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.

Rereading the Fossil Record presents the first-ever historical account of the origin, rise, and importance of paleobiology, from the mid-nineteenth century to the late 1980s. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, David Sepkoski shows how the movement was conceived and promoted by a small but influential group of paleontologists and examines the intellectual, disciplinary, and political dynamics involved in the ascendency of paleobiology. By tracing the role of computer technology, large databases, and quantitative analytical methods in the emergence of paleobiology, this book also offers insight into the growing prominence and centrality of data-driven approaches in recent science.

This 2-volume set provides a state-of-the-art study of the fossil record and taxonomy of the main vertebrate groups from Greece. Greece stands between 3 continents and its vertebrate fossil record is of great importance for paleontological and evolutionary studies in Europe, Asia and Africa. Fossils from classic, world-famous localities (e.g., Pikermi, Samos) form an essential part of the collections of the most important museums in the world and have been studied by numerous scientists. Recent paleontological research led to the discovery and study of numerous new sites. The volumes contain a taxonomic review of all named and identified taxa, their taxonomic history and current status, as well as historical, phylogenetic and biogeographic information. Volume 1 contains a synopsis of the fossil record and taxonomy of important groups of vertebrates represented in the fossil record of Greece. The volume deals with some of the early splitting clades, including the basal and enigmatic conodonts and basal tetrapods like fishes, amphibians, and reptiles like lizards, snakes, crocodiles, turtles and tortoises. The second part of the volume deals with basal mammalian clades, some of which are quite characteristic for the fossil record of the country: aardwarks, hyraxes, proboscideans, elephants and mammoths, sea cows, rodents, and lagomorphs. The volume ends with special chapters on the primate fossil record of the country, including some of our most recent and distant relatives.

This detailed exposition gives background and context to how modern biogeography has got to where it is now. For biogeographers and other researchers interested in biodiversity and the evolution of life on islands, Biogeology: Evolution in a Changing Landscape provides an overview of a large swathe of the globe encompassing Wallacea and the western Pacific. The book contains the full text of the original article explored in each chapter, presented as it appeared on publication. Key features: Holistic treatment, collecting together a series of important biogeographical papers into a single volume Authored by an expert who has spent nearly three decades actively involved in biogeography Describes and interprets a region of exceptional biodiversity and extreme endemism The only book to provide an integrated treatment of Wallacea, Melanesia, New Zealand, the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands and Antarctica Offers a critique of fashionable neo-dispersalist arguments, showing how these still suffer from the same weaknesses of the original Darwinian formulation. The chapters also include analysis of many major theoretical and philosophical issues of modern biogeographic theory, so that those interested in a more philosophical approach will find the book stimulating and thought-provoking.

Showcases the work of twenty leading paleoartists who expertly bring these extinct animals to life in exquisite detail. Dinosaurs are endlessly fascinating to people of every age, from the youngest child who enjoys learning the tongue-twisting names to adults who grew up with Jurassic Park and Walking with Dinosaurs. As our knowledge of the prehistoric world continues to evolve and grow, so has the discipline of bringing these ancient worlds to life artistically. Paleoart puts flesh on the bones of long-extinct organisms, and illustrates the world they lived in. Mesozoic Art presents twenty of the best artists working in this field, representing a broad spectrum of disciplines, from traditional painting to cutting-edge digital technology. Some provide the artwork for new scientific papers that demand high-end paleoart as part of their presentation to the world at large; they also work for the likes of National Geographic and provide art to museums around the world to illustrate their displays. Other artists are the new rising stars of paleoart in an ever-growing, ever-diversifying field. Arranged by portfolio, this book brings this dramatic art to a wide, contemporary audience. The art is accompanied by text on the animals and their lives, written by palaeontologist Darren Naish. Paleoart is dynamic, fluid and colourful, as were the beasts it portrays, which are displayed in this magnificent book.

The fascinating story of how a harsh terrain that resembled modern Antarctica has been transformed gradually into the forests, grasslands, and wetlands we know today. One of the best scientific books published in the last ten years.--Ottowa Journal A valuable new synthesis of facts and ideas about climate, geography, and life during the past 20,000 years. More important, the book conveys an intimate appreciation of the rich variety of nature through time.--S. David Webb, Science

The book provides the first comprehensive and thematic treatment of micropalaeontology and its applications in petroleum exploration. The first part deals with pure micropalaeontology, and the second part with the principles and practices of applied micropalaeontology and sequence stratigraphy. Case histories of applications in a range of geographic, geologic, and stratigraphic settings are given.

The echinoderms are an ideal group to understand evolution from a holistic, interdisciplinary framework. The genetic regulatory networks underpinning development in echinoderms are some of the best known for any model group. Additionally, the echinoderms have an excellent fossil record, elucidating in in detail the evolutionary changes underpinning morphological evolution. In this Element, the echinoderms are discussed as a model group for molecular palaeobiological studies, integrating what is known of their development, genomes, and fossil record. Together, these insights shed light on the molecular and morphological evolution underpinning the vast biodiversity of echinoderms, and the animal kingdom more generally.

