Remains of fossil frogs, elsewhere scarce, have been found abundantly for more than one hundred and twenty five years in the Tertiary deposits in northern and western Bohemia. In most cases they are imprints of complete skeletons or their parts poorly preserved in carbonaceous claystones, and difficult to interpret. A new locality of Tertiary diatomites that has been discovered in 1950 in northern Bohemia, not far from the town of DMin, is Bechlejovice. This locality yielded very interesting material: in addition to innumerable leaf imprints, frequent frog-remains were so excellently pre served that they made possible studies not only of skeletal parts but also outlines of muscles, organs, blood vessels, nerves, pigments, some cartilages, glands, etc. Up to now, numbers designating remains of adult individuals have totalled 1,100, besides 80 palaeobatrachid tadpoles. There were also found seven adult specimens and more than 60 tadpoles of pelobatids. Nor should be omitted other localities in Bohemia (see below) which furnished new material and thus much new information. Examinations made on the new finds necessitated revision of earlier collections deposited at the following Institutions: The Department of Palaeontology of Charles University, Prague; the National Museum in Prague; the State Museum for Mineralogy and Geology, Dresden; the Palaeontologic Institute and Museum of Humboldt University, Berlin (East Germany); the Institute for Geology and Palaeonto logy of Martin-Luther-Universitat, Halle-Wittenberg, DomstraBe 5, East Germany; the British Museum (Natural History), London.

Comprising the first definitive account of the geological and palaeometeorological studies made by the British geologist, Frederic W. Harmer (1835-1924) this book contributes a previously missing chapter to the history of science. The main objective of the author is to ensure that the scientific work of Harmer, which unfortunately has been widely neglected or forgotten, becomes more generally known and acknowledged. The balance of this deficiency will be redressed by bringing to light in this volume his contributions to the history of science to an audience of academic and lay readers of the current literature.

The fIrst draft version of this book, written in systematics of Neoptera) had two different editions English and named "Draft revision of supraspecies in Russian - in 1999 and in 2000 (Kluge 2000). taxa of Ephemeroptera (without Atalophlebiinae)," English version of this fIrst volume is also prepared, was prepared as an Internet publication in 1998; but not published yet. thanks to Dr. Michael Hubbard (Florida A & M Uni versity), it has been available from the web site "Ephemeroptera Galactica" since 1998. The second NEW TERMS, TAXA NAMES AND version, written in Russian and named "Revision of SYNONYMS supra-species taxa of Ephemeroptera (except for Atalophlebialfgl)," was prepared as an Internet publication in 2000; from 2001 till now it has been New terms: plesiomorphon (instead of wrongly available from the web site of Biological Faculty of used "plesion," p. 16); basitornal margin, tornoapical S-Petersburg University, http: //www. bio. pu. ruJwinl margin, amphitornal margin of wing or wing bud entomollKLUGEIEPHEMER -"content_. htm. Both (p. 31); tergalius (instead of formerly used "tergalia" versions contain the systematics of all mayflies or "tergalium," p. 35); caudalius, tricaudale, basitri except for Atalophlebialfgl. The present Volume 1 caudale, cercotractor (p. 38). does not contain the systematics of Turbanoculata For some morphological terms type taxa are (i. e. Baetidae auct. ) nor of all Leptophlebialfg1 (i. e. designated. Till now this was not practised, but in Leptophlebiidae auct."

From Fossils to Astrobiology reviews developments in paleontology and geobiology that relate to the rapidly-developing field of Astrobiology, the study of life in the Universe. Many traditional areas of scientific study, including astronomy, chemistry and planetary science, contribute to Astrobiology, but the study of the record of life on planet Earth is critical in guiding investigations in the rest of the cosmos. In this varied book, expert scientists from 15 countries present peer-reviewed, stimulating reviews of paleontological and astrobiological studies. The overviews of established and emerging techniques for studying modern and ancient microorganisms on Earth and beyond, will be valuable guides to evaluating biosignatures which could be found in the extraterrestrial surface or subsurface within the Solar System and beyond. This volume also provides discussion on the controversial reports of "nanobacteria" in the Martian meteorite ALH84001. It is a unique volume among Astrobiology monographs in focusing on fossil evidence from the geological record and will be valuable to students and researchers alike.

