Jean Octave Edmond Perrier was a French zoologist who lived through the tumult of British Darwinism and Lyellism, and reminds us in this revealing account that French scientists had much to contribute to such perennial topics as evolution, catastrophism and creationism. While very much a product of the Third Republic, Perrier's account also aimed to outline timeless issues and permanent advances in taxonomic and developmental biology since classical Greece and Rome. In this aim he succeeds with surprisingly modern perspectives for a book first published in 1884. Perrier was born May 9, 1844 at Tulle, the son of the principal of a school which now bears his name, Lycee Edmond Perrier. In 1864 he was accepted to the Ecole Normale Superieure, where he was strongly influenced by Louis Pasteur and Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers. After working for three years at a high school in Agen, he obtained a post of naturalist-aid at the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle (1868), advancing in that institution to Chair of Natural History of Molluscs, Worms and Corals (1876-1903) and then Director of the museum (1900-1919) and Chair of Comparative Anatomy (1903-1921). Previous directors of the museum included many of the scientists he discusses in this book: George Cuvier (1822-1823, 1826-1827, 1830-1831), Isidore Geoffrey St Hilaire (1860- 1861), and Alphonse Milne-Edwards (1891-1900). Perrier's own research on echinoderms and earthworms took him on several expeditions in 1880-1885, mostly to Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, but also to the Caribbean."

Human life, and how we came to be, is one of the greatest scientific and philosophical questions of our time. This compact and accessible book presents a modern view of human evolution. Written by a leading authority, it lucidly and engagingly explains not only the evolutionary process, but the technologies currently used to unravel the evolutionary past and emergence of Homo sapiens. By separating the history of palaeoanthropology from current interpretation of the human fossil record, it lays numerous misconceptions to rest, and demonstrates that human evolution has been far from the linear struggle from primitiveness to perfection that we've been led to believe. It also presents a coherent scenario for how Homo sapiens contrived to cross a formidable cognitive barrier to become an extraordinary and unprecedented thinking creature. Elegantly illustrated, Understanding Human Evolution is for anyone interested in the complex and tangled story of how we came to be.

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.

The Chesapeake Miocene will always be considered a paleontological treasure. Given the richness and accessibility of the Maryland and Virginia Miocene shell beds, it seems remarkable that very few people have ever described new species from these strata over the past 185 years. Until now. Integrating elements from paleontology, geology, environmental science, and ecology, Molluscan Paleontology of the Chesapeake Miocene assembles previous research and the authors? experience into a synoptic field guide.

The most complete compendium of Miocene species created since 1904, this long-awaited resource lists nearly 500 species. It contains illustrations of 260 species, including more than 60 not found in any previous book and 26 newly discovered. It describes Chesapeake molluscan faunas in terms of local geology, paleoceanography, and marine paleobiology. Organized by stratigraphic geology, the book covers fossils of the Eastover, St Mary?s, Choptank, and Calvert Formations. It illustrates 24 collecting sites and fossil exposures, showing details of in situ specimens, along with maps of 4 Miocene paleoseas and detailed stratigraphic columns for Maryland and northern Virginia. The text is accompanied by a CD-ROM with color illustrations of the forty known species of ecphora shells. Armed with these, you should be able to identify the species found in the amazingly rich shell beds of the Chesapeake Bay area.

Fossil crinoids are exceptionally suited to deep-time studies of community paleoecology and niche partitioning. By merging ecomorphological trait and phylogenetic data, this Element summarizes niche occupation and community paleoecology of crinoids from the Bromide fauna of Oklahoma (Sandbian, Upper Ordovician). Patterns of community structure and niche evolution are evaluated over a ~5 million-year period through comparison with the Brechin Lagerstatte (Katian, Upper Ordovician). The authors establish filtration fan density, food size selectivity, and body size as major axes defining niche differentiation, and niche occupation is strongly controlled by phylogeny. Ecological strategies were relatively static over the study interval at high taxonomic scales, but niche differentiation and specialization increased in most subclades. Changes in disparity and species richness indicate the transition between the early-middle Paleozoic Crinoid Evolutionary Faunas was already underway by the Katian due to ecological drivers and was not triggered by the Late Ordovician mass extinction.