This 2-volume set provides a state-of-the-art study of the fossil record and taxonomy of the main vertebrate groups from Greece. Greece stands between 3 continents and its vertebrate fossil record is of great importance for paleontological and evolutionary studies in Europe, Asia and Africa. Fossils from classic, world-famous localities (e.g., Pikermi, Samos) form an essential part of the collections of the most important museums in the world and have been studied by numerous scientists. Recent paleontological research led to the discovery and study of numerous new sites. The volumes contain a taxonomic review of all named and identified taxa, their taxonomic history and current status, as well as historical, phylogenetic and biogeographic information. Volume 2 contains a synopsis of the fossil record and taxonomy of important groups of mammals represented in the fossil record of Greece. The volume starts with specific chapters on laurasiatherians like insectivores and bats, moving on to the main part of the book that deals with three of the most important fossil groups in the country. The fossil record of even-toed animals is summarized with chapters on bovids, cervids, suoids, anthracotheres, hippos, giraffes, and tragulids. The fossil record of odd-toed animals is presented with special chapters on horses, tapirs, rhinos, and chalicotheres. The last part of this volume deals with meat-eating, carnivoran groups, like felids, viverrids, hyaenas, canids, bears, ailurids, mephitids and mustelids. The volume ends with a special chapter on insular endemic mammals from the various islands of Greece.

A classic in its field, "Human Osteology "has been used by students and professionals through nearly two decades. Now revised and updated for a third edition, the book continues to build on its foundation of detailed photographs and practical real-world application of science. New information, expanded coverage of existing chapters, and additional supportive photographs keep this book current and valuable for both classroom and field work.
Osteologists, archaeologists, anatomists, forensic scientists and paleontologists will all find practical information on accurately identifying, recovering, and analyzing and reporting on human skeletal remains and on making correct deductions from those remains.
KEY FEATURES:
* From the world renowned and bestselling team of osteologist Tim D. White, Michael T. Black and photographer Pieter A. Folkens
* Includes hundreds of exceptional photographs in exquisite detail showing the maximum amount of anatomical information
* Features updated and expanded coverage including forensic damage to bone and updated case study examples
* Presents life sized images of skeletal parts for ease of study and reference

A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org. The Scarcity Slot is the first book to critically examine food security in Africa's deep past. Amanda L. Logan argues that African foodways have been viewed through the lens of 'the scarcity slot,' a kind of Othering based on presumed differences in resources. Weaving together archaeological, historical, and environmental data with food ethnography, she advances a new approach to building long-term histories of food security on the continent in order to combat these stereotypes. Focusing on a case study in Banda, Ghana that spans the past six centuries, The Scarcity Slot reveals that people thrived during a severe, centuries-long drought just as Europeans arrived on the coast, with a major decline in food security emerging only recently. This narrative radically challenges how we think about African foodways in the past with major implications for the future.

A detailed study of the jaw elements of Polychaete worms Silurian Paulinitid Polychaetes from Gotland is Number 25 in the Fossils and Strata series of monographs and memoirs in palaeontology and biostratigraphy. The author studied the preserved jaw elements of the Paulinitidae family of Polychaetes. Examined materials were from the Silurian sections on the Island of Gotland, Sweden. The study was based on specimens taken from over 700 samples. This study documentation, along with others in the Fossils and Strata series, features taxonomic descriptions.

The paleoecological history of the Americas is as complex as the region is broad: stretching from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego, the New World features some of the most extraordinary vegetation on the planet. But until now it has lacked a complete natural history. Alan Graham remedies that with "A Natural History of the New World." With plants as his scientific muse, Graham traces the evolution of ecosystems, beginning in the Late Cretaceous period (about 100 million years ago) and ending in the present, charting their responses to changes in geology and climate. By highlighting plant communities' roles in the environmental history of the Americas, Graham offers an overdue balance to natural histories that focus exclusively on animals. Plants are important in evolution's splendid drama. Not only are they conspicuous and conveniently stationary components of the Earth's ecosystems, but their extensive fossil record allows for a thorough reconstruction of the planet's paleoenvironments. What's more, plants provide oxygen, function as food and fuel, and provide habitat and shelter; in short, theirs is a history that can speak to many other areas of evolution. "A Natural History of the New World "is an ambitious and unprecedented synthesis written by one of the world's leading scholars of botany and geology.

Reefs are an extraordinary natural phenomenon. Visible from outer space, coral reefs are the largest biologically constructed features known; in close proximity their spectacular beauty and abundance of life is dazzling. This text documents those biological innovations which have moulded the evolution of reef ecosystems and given rise to the highly complex reef communities found today. The appearance of clonality, the acquisition of photosymbiosis and the radiation of predator groups are all discussed in depth. Data from the fossil record documents the evolutionary development of reef ecosystems. This interdisciplinary approach has the aim of providing an analytical text which will be of value not only to advanced undergraduates and postgraduate courses, but also to researchers in ancient reef ecology.