The fossil record contains unique long-term insights into how ecosystems form and function which cannot be determined simply by examining modern systems. It also provides a record of endangered species through time, which allow us to make conservation decisions based on thousands to millions of years of information. The aim of this book is to demonstrate how palaeontological data has been or could be incorporated into ecological or conservation scientific studies. This book will be written by palaeontologists for modern ecologists and conservation scientists. Manuscripts will fall into one (or a combination) of four broad categories: case studies, review articles, practical considerations and future directions. This book will serve as both a 'how to guide' and provide the current state of knowledge for this type of research. It will highlight the unique and critical insights that can be gained by the inclusion of palaeontological data into modern ecological or conservation studies.

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 book should be of interest to teachers, students and researchers in paleontology, biology, evolutionary biology, zoology and cell biology.

This is a guide to imaging techniques for sedimentologists, paleolimnologists, paleoceanographers and microscopists involved in paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Case studies illustrate the range of information obtainable from different sediments (marine, lacustrine, aeolian) and different types of samples (cores, embedded blocks, microscopic slides) using different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum (visible, UV, IR, X-ray). Includes comprehensive protocols, guidelines, and recommendations for the use of low cost image analysis techniques.

We cannot catechise our stony ichthyolites, as did the necromantic lady of the Arabian Nights did the coloured fishes of the lake which had once been a city, when she touched their dead bodies with her wand, and they straightaway raised their heads and rephed to her queries. We would have many a question to ask them if we could - questions never to be solved. Hugh Miller, The Old Red Sandstone When I started this book in 1991, the subject of vertebrate origins was fusty and unfashionable. Early drafts for this preface read like an extend ed complaint at the lot of traditional morphologists, cast aside by the march of modern molecular biology. But no longer - this book should reach you at a time of renewed inter est in the origin of the vertebrates, our own particular corner of creation. For although the topic has excited interest for well over a century, molec ular biology has only lately achieved the maturity necessary to test its predictions. As a legitimate field of study, it is fashionable again."

This book provides a synthesis of the past decade of research into global changes that occurred in the earth system in the past. Focus is achieved by concentrating on those changes in the Earth's past environment that best inform our evaluation of current and future global changes and their consequences for human populations. The book stands as a ten year milestone in the operation of the Past Global Changes (PAGES) Project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). It seeks to provide a quantitative understanding of the Earth s environment in the geologically recent past and to define the envelope of natural environmental variability against which anthropogenic impacts on the Earth System may be assessed. A set of color overhead transparencies based on the figures in the book is available free on the PAGES website (www.pages-igbp.org) for use in teaching and lecturing."

Multidisciplinary research on the Early-Middle Pleistocene site of Gesher Benot Ya aqov has yielded abundant climatic, environmental, ecological and behavioral records. The 15 archaeological horizons form a sequence of Acheulian occupational episodes on the shore of the paleo-Lake Hula. These enable us to reconstruct numerous aspects of the survival and adaptation of ancient hominins, leading to a better understanding of their evolution and behavior. This book presents the faunal analyses of medium-sized and large mammals, providing taxonomic, taphonomic and actualistic data for the largest faunal assemblages. The study of modes of animal exploitation reveals valuable information on hominin behavior."

The climate of the Earth has undergone many changes and for those times when geologic data are widespread and abundant the Mesozoic appears to have been one of the warmest intervals. This was a time during which the single continent Pangea disintegrated into continental units similar to those of today, a time when there were no significant polar ice caps and sea level was generally much higher than at the present time, and a time when dinosaurs apparently dominated terrestrial faunas and the flowering plants evolved. Understanding this alien world, ancestral to ours, is intrinsically interesting, intellectually challenging, and offers opportunities for more effective targeting of sites where commercially important geological resources may be found. It also provides critical insights into the operation of coupled Earth systems (biospheric, atmospheric, hydrospheric and geospheric) under extreme 'greenhouse' conditions, and therefore may have relevance to possible future global change. Our intention in organizing this Discussion Meeting was to bring together those who gather and interpret geologic data with those who model global climates from first principles. The community of workers who study the Quaternary have made significant advances by integrating and comparing palaeodata and climate model experiments. Although we have focused not on the Quaternary 'icehouse' but on the Mesozoic 'hothouse' climate we are well aware that approaches used in the study of the Quaternary may have relevance to earlier times.

