Evolutionary Patterns: Growth, Form, and Tempo in the Fossil Record

Book Description

With all the recent advances in molecular and evolutionary biology, one could almost wonder why we need the fossil record. Molecular sequence data can resolve taxonomic relationships, experiments with fruit flies demonstrate evolution and development in real time, and field studies of Galapagos finches have provided the strongest evidence for natural selection ever measured in the wild. What, then, can fossils teach us that living organisms cannot?

Evolutionary Patterns demonstrates the rich variety of clues to evolution that can be gleaned from the fossil record. Chief among these are the major trends and anomalies in species development revealed only by "deep time," such as periodic mass extinctions and species that remain unchanged in form for millions of years. Contributors explore modes of development, the tempo of speciation and extinction, and macroevolutionary patterns and trends. The result is an important contribution to paleobiology and evolutionary biology, and a spirited defense of the fossil record as a crucial tool for understanding evolution and development.

The contributors are Ann F. Budd, Efstathia Bura, Leo W. Buss, Mike Foote, Jörn Geister, Stephen Jay Gould, Eckart Hâkansson, Jean-Georges Harmelin, Lee-Ann C. Hayek, Jeremy B. C. Jackson, Kenneth G. Johnson, Nancy Knowlton, Scott Lidgard, Frank K. McKinney, Daniel W. McShea, Ross H. Nehm, Beth Okamura, John M. Pandolfi, Paul D. Taylor, and Erik Thomsen.

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Disappointed
Very Interesting and enjoyable!

Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems
Paul A. Selden , and John R. Nudds
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0226746410

Book Description

Major advances in our understanding of the history of life on Earth have been achieved through the study of exceptionally well-preserved fossil sites, known scientifically as fossil Lagerstätten. The examination of such sites provides a surprisingly complete picture of the evolution of ecosystems throughout the ages. In Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems, Paul A. Selden and John R. Nudds celebrate these unique and rare preserves of ancient ecosystems with succinct summaries of fourteen of the better-known fossil Lagerstätten—including the Ediacara in South Australia, the Hunsrück Slate in Germany, the Santana and Crato Formations in Brazil, and the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.

Beginning with a general introduction to fossil Lagerstätten, Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems goes on, chapter by chapter, to consider each fossil site, detailing its evolutionary position and significance; a brief history of the locality; its background sedimentology, stratigraphy, and paleoenvironment; its biota and paleoecology; and its commonalities with similar Lagerstätten. Considering deposits both marine and terrestrial, the book covers one fossil site from the Precambrian era, five sites from the Paleozoic era, five sites from the Mesozoic era, and three sites from the Cenozoic era.

Illustrated with hundreds of color photographs and drawings, Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems is a sophisticated yet accessible guide to these critical sites. Containing useful appendixes listing important museums, instructions on how to visit the fossil sites, and additional suggested reading, this book will attract students, academics, and professionals in paleontology, evolution, and the earth and life sciences, as well as dedicated amateurs interested in fossils and geology.

Customer Reviews:

Disappointed.......2006-04-11

I had looked forward to receiving this book but was more than disappointed when it arrived. I have been fascinated with fossils for the last 68 years and own a large number of books on fossils - several on individual "Lagerstatten" sites.

The "Lagerstatten" fossil sites have always been of great interest to me as they preserve such a wonderful and complete window on the past.

I have hunted extensively in one of the sites listed - Pit 11 of Mazon creek were many soft bodied fossil creatures are preserved. I was lucky enough to find one unique specimen that resides in the Field Museum in Chicago.

I have two other books covering several "Lagerstatten" fossil sites and they are both quite interesting. The problem with this book is that there is so little on each site and the pictures are quite quite small. The "Tully Monster" from Pit 11 is unrecognizable unless you had held one of them in your hand and knew what they looked like.

The BIG plus for this book is that they cover several sites that are not listed in my other "Lagerstatten" books and the pictures are in color even though quite small and for that I am also most thankful. Expanding the number and size of pictures and expanding the text describing the material at each site would make this book worth 5 stars. I hope the authors decide to do just that in the future.

Very Interesting and enjoyable!.......2005-09-15

I really enjoyed this book. Well-organized, beautifully illustrated. A great read for anyone who loves paleontology and geology.
Being an amateur, though, I can't but note that a glossary of terms would be very helpful.