This anthology is a compilation of the best contributions from Symbolic Species Conferences I, II (which took place in 2006, 2007).

In 1997 the American anthropologist Terrence Deacon published The Symbolic Species: The Coevolution of Language and the Brain. The book is widely considered a seminal work in the subject of evolutionary cognition. However, Deacons book was the first step further steps have had to be taken. The proposed anthology is such an important associate.

The contributions are written by a wide variety of scholars each with a unique view on evolutionary cognition and the questions raised by Terrence Deacon - emergence in evolution, the origin of language, the semiotic 'missing link', Peirce's semiotics in evolution and biology, biosemiotics, evolutionary cognition, Baldwinian evolution, the neuroscience of linguistic capacities as well as phylogeny of the homo species, primatology, embodied cognition and knowledge types. "

Studies of Sr isotopic composition of thousands of samples of marine sediments and fossils have yielded a curve of 87Sr/86Sr versus age for seawater Sr that extends back to 1 billion years. The ratio has fluctuated with large amplitude during this time period, and because the ratio is always uniform in the oceans globally at any one time, it is useful as a stratigraphic correlation and age-dating tool. The ratio also appears to reflect major tectonic and climatic events in Earth history and hence provides clues as to the causes, timing, and consequences of those events. The seawater 87Sr/86Sr ratio is generally high during periods marked by continent-continent collisions, and lower when continental topography is subdued, and seafloor generation rates are high. There is evidence that major shifts in the seawater ratio can be ascribed to specific orogenic events and correlate with large shifts in global climate.

This book introduces the reader to the unique geology of Greece. This country is a natural geology laboratory that can help us understand the present-day active geodynamic processes in the Hellenic orogenic arc, including earthquakes, volcanoes, coastline changes and other processes of uplift and subsidence, as well as the intense erosion, transport and deposition of sediments. Additionally, Greece offers a remarkable geological museum, reflecting the complex history of the area over the last 300 million years. By studying the rocks of Greece, one can discover old oceanic basins, e.g. in the Northern Pindos and Othrys mountains, crystalline rocks of Palaeozoic age, old granitic and volcanic rocks, as well as other sedimentary rocks including fossils from the shallow neritic facies to pelagic and abyssal facies. The younger sediments demonstrate the continuously changing palaeogeography of Greece, with areas of lakes, high plateaus and gulfs that are transformed into new forms of islands, peninsulas or high mountains, etc. All the above subjects are included in the book, which describes the tectonic structure of the geological strata, together with the evolutionary stages of the palaeogeography and geodynamics within the broader Mediterranean context. A special characteristic of the book is the development of the orogenic model of the Hellenides with the application of the tectono-stratigraphic terrane concept in the Tethyan system.

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.

Late Quaternary Environmental Change: Physical and Human Perspectives
Martin Bell and Michael J. C. Walker
Second edition
"Late Quaternary Environmental Change" considers the interaction between human agency and other environmental factors in the landscape. This second edition has been extensively revised, rewritten and reillustrated to take account of remarkable developments in Quaternary Science and Archaeology over the last twelve years. The book deals largely with events over the course of the last 25, 000 years during which the climate of the mid- and high-latitude regions of the world shifted from one of arctic severity to warmer regimes of the present interglacial period. The natural environmental changes of this period were accompanied by equally dramatic human social change, as environments were increasingly transformed by human activities, leading to the creation of cultural landscapes.
Key features

• Environmental changes, particularly in the northern temperate zone, are examined at a range of temporal and spatial scales.
• An ecological dynamic approach is adopted in which the role of human agency is seen as part of a spectrum of interacting disturbance factors.
• Integration of scientific and social perspectives is given particular emphasis through consideration of the nature of environmental changes and how they were perceived.
• New perspectives are provided for current debates on future environmental management and the formulation of sustainable strategies and conservation policies.

