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Books > Earth & environment > Earth sciences > Palaeontology > General
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North American Index Fossils
- Conularida, Pteropoda, Cephalopoda, Annelida, Trilobita, Phyllopoda, Ostracoda, Cirripedia, Malacostraca, Merostomata, Arachnida, Myriopoda, Insecta, Cystoidea, Blastoidea, Crinoidea, Ophiuroidea, Asteroidea, Echinoidea and A
(Paperback)
Hervey Woodburn Shimer, Amadeus William Grabau
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R1,097
Discovery Miles 10 970
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Ships in 18 - 22 working days
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How fast is evolution, and why does it matter? The rate of
evolution, and whether it is gradual or punctuated, is a hotly
debated topic among biologists and paleontologists. This book
compiles and compares examples of evolution from laboratory, field,
and fossil record studies, analyzing them to extract their
underlying rates. It concludes that while change is slow when
averaged over many generations, on a generation-to-generation time
scale, evolution is rapid. Chapters cover the history of
evolutionary studies, from Lamarck and Darwin in the nineteenth
century to the present day. An overview of the statistics of
variation, dynamics of random walks, processes of natural selection
and random drift, and effects of scale and time averaging are also
provided, along with methods for the analysis of evolutionary time
series. Containing case studies and worked examples, this book is
ideal for advanced students and researchers in paleontology,
biology, and anthropology.
Notwithstanding the importance of modern technology, fieldwork
remains vital, not least through helping to inspire and educate the
next generation. Fieldwork has the ingredients of intellectual
curiosity, passion, rigour and engagement with the outdoor world -
to name just a few. You may be simply noting what you see around
you, making detailed records, or carrying out an experiment; all of
this and much more amounts to fieldwork. Being curious, you think
about the world around you, and through patient observation develop
and test ideas. Forty contributors capture the excitement and
importance of fieldwork through a wide variety of examples, from
urban graffiti to the Great Barrier Reef. Outdoor learning is for
life: people have the greatest respect and care for their world
when they have first-hand experience of it. The Editors are
donating all royalties due to them to the environmental charity,
The Field Studies Council, to support student fieldwork at the
Council's field centres.
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