Research in whale origins is now in an explosive phase, with a cascade of discoveries adding to our understanding of the evolutionary pattern and a suite of new techniques being applied to address new questions. The objective of this volume is to provide a snapshot of this explosion. The volume paints the scene with a broad brush. Taken together the chapters clearly indicate that cetacean origins is a field that is dynamic, multidisciplinary, and that the end of the explosive phase is not in sight.

The Qattara Depression is part of the Northwestern Desert in Egypt and is home to the second lowest point in Africa at -133 meters below sea level. Therefore, before any projects can be carried out in this area, we must first understand the geology of the land. The present study deals with the high-resolution sequence stratigraphic analysis of the Lower Miocene Moghra Formation outcrops in the Qattara Depression Region. The literature on the sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of the Moghra Formation has been sparse to date, despite some excellent work over the years by academic and petroleum workers. Moreover, the area studied is within what was once a front-line of World War II, where mine fields and war relics are scattered and cover wide reaches. This has resulted in limited geologic mapping in the past. Thus, great attention is paid in this study to establishing a robust sedimentology and high-resolution sequence stratigraphic framework for the Lower Miocene Moghra Formation. Included are works based on outcrops and, most importantly, new sedimentological and chronostratigraphic information not previously available.

Part of a monograph series on fossils The publication, Lower Turonian Inoceramids from Sergipe, Brazil: Systematics, Sraigraphy and Palaeoecology, presents an account of inoceramid research by Hessel in the Sergipe Basin of eastern Brazil. Photos and drawings of inoceramids are featured.

An insightful new work, Function, Phylogeny, and Fossils integrates two practices in paleobiology which are often separated - functional and phylogenetic analysis. The book summarizes the evidence on paleoenvironments at the most important Miocene hominoid sites and relates it to the pertinent fossil record. The contributors present the most up-to-date statements on the functional anatomy and likely behavior of the best known hominoids of this crucial period of ape and human evolution. A key feature is a comprehensive table listing 240 characteristics among 13 genera of living and extinct hominoids.

Istvan Fozy and Istvan Szente provide a comprehensive review of the fossil record of the Carpathian Basin. Fossils of the Carpathian Region describes and illustrates the region's fossils, recounts their history, and tells the stories of key people involved in paleontological research in the area. In addition to covering all the important fossils of this region, special attention is given to rare finds and complete skeletons. The region's fossils range from tiny foraminifera to the Transylvanian dinosaurs and mammals of the Carpathian Basin. The book also gives nonspecialists the opportunity to gain a basic understanding of paleontology. Sidebars present brief biographies of important figures and explain how to collect, prepare, and interpret fossils. -- Indiana University Press

Fossil species appear to persist morphologically unchanged for long intervals of geologic time, punctuated by short bursts of rapid change as explained by the Ecological Evolutionary Units (EEUs). Here, morphological variation in Paleozoic atrypide morphology at the subfamily level (Atrypinae and Variatrypinae) from the Silurian and Devonian time intervals in the third Paleozoic EEU (~444-359 my) were investigated using relatively new techniques of quantitative modeling. The study explains how a group of closely related taxa in atrypide subfamilies exhibit morphological conservation through time in P3 EEU within the Eastern North America region.

The study ofanthropoid origins continues to be a lightning rod for research in paleoanthropology. Issuessurrounding anthropoid origins impact the higher leveltaxonomy ofprimates, adaptivescenariosfor basalprimate radiations, and the timing of origination of the major primate clades. Basic questions about anthropoid evolution remain unanswered. Where do anthropoids fit phyloge- netically among primates? Where and when did the group originate? What functional and adaptive innovations characterize anthropoids today and what is the adaptive significanceand phylogenetic history ofthese innovations? The fossil record of early anthropoid evolution has greatly improved in recent years. Developments in systematictechniques and theory, as well as the burgeoning molecular evidence, make this an ideal time for these fossil discoveries to be placed in the context of data on the relationships among living primates. There isan improved understandingoffunction and adaptation in the visual system, brain, and masticatory apparatus, key anatomical systems where anthropoid synapomorphies are concentrated. New methods for estimating visualacuity and activitypatterns in fossil primates are providing insights into the evolution ofthe visualsystem. The rapid accumulation ofinformation on color vision in primates, including new genetic evidence of possible trichro- macyin strepsirrhines, and new behavioraldata on the benefitsofcolor vision, makes this an exciting time to evaluate the role of chromatic perception in anthropoid evolution. Research into the primate visualsystem by neuroscien- tists has generated a plethoraofimportant data in recent years, making this an ideal time to bring these researchers together with anthropologists.

