Vertebrate Skeletal Histology and Paleohistology summarizes decades of research into the biology and biological meaning of hard tissues, in both living and extinct vertebrates. In addition to outlining anatomical diversity, it provides fundamental phylogenetic and evolutionary contexts for interpretation. An international team of leading authorities review the impact of ontogeny, mechanics, and environment in relation to bone and dental tissues. Synthesizing current advances in the biological problems of growth, metabolism, evolution, ecology, and behavior, this comprehensive and authoritative volume is built upon a foundation of concepts and technology generated over the past fifty years.

This book is the most authoritative encyclopedia ever prepared on dinosaurs and dinosaur science. In addition to entries on specific animals such as "Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops," and "Velociraptor," the Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs covers reproduction, behavior, physiology, and extinction. The book is generously illustrated with many detailed drawings and photographs, and includes color pictures and illustrations that feature interpretations of the best known and most important animals. All alphabetical entries are cross-referenced internally, as well as at the end of each entry. The Encyclopedia includes up-to-date references that encourage the reader to investigate personal interests.
Key Features
* The most authoritative encyclopedia ever prepared on dinosaurs
* Includes many detailed drawings, photographs and illustrations in both color and black-and-white
* Contains comprehensively cross-referenced alphabetical entries with internal references, as well as references at the conclusion of each entry
* Provides in-depth references, allowing readers to pursue independent interests
* Includes sixteen plates and 35 color illustrations

The microscopic examination of fossilized bone tissue is a sophisticated and increasingly important analytical tool for understanding the life history of ancient organisms. This book provides an essential primer and manual for using fossil bone histology to investigate the biology of extinct tetrapods. Twelve experts summarize advances in the field over the past three decades, reviewing fundamental basics of bone microanatomy and physiology. Research specimen selection, thin-section preparation, and data analysis are addressed in detail. The authors also outline methods and issues in bone growth rate calculation and chronological age determination, as well as how to examine broader questions of behavior, ecology, and evolution by studying the microstructure of bone.

Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails) is an impassioned argument in favor of science - primarily the theory of evolution - and against creationism. Why impassioned? Should not scientists be dispassionate in their work? 'Perhaps', write the authors, 'but it is impossible to remain neutral when our most successful scientific theories are under attack, for religious and other reasons, by laypeople and even some scientists who willfully distort scientific findings and use them for their own purposes.' Focusing on what other books omit, how science works and how pseudoscience works, Matt Young and Paul K. Strode demonstrate the futility of 'scientific' creationism. They debunk the notion of intelligent design and other arguments that show evolution could not have produced life in its present form. Concluding with a frank discussion of science and religion, ""Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails)"" argues that science by no means excludes religion, though it ought to cast doubt on certain religious claims that are contrary to known scientific fact. A few words from the authors...' We address this book, in part, to those who, for whatever reasons, deny what we consider well-founded scientific facts such as the antiquity of the Earth and the descent of species. At the very least, they carry an obligation to understand precisely what they reject. We also hope to provide parents, teachers, and others with sound arguments they can easily understand and give them ammunition with which to defend modern science.'

The most prominent naturalist in Britain before Charles Darwin, Richard Owen made empirical discoveries and offered theoretical innovations that were crucial to the proof of evolution. Among his many lasting contributions to science was the first clear definition of the term homology--"the same organ in different animals under every variety of form and function." He also graphically demonstrated that all vertebrate species were built on the same skeletal plan and devised the vertebrate archetype as a representation of the simplest common form of all vertebrates.
Just as Darwin's ideas continue to propel the modern study of adaptation, so too will Owen's contributions fuel the new interest in homology, organic form, and evolutionary developmental biology. His theory of the archetype and his views on species origins were first offered to the general public in "On the Nature of Limbs, "published in 1849. It reemerges here in a facsimile edition with introductory essays by prominent historians, philosophers, and practitioners from the modern evo-devo community.

Around 210 million years ago, life on Earth experienced sweeping changes. Many archaic reptiles and mammalian predecessors became extinct and were replaced by dinosaurs, pterosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, mammals, and essentially all of the major modern vertebrate groups except the birds. This period of change, which took place over a period of approximately five to ten million years, ushered in the beginning of the 'Age of Dinosaurs,' a period that lasted 160 million years to the end of the Cretaceous 65 million years ago. In the past decade, paleontologists have come to know a great deal more about this crucial interval of time. New discoveries, ideas, and insights from scientists in many related- disciplines have created new paradigms about the beginning of the 'Age of Dinosaurs.' What were the animals that preceded the dinosaurs like? How did the dinosaurs originate, and what do we know of their early history? Was their ascent tied to evolutionary innovations, global climatic and ecological changes, or just chance factors? How do paleontologists decide about the evidence preserved in the fossil record, and what areas now require major thought and reevaluation? In this book, 31 specialists in the paleontology of this era consider these and other questions related to Late Triassic and Early Jurassic times - the beginning of the 'Age of Dinosaurs,' its fauna, flora, climate, stratigraphic relationships, and major evolutionary changes. The book is divided into sections on background, Late Triassic taxa and faunas, changes across the boundary, Early Jurassic taxa and faunas, and major macroevolutionary patterns. This comprehensive volume is richly illustrated and is intended for students and professionals in the areas of paleontology, evolutionary biology, geology, and vertebrate zoology. Introductory and summary chapters are provided to acquaint the non-specialist with the issues and the setting of this interval of time in which the ancestral components of the modem fauna, as well as the Dinosauria, first appeared to rule the Earth.