaeoceanography of the 30th International Geological Congress at Beijing. The proceedings aim to present a view of contemporary marine geology and should be of interest to researchers in the geological science.

The first palaeoecology book to focus on evolutionary palaeoecology, in both marine and terrestrial environments. Discusses reconstruction of the past ecological world at population, community and biogeographic levels. A well-illustrated and substantial volume giving accessible coverage of the full range of subjects within palaeoecology. Reviews and summarises all the major mass extinctions.

Enamel, the shiny material covering the teeth of vertebrates is the hardest tissue the vertebrate body can produce and one of the most impressive products of biomineralization. This hard tissue is closely related to feeding, the first part in the energy intake process so basic to vertebrate life. Enamel has a complex internal microstructure full of phylogenetic and biomechanic information.
Topics covered: Ontogeny; Crystallite level; Prism level; Enamel type level; Schmelzmuster level; Dentition level; Evolution; Biomechanical level; Glossary.

This collection of conference papers presents information on the molecular genetics, biomineralization, growth and ecology of extant brachiopod stocks (extrapolated back to the Cambrian), and the shell microstructure, taphonomy, paleogeography, evolution, and taxonomy of fossil brachiopods.

This book represents the first comprehensive attempt to bring to western scholarship the great advances made in Paleolithic archaeology and palaeoanthropology in the People's Republic of China. The 15 chapters are devoted to a historical overview of past and recent studies, the development of chronological frameworks, the composition and stratigraphy of vertebrate fauna, the pongid and hominid palaeontological records, and Pleistocene prehistoric archaeology. Maps, illustrations and tables illustrate the materials presented here.

A study of the palaeoethnobotany of Kashmir, covering covers the period from 4500 BP to 1000 BP. It includes keys to the identification of various species of Triticum, Hordeum, Avena and Prunus, and hard and soft woods, and lists the criteria for identification of weed seeds of some 200 species.

This book focuses on the first vertebrates to conquer land and their long journey to become fully independent from the water. It traces the origin of tetrapod features and tries to explain how and why they transformed into organs that permit life on land. Although the major frame of the topic lies in the past 370 million years and necessarily deals with many fossils, it is far from restricted to paleontology. The aim is to achieve a comprehensive picture of amphibian evolution. It focuses on major questions in current paleobiology: how diverse were the early tetrapods? In which environments did they live, and how did they come to be preserved? What do we know about the soft body of extinct amphibians, and what does that tell us about the evolution of crucial organs during the transition to land? How did early amphibians develop and grow, and which were the major factors of their evolution? The Topics in Paleobiology Series is published in collaboration with the Palaeontological Association, and is edited by Professor Mike Benton, University of Bristol. Books in the series provide a summary of the current state of knowledge, a trusted route into the primary literature, and will act as pointers for future directions for research. As well as volumes on individual groups, the series will also deal with topics that have a cross-cutting relevance, such as the evolution of significant ecosystems, particular key times and events in the history of life, climate change, and the application of a new techniques such as molecular palaeontology. The books are written by leading international experts and will be pitched at a level suitable for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, and researchers in both the paleontological and biological sciences.

The World Archaeological Congress meetings in Southampton in September 1986 included a series of sessions on the problems of Pleistocene archaeology. The chapters in this book derive from some of those discussions. In particular, this volume focuses on the problems facing prehistorians and palaeoanthropologists when trying to understand the long-term evolution of human behaviour and the patterns observable in the fossil and archaeological record of a period of time stretching over several million years. It aims to illustrate the diversity of approaches and concepts that are required to investigate the evolution of the characteristics of human behaviour - technology, language, symbol use, cultural traditions, social relationships, hunting, gathering and food production. The approaches presented range from comparisons with non-human primates to the use of ethnographic data and computer simulations, as well as demographic, psychological and evolutionary models.

Plants in Mesozoic Time showcases the latest research of broad botanical and paleontological interest from the world s experts on Mesozoic plant life. Each chapter covers a special aspect of a particular plant group ranging from horsetails to ginkgophytes, from cycads to conifers and relates it to key innovations in structure, phylogenetic relationships, the Mesozoic flora, or to animals such as plant-eating dinosaurs. The book s geographic scope ranges from Antarctica and Argentina to the western interior of North America, with studies on the reconstruction of the Late Jurassic vegetation of the Morrison Formation and on fossil angiosperm lianas from Late Cretaceous deposits in Utah and New Mexico. The volume also includes cutting-edge studies on the evolutionary developmental biology ("evo-devo") of Mesozoic forests, the phylogenetic analysis of the still enigmatic bennettitaleans, and the genetic developmental controls of the oldest flowers in the fossil record."

Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals have always fascinated people but they pose vast problems for the artist. How do you go about recreating the anatomy and behaviour of a creature we've never seen? How can we restore landscapes long lost to time? And where does the boundary between palaeontology - the science of understanding fossils- and artistic licence lie? In this outstanding book, Mark Witton shares his detailed paintings and great experience of drawing and painting extinct species. The approaches used in rendering these impressive creatures are discussed and demonstrate the problems, as well as the unexpected freedoms, that palaeontological artists are faced with. The book showcases over ninety scientifically credible paintings of some of the most spectacular animals in the Earth's history, as well as may less familiar species.

This book focuses on the problems of the Quaternary in South America and Antarctic Peninsula, with a strong emphasis in the paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic approach. It is based on contributions presented at the South American Regional Meeting held in Neuquen, Argentina.