This text will be essential reading for students in archaeology, geography, environmental science, geology, history andenvironmental conservation. It will also be of interest to professional archaeologists, and anyone with an interest in the study of archaeology and environmental history.
Martin Bell is Professor of Archaeological Science at the University of Reading, UK where he teaches Geoarchaeology and Environmental Archaeology.
Mike Walker is Professor of Quaternary Science at the University of Wales, Lampeter, UK.

The growth history of a brachiopod is entombed in its shell and internally there is a huge range of differing structures and morphological detail used by several authors as examples of ontogenetic and evolutionary change, as indicators of taxonomic relationships or discussion concerning micro-structural shell morphology. Population studies of living and fossil species and strands of recent progress in molecular phylogeny are all presented.
This single compilation, an up-to-the minute resume of knowledge and research into brachiopods, is a must for postgraduate students and researchers in evolution, zoology, geology, palaeontology and related fields.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203210433

Spinster Mary Anning, uneducated and poor, was of the wrong sex, wrong class and wrong religion, but fate decreed that she was exactly the right person in the right place and time to pioneer the emerging science of palaeontology, the study of fossils. Born in Lyme Regis in 1799, Mary learned to collect fossils with her cabinet-maker father. The unstable cliffs and stealthy sea made the task dangerous but after her father died the sale of fossils sustained her family. Mary's fame started as an infant when she survived a lightning strike that killed the three adults around her. Then, aged twelve, she caught the public's attention when she unearthed the skeleton of a 'fish lizard' or Ichthyosaurus. She later found the first Plesiosaurus giganteus, with its extraordinary long neck associated with the Loch Ness monster, and, dramatically, she unearthed the first, still rare, Dimorphodon macronyx, a frightening 'flying dragon' with hand claws and teeth. Yet her many discoveries were announced to the world by male geologists like the irrepressible William Buckland and Sir Henry De La Beche and they often received the credit. In Jurassic Mary Patricia Pierce redresses this imbalance, bringing to life the extraordinary, little-known story of this determined and pioneering woman.

Imaging and visualizing fossils in three dimensions with tomography is a powerful approach in paleontology. Here, the authors introduce select destructive and non-destructive tomographic techniques that are routinely applied to fossils and review how this work has improved our understanding of the anatomy, function, taphonomy, and phylogeny of fossil echinoderms. Building on this, this Element discusses how new imaging and computational methods have great promise for addressing long-standing paleobiological questions. Future efforts to improve the accessibility of the data underlying this work will be key for realizing the potential of this virtual world of paleontology.

Owen was the founder of the Natural History Museum, bringing the collections over from the British Museum. Although he was a supporter of evolutionary theory, he was reluctant to accept Darwin's version of evolution. This volume examines fossil evidence for change in species over time.

The study of echinoid evolution, diversity, and ecology has always suffered from the fact that they are represented by taxa showing widely differing architectural designs of their multi-plated skeletons, inhabiting a large range of marine paleoenvironments, which result in highly varying taphonomic biases dictating their presence and recognition. This Element addresses the taphonomy of echinoids and includes: a general introduction to the morphological features of echinoids that play a role in their preservation; a review of processes which play an important role in the differential preservation of both regular and irregular echinoids including predation and transport; a summary of taphonomic pathways included in actualistic studies for recent sea urchins and then reconstructed for fossil taxa; and finally, a case study of the variation of echinoid taphonomy across a shelf gradient using the rich Miocene echinoid fauna of Sardinia.

