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This book examines case studies of North American Quaternary
mammalian evolution within the larger domain of modern evolutionary
theory. It presents previously unpublished studies of a variety of
taxa (xenarthrans, rodents, carnivores, ungulates) examined over
several temporal scales, from a few thousand years during the
Holocene to millions of years of late Pliocene and Pleistocene
time. Different organizational levels are represented, from mosaic
population variation, to a synopsis of Quaternary evolution of an
entire order (Rodentia). In addition to specific case histories,
the book includes purely theoretical and methodological
contributions, for example, on the statistical recognition of
stasis in the fossil record, new ways to calculate evolutionary
rates, and the use of digital image analysis in the study of dental
ontogeny. Perhaps the most important aspect of the studies reported
in this book is that they span the time between the "ecological
moment" and "deep time." Modern taxa can be traced back into the
fossil record, and variation among extant taxa can be used as a
control against which variation in the extinct ones can be
understood.
This book examines case studies of North American Quaternary
mammalian evolution within the larger domain of modern evolutionary
theory. It presents previously unpublished studies of a variety of
taxa (xenarthrans, rodents, carnivores, ungulates) examined over
several temporal scales, from a few thousand years during the
Holocene to millions of years of late Pliocene and Pleistocene
time. Different organizational levels are represented, from mosaic
population variation, to a synopsis of Quaternary evolution of an
entire order (Rodentia). In addition to specific case histories,
the book includes purely theoretical and methodological
contributions, for example, on the statistical recognition of
stasis in the fossil record, new ways to calculate evolutionary
rates, and the use of digital image analysis in the study of dental
ontogeny. Perhaps the most important aspect of the studies reported
in this book is that they span the time between the "ecological
moment" and "deep time." Modern taxa can be traced back into the
fossil record, and variation among extant taxa can be used as a
control against which variation in the extinct ones can be
understood.
Missing Links was written, in part, in response to pertinent
questions raised by none other than Charles Darwin and are
continuously asked these days by creationists, individuals who
believe that a deity created life on Earth, and that evolution
played no important role whatsoever. Some of the questions Missing
Links addresses include the following: If specification and
evolution explain the numbers of living things on Earth and their
diversity of form, then where are all the missing links? Why is not
the modern landscape and the fossil record strewn with intermediate
species of all kinds? The book begins with an examination of
missing links, because there is considerable misunderstanding about
the nature of these transitions and what our expectations should be
from the fossil record. After laying this groundwork, the heart of
the book includes two sections: The first is a primer of
evolutionary science and the second provides examples of
transitions at all chronological and geographical scales. In
Missing Links, Section I is a primer of evolutionary science,
particularly as applied to the fossil record, including discussion
of how science is done, continental drift and plate tectonics,
radiometric and relative dating techniques for rocks and fossils,
principles of evolution and speciation, schools of classification,
and the ecological context of evolution. Section II provides
examples of transitions at all chronological and geographical
scales, from ultimate origins of life on Earth to observed changes
in the morphology seen in modern time during the lifetime of the
observer. There are chapters on whales, horses, voles, fish
amphibian and reptile amphibian transitions, the dinosaur-bird
connection, and the Pliocene-Pleistocene history of humans. An
epilogue responds to Darwin's initial, troubled thoughts about
life's risks.
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