This volume provides a detailed description of a wide range of numerical, statistical or modeling techniques and novel instrumentation separated into individual chapters written by paleontologists with expertise in the given methodology. Each chapter outlines the strengths and limitations of specific numerical or technological approaches, and ultimately applies the chosen method to a real fossil dataset or sample type. A unifying theme throughout the book is the evaluation of fossils during the prologue and epilogue of one of the most exciting events in Earth History: the Cambrian radiation.

Since the Western world first became aware of the existence of Neanderthals, this Pleistocene human has been a regular focus of interest among specialists and also among the general public. In fact, we know far more about Neanderthals than we do about any other extinct human population. Furthermore, over the past 150 years no other palaeospecies has been such a constant source of discussion and fierce debate among palaeoanthropologists and archaeologists. This book presents the status of our knowledge as well as the methods and techniques used to study this extinct population and it suggests perspectives for future research.

The Quaternary comprises a brief time in the Earth's history, and apart from a few exceptions, molluscan assemblages recovered from exposures along the coast of Southwestern South America (Southern Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina) are essentially the same than those that inhabit the region today, leading to the assumption that no important change in the distribution of the faunas since Pleistocene times has occurred. However, the good taxonomic and temporal resolution reached in the last years, allowed us to detect some biogeographic changes, although traditional biogeographic units remain the same (i.e. Magellanic and Argentinean Provinces). These modifications involve mainly variations in the taxonomic composition of the assemblages and in the southern boundaries of some species distributions (extralimital species), today retracted northwards. These changes are related to southward shifts of the warm waters of the Brazilian Current, correlated with global warm peaks. This phenomenon was more intense in the Late Pleistocene (MIS 5e) and in the Holocene between ca. 6500-3500 14C yr.

It is difficult for today's students of archaeology to imagine an era when chronometric dating methods were unavailable. However, even a casual perusal of the large body of literature that arose during the first half of the twentieth century reveals a battery of clever methods used to determine the relative ages of archaeological phenomena, often with considerable precision. Stratigraphic excavation is perhaps the best known of the various relative-dating methods used by prehistorians. Although there are several techniques of using artifacts from superposed strata to measure time, these are rarely if ever differentiated. Rather, common practice is to categorize them under the heading `stratigraphic excavation'. This text distinguishes among the several techniques and argues that stratigraphic excavation tends to result in discontinuous measures of time - a point little appreciated by modern archaeologists. Although not as well known as stratigraphic excavation, two other methods of relative dating have figured important in Americanist archaeology: seriation and the use of index fossils. The latter (like stratigraphic excavation) measures time discontinuously, while the former - in various guises - measures time continuously. Perhaps no other method used in archaeology is as misunderstood as seriation, and the authors provide detailed descriptions and examples of each of its three different techniques. Each method and technique of relative dating is placed in historical perspective, with particular focus on developments in North America, an approach that allows a more complete understanding of the methods described, both in terms of analytical technique and disciplinary history. This text will appeal to all archaeologists, from graduate students to seasoned professionals, who want to learn more about the backbone of archaeological dating.

Although consensus exists among researchers that birds evolved from coelurosaurian theropods, paleontologists still debate the identification of the group of coelurosaurians that most closely approaches the common ancestor of birds. The last 20 years witnessed the discovery of a wide array of avian-like theropods that has considerably amplified the anatomical disparity among deinonychosaurians, some of which resemble Archaeopteryx more than Deinonychus. Among these newly discovered theropods that show remarkable bird-like characteristics are the four-winged theropods Microraptor and Anchiornis, and the unenlagiids Unenlagia, Buitreraptor, and Rahonavis. A bizarre group of minute-sized coelurosaurs, the Scansoriopterygidae, also exhibits some avian similarities that lead some authors to interpret them as more closely related to birds than other dinosaurs. With the aim to explore the phylogenetic relationships of these coelurosaurians and birds, we merged recently published integrative databases, resulting in significant changes in the topological distribution of taxa within Paraves. We present evidence that Dromaeosauridae, Microraptoria, Unenlagiidae, and Anchiornis ] Xiaotingia form successive sister taxa of Aves, and that the Scansoriopterygidae are basal coelurosaurians not closely related to birds. The implications in the evolutionary sequence of anatomical characters leading to birds, including the origin of flight, are also considered in light of this new phylogenetic hypothesis.