This volume sheds new light on the marine fauna and geological setting of the Tjo rnes Sequence, North Iceland, which is a classic site for the Pliocene and Pleistocene stratigraphy of the North Atlantic region. Readers will discover descriptions of new data collected by the editors over a period of over three decades on marine faunal assemblages and sedimentology available for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, as well as the tectonic and stratigraphical relationships on Tjo rnes Peninsula. The book includes a comprehensive account of all the collections of marine fossil invertebrate macrofossils and foraminifera known to the editors from the Tjo rnes Sequence. It is expected to elucidate sedimentological and faunal changes from relatively stable Pliocene conditions to highly variable and periodically harsh climatic conditions of recurring Quaternary glaciations. The distribution, recent or fossil, of various species is recorded and pertinent ecological and biological features are also discussed. The Tjoernes Sequence records the Neogene migration of Pacific species into the North Atlantic. Researchers in geology, climate science, environmental science and earth science will find this book particularly valuable.

Fossils allow us to picture the forms of life that inhabited the earth eons ago. But we long to know more: how did these animals actually behave? We are fascinated by the daily lives of our fellow creatures-how they reproduce and raise their young, how they hunt their prey or elude their predators, and more. What would it be like to see prehistoric animals as they lived and breathed? From dinosaurs fighting to their deaths to elephant-sized burrowing ground sloths, this book takes readers on a global journey deep into the earth's past. Locked in Time showcases fifty of the most astonishing fossils ever found, brought together in five fascinating chapters that offer an unprecedented glimpse at the real-life behaviors of prehistoric animals. Dean R. Lomax examines the extraordinary direct evidence of fossils captured in the midst of everyday action, such as dinosaurs sitting on their eggs like birds, Jurassic flies preserved while mating, a T. rex infected by parasites. Each fossil, he reveals, tells a unique story about prehistoric life. Many recall behaviors typical of animals familiar to us today, evoking the chain of evolution that links all living things to their distant ancestors. Locked in Time allows us to see that fossils are not just inanimate objects: they can record the life stories of creatures as fully alive as any today. Striking and scientifically rigorous illustrations by renowned paleoartist Bob Nicholls bring these breathtaking moments to life.

Ichnology is the science of marks, tracks, trails, traces structures and other sources of evidence of biological activity, beyond the living beings themselves, when studied both in continents and oceans. In spite of its scientific value and interdisciplinary contribution, particularly in South America, in the complex task of identifying ancient environments, information is dispersed and sometimes even ignored. This book has recovered the remarkably abundant information that Ichnology of terrestrial environments has incorporated. The studied geographical regions are the Pampas of Argentina, vast lowlands with a wide latitudinal distribution in between the warm and wet subtropical areas and the cold deserts of Patagonia. Pedogenetic processes preserve tracks and marks found in sediments, rock surfaces and soils, revealing the activity of life forms. This book refers to a variety of signs of biological activity, particularly in ancient soils. This volume includes abundant original information and a meticulous revision of paleo-ichnological investigations, most by the author himself, one of the most important South American specialists, during many decades of his dedication to scientific research. The book includes a review of the stratigraphic sequences of the Cenozoic chronostratigraphic scheme. Firstly, the author provides a scrutiny of the continental ichnofacies and the ichnological record of the South American Cenozoic age. This is followed by chapters dedicated to the faunal associations of vertebrates, with very valuable information about the past climatic events and biogeographical changes, of undoubted value for those scholars interested in vertebrate Paleontology. Likewise, the highly relevant ichnotaxonomy is also developed exhaustively, with special reference to the essential activity of insects in the paleosols, mostly ants and termites. Finally, this book presents the most complete, extensive and up-dated bibliography in the subject, which is probably unique as such for southern South America and most of the world. Certainly, this is a book that will provide valuable scientific tools for those specialists interested in this infrequent discipline, either paleontologists, biologists, geologists, pedologists and sedimentologists.

