Bringing Fossils to Life

Bringing Fossils to Life

An Introduction to Paleobiology

  • Author: Prothero, Donald R.
  • Publisher: Columbia University Press
  • ISBN: 9780231158923
  • eISBN Pdf: 9780231536905
  • Place of publication:  New York , United States
  • Year of digital publication: 2013
  • Month: November
  • Language: English
One of the leading textbooks in its field, Bringing Fossils to Life applies paleobiological principles to the fossil record while detailing the evolutionary history of major plant and animal phyla. It incorporates current research from biology, ecology, and population genetics, bridging the gap between purely theoretical paleobiological textbooks and those that describe only invertebrate paleobiology and that emphasize cataloguing live organisms instead of dead objects. For this third edition Donald R. Prothero has revised the art and research throughout, expanding the coverage of invertebrates and adding a discussion of new methodologies and a chapter on the origin and early evolution of life.
  • Table of Contents
  • Preface
  • To the Student: Why Study Fossils?
  • PART I: THE FOSSIL RECORD
  • 1. The Fossil Record
    • What Is a Fossil?
    • How Does an Organism Become a Fossil?
    • What Factors Affect the Fossilization Potential of an Organism?
    • What Factors Are Required for Extraordinary Preservation?
    • How Good Is the Fossil Record?
    • Conclusions
  • 2. Variation in Fossils
    • Theme: Variation
    • How Do Organisms Vary During Their Lifespans?
    • How Do Populations of Organisms Vary?
    • Conclusions
  • 3. Species and Speciation
    • What Is a Species?
    • The Species Problem in Paleontology
    • Conclusions
  • 4. Systematics
    • Why Systematics?
    • Evolution and Classification
    • Competing Systematic Philosophies
    • Molecular Systematics
    • Codes of Systematic Nomenclature
    • Conclusions
  • 5. Evolution
    • The Evolution of Evolution
    • The "Evolutionary Synthesis"
    • Challenges to the Neo-Darwinian Synthesis
    • Evolution and the Fossil Record
    • Conclusions
  • 6. Extinction
    • The Fact of Extinction
    • The Causes of Extinction: Bad Genes or Bad Luck?
    • Background Extinctions, the Red Queen and the Court Jester
    • The Major Mass Extinctions
    • Is There a Common Cause?
    • Conclusions
  • 7. Functional Morphology
    • Form and Function
    • Theoretical Morphology
    • Functional Hypotheses as Testable Science
    • Case Studies in Functional Morphology
    • Conclusions
  • 8. Paleoecology
    • Ecology and Paleoecology
    • Ecological Relationships
    • Environmental Limiting Factors
    • Direct Paleoecological Evidence
    • Some Ecological Ideas That Have Been Applied (and Misapplied) to Fossils
    • Evolutionary Paleoecology
    • Conclusions
  • 9. Biogeography
    • Organisms In Space and Time
    • Ecological Biogeography
    • Historical Biogeography
    • Conclusions
  • 10. Biostratigraphy
    • Faunal Succession
    • Biostratigraphic Zonations
    • Factors Controlling Fossil Distributions
    • Biostratigraphic Sampling
    • The Time Significance of Biostratigraphic Events
    • Northamerican Land Mammal "Ages" and Biochronology
    • Quantitative Biostratigraphy
    • Resolution, Precision, and Accuracy
    • Index Fossils and th Biostratigraphic Standard
    • Conclusions
  • PART II: LIFE OF THE PAST AND PRESENT
  • 11. Life's Origins and Early Evolution
    • Concocting the "Primordial Soup"
    • Mud and Mosh Pits, Kittly Litter, and Fool's Gold
    • Life Is a Commune
    • The Earliest Fossils
    • Cambrian "Explosion" - Or "Slow Fuse"?
    • Why Did Life Change So Slowly Before the Cambrian?
    • Rocks, Hox, and Molecular Clocks
  • 12. Micropaleontology: Fossil Protistans
    • Introduction
    • The Kingdoms of Life
    • Foraminifera
    • Radiolaria
    • Diatoms
    • Coccolithopores
  • 13. Colonial Life: Sponges, Archaeocyathans, and Cnidarians
    • Introduction
    • Sponges
    • Archaeocyathans
    • Cnidarians
  • 14. The "Lophophorates" : Brachiopods and Byozoans
    • Introduction
    • Brachiopods
    • Bryozoans
  • 15. Jointed Limbs: The Arthropods
    • Introduction
    • Systematics
    • Trilobitomorpha
    • Chelicerata
    • Crustacea
    • Myriapoda and Insecta
  • 16. Kingdom of the Seashell: The Molluscs
    • Introduction
    • Systematics
    • Mollusc Origins and Diversification
    • Gastropods
    • Bivalves
    • Cephalopods
  • 17. Spiny Skins: The Echinoderms
    • Introduction
    • Systematics
    • Crinoids
    • Echinoids
  • 18. Dry Bones: Vertebrates and Their Relatives
    • Introduction
    • The Road to Amphioxus
    • Getting a Head: The Craniates
    • Jaws: The Gnathostomes
    • FIsh Bones: The Osteichthyans
    • Lobe-Fins: The Sarcopterygians
    • Four on the Floor: The Tetrapods
    • Land Eggs; The Amniotes
    • Feathered Dinosaurs: The Birds
    • Furry Folk: Synapsids and Mammals
  • 19. Fossilized Behavior: Trace Fossils
    • Introduction
    • Preservation
    • Classification
    • Ichnofacies
    • Ichnofabric
    • Trace Fossils Through Time
  • 20. Traces of the Earth's Green Mantle: Paleobotany
    • Introduction
    • Plant Taphonomy
    • The First Photosynthetic Organisms
    • The Plant Kindom
    • Vascular Plants
    • Tracheophytes
    • Naked Seeds: The Gymnosperms
    • Flower Power: The Angiosperm Revolution
    • Floras Through Time
  • Glossary
  • Bibliography
  • index

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