The book interprets evidence from biology and from geology in order to describe and interpret how fossils are used in understanding biological evolution. It reviews the main ideas and research areas in contemporary palaeobiology.

This book provides an important reference guide to pollen and spore identification for Chinese Quaternary palynological studies. Presenting and describing more than 400 color photomicrographs of pollen grains and spores retrieved from sediments in China, it offers a unique asset for researchers, graduate students, and newcomers to the field of Quaternary palynology, which constitutes a major aspect of Quaternary paleoecology, paleoclimatology, and paleogeography.

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.

The hardback edition of this was the first book on insect flight since J W S Pringle's classic Insect Flight was published in 1957. Much has been written since on applied and ecological aspects of flight, but the question of the origin of wings and flight, their structural concomitants, and the related aerodynamical issues have been confined largely to armchair speculation in a scattered literature. This book is written by a leading authority on insect flight, and for the first time draws a coherent, empirically based picture of how insect flight may have evolved. Following excellent reviews the book is now being made available in paperback.

This book presents a major summary of what is currently known about North American amphibians and fossils in the Pleistocene. The only book available on the subject, it includes a general treatment of the Pleistocene and its effects on the physical and biological world, and features an illustrated bestiary of the herpetological families and genera as well as a discussion of the identification of fossils. The changes in the North American herpetofauna from the Cretaceous to the Pleistocene are cogently summarized, and complete herpetofaunal lists from the seven designated Pleistocene regions of North America are included. The concluding chapter details range adjustments and extinction patterns, and contrasts the evolutionary "stasis" of the herpetofauna with the avian and mammalian fauna. The work will be considered an essential reference for paleontologists.

This book simulates a historical walk through nature, teaching readers about the biodiversity on Earth in various eras with a focus on past terrestrial environments. Geared towards a student audience, using simple terms and avoiding long complex explanations, the book discusses the plants and animals that lived on land, the evolution of natural systems, and how these biological systems changed over time in geological and paleontological contexts. With easy-to-understand and scientifically accurate and up-to-date information, readers will be guided through major biological events from the Earth's past. The topics in the book represent a broad paleoenvironmental spectrum of interests and educational modules, allowing for virtual visits to rich geological times. Eras and events that are discussed include, but are not limited to, the much varied Quaternary environments, the evolution of plants and animals during the Cenozoic, the rise of angiosperms, vertebrate evolution and ecosystems in the Mesozoic, the Permian mass extinction, the late Paleozoic glaciation, and the origin of the first trees and land plants in the Devonian-Ordovician. With state-of-the art expert scientific instruction on these topics and up-to-date and scientifically accurate illustrations, this book can serve as an international course for students, teachers, and other interested individuals.

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.

With their spectacularly enlarged canines, sabertooth cats are among the most popular of prehistoric animals, yet it is surprising how little information about them is available for the curious layperson. What's more, there were other sabertooths that were not cats, animals with exotic names like nimravids, barbourofelids, and thylacosmilids. Some were no taller than a domestic cat, others were larger than a lion, and some were as weird as their names suggest. Sabertooths continue to pose questions even for specialists. What did they look like? How did they use their spectacular canine teeth? And why did they finally go extinct? In this visual and intellectual treat of a book, Mauricio Anton tells their story in words and pictures, all scrupulously based on the latest scientific research. The book is a glorious wedding of science and art that celebrates the remarkable diversity of the life of the not-so-distant past. -- Indiana University Press

Picture a world of dog-sized scorpions and millipedes as long as a car; tropical rainforests with trees towering over 150 feet into the sky and a giant polar continent five times larger than Antarctica. That world was not imaginary; it was the earth more than 300 million years ago in the Carboniferous period of the Paleozoic era. In Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction, George R. McGhee Jr. explores that ancient world, explaining its origins; its downfall in the end-Permian mass extinction, the greatest biodiversity crisis to occur since the evolution of animal life on Earth; and how its legacies still affect us today. McGhee investigates the consequences of the Late Paleozoic ice age in this comprehensive portrait of the effects of ancient climate change on global ecology. Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction examines the climatic conditions that allowed for the evolution of gigantic animals and the formation of the largest tropical rainforests ever to exist, which in time turned into the coal that made the industrial revolution possible-and fuels the engine of contemporary anthropogenic climate change. Exploring the strange and fascinating flora and fauna of the Late Paleozoic ice age world, McGhee focuses his analysis on the forces that brought this world to an abrupt and violent end. Synthesizing decades of research and new discoveries, this comprehensive book provides a wealth of insights into past and present extinction events and climate change.