Molybdenum (Mo) is a widely used trace metal for investigating redox conditions. However, unanswered questions remain that concentration and bulk isotopic analysis cannot specially answer. Improvements can be made by combining new geochemical techniques to traditional methods of Mo analysis. In this Element, we propose a refinement of Mo geochemistry within aquatic systems, ancient rocks, and modern sediments through molecular geochemistry (systematically combining concentration, isotope ratio, elemental mapping, and speciation analyses). Specifically, to intermediate sulfide concentrations governing Mo behavior below the 'switch-point' and dominant sequestration pathways in low oxygen conditions. The aim of this work is to 1) aid and improve the breadth of Mo paleoproxy interpretations by considering Mo speciation and 2) address outstanding research gaps concerning Mo systematics (cycling, partitioning, sequestration, etc.). The Mo paleoproxy has potential to solve ever complex research questions. By using molecular geochemical recommendations, improved Mo paleoproxy interpretations and reconstruction can be achieved.

Macroevolutionary inference has historically been treated as a two-step process, involving the inference of a tree, and then inference of a macroevolutionary model using that tree. Newer models blend the two steps. These methods make more complete use of fossils than the previous generation of Bayesian phylogenetic models. They also involve many more parameters than prior models, including parameters about which empiricists may have little intuition. In this Element, we set forth a framework for fitting complex, hierarchical models. The authors ultimately fit and use a joint tree and diversification model to estimate a dated phylogeny of the Cincta (Echinodermata), a morphologically distinct group of Cambrian echinoderms that lack the fivefold radial symmetry characteristic of extant members of the phylum. Although the phylogeny of cinctans remains poorly supported in places, this Element shows how models of character change and diversification contribute to understanding patterns of phylogenetic relatedness and testing macroevolutionary hypotheses.

Radiolarians in the Sedimentary Record presents the current state of knowledge on fossil radiolarians. The author discusses the record, as well as new integrated taxonomic systems at the family level. The book provides comprehensive coverage of the fossil record of these unicellular organisms. It also discusses their important role in the history of the Earth and their development of the biosphere. This text will prove indispensable for graduate students and researchers in geology, oceanography and earth sciences.

Modern videography provides an ever-widening window into subsea echinoderm life with vast potential for new knowledge. Supported by video evidence throughout, this Element begins with time-lapse video made in 1983 on film, using an off-the-shelf camera, flash, and underwater housings. Although quality has now been significantly improved by digital imagery, films from over thirty years ago captured crinoid feeding behavior previously unknown and demonstrated a great potential to learn about many other aspects of their biology. This sequence is followed by several examples of recent digital videography from submersibles of deep-sea crinoids and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) (stalked and unstalked), as well as close-up video of crinoids in aquaria. These recent studies enabled a new classification of crinoid arm postures, provided detailed views of food particle capture, and revealed a wide range of behaviors in taxa never before seen in life.

Why are humans so fond of water? Why is our skin colour so variable? Why aren't we hairy like our close ape relatives? A savannah scenario of human evolution has been widely accepted primarily due to fossil evidence; and fossils do not offer insight into these questions. Other alternative evolutionary scenarios might, but these models have been rejected. This book explores a controversial idea - that human evolution was intimately associated with watery habitats as much or more than typical savannahs. Written from a medical point of view, the author presents evidence supporting a credible alternative explanation for how humans diverged from our primate ancestors. Anatomical and physiological evidence offer insight into hairlessness, different coloured skin, subcutaneous fat, large brains, a marine-type kidney, a unique heat regulation system and speech. This evidence suggests that humans may well have evolved, not just as savannah mammals, as is generally believed, but with more affinity for aquatic habitats - rivers, streams, lakes and coasts. Key Features: Presents the evidence for a close association between riparian habitats and the origin of humans Reviews the "savannah ape" hypothesis for human origins Describes various anatomical adaptations that are associated with hypotheses of human evolution Explores characteristics from the head and neck such as skull and sinus structures, the larynx and ear structures and functions