Predator-Prey Interactions in the Fossil Record (Topics in Geobiology, Vol. 20) (Topics in Geobiology)

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Predator-Prey Interactions in the Fossil Record (Topics in Geobiology, Vol. 20) (Topics in Geobiology)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0306474891

Book Description

From the Foreword:
"Predator-prey interactions are among the most significant of all organism-organism interactions....It will only be by compiling and evaluating data on predator-prey relations as they are recorded in the fossil record that we can hope to tease apart their role in the tangled web of evolutionary interaction over time. This volume, compiled by a group of expert specialists on the evidence of predator-prey interactions in the fossil record, is a pioneering effort to collate the information now accumulating in this important field. It will be a standard reference on which future study of one of the central dynamics of ecology as seen in the fossil record will be built."
(Richard K. Bambach, Professor Emeritus, Virginia Tech, Associate of the Botanical Museum, Harvard University)

Terrestrial Ecosystems Through Time: Evolutionary Paleoecology of Terrestrial Plants and Animals

Average customer rating:

It's as advertised -- and exhaustive and exhausting

Terrestrial Ecosystems Through Time: Evolutionary Paleoecology of Terrestrial Plants and Animals
Anna K. Behrensmeyer , John D. Damuth , William A. DiMichele , and Richard Potts
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0226041557

Book Description

Breathtaking in scope, this is the first survey of the entire
ecological history of life on land—from the earliest traces
of terrestrial organisms over 400 million years ago to the
beginning of human agriculture. By providing myriad insights
into the unique ecological information contained in the
fossil record, it establishes a new and ambitious basis for
the study of evolutionary paleoecology of land ecosystems.

A joint undertaking of the Evolution of Terrestrial
Ecosystems Consortium at the National Museum of Natural
History, Smithsonian Institution, and twenty-six additional
researchers, this book begins with four chapters that lay out
the theoretical background and methodology of the science of
evolutionary paleoecology. Included are a comprehensive
review of the taphonomy and paleoenvironmental settings of
fossil deposits as well as guidelines for developing
ecological characterizations of extinct organisms and the
communities in which they lived. The remaining three
chapters treat the history of terrestrial ecosystems through
geological time, emphasizing how ecological interactions have
changed, the rate and tempo of ecosystem change, the role of
exogenous "forcing factors" in generating ecological change,
and the effect of ecological factors on the evolution of
biological diversity.

The six principal authors of this volume are all associated
with the Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems program at the
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

Customer Reviews:

It's as advertised -- and exhaustive and exhausting.......2000-06-29

"Ecosystems" is 500+ pages, and could easily be expanded to ten times that. This is the first book I found to discuss all major life-bearing periods from an ecological standpoint.

Book Description

This succinct treatise presents an up-to-date assessment on the nature and evolutionary development of a phylum of extinct marine invertebrates. Conodonts are represented by a diverse array of tiny tooth-like fossils, and are widely used in stratigraphical correlation. They are also vital in
the search for petroleum because the colors of fossils brought up in drill cores indicate potential oil reservoirs. Dr. Sweet, a leading researcher in the field, presents a novel view of the evolutionary history of the Conodonta besides examining their morphology, taxonomy, and paleoecology.

Evolutionary Palaeoecology of the Marine Biosphere

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Evolutionary Palaeoecology of the Marine Biosphere
James W. Valentine
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Evolutionary Paleoecology

ASIN: 0132937204

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Evolutionary Paleoecology

Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0231109954

Book Description

One of the most important questions we can ask about life is "Does ecology matter?" Most biologists and paleontologists are trained to answer "yes," but the exact mechanisms by which ecology matters in the context of patterns that play out over millions of years have never been entirely clear. This book examines these mechanisms and looks at how ancient environments affected evolution, focusing on long-term macroevolutionary changes as seen in the fossil record.

Evolutionary paleoecology is not a new discipline. Beginning with Darwin, researchers have attempted to understand how the environment has affected evolutionary history. But as we learn more about these patterns, the search for a new synthetic view of the evolutionary process that integrates species evolution, ecology, and mass extinctions becomes ever more pressing. The present volume is a benchmark sampler of active research in this ever more active field.

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Terrestrial Ecosystems Through Time: Evolutionary Paleoecology of Terrestrial Plants and Animals
Anna K Behrensmeyer
Manufacturer: The University of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NYHWTA

Large-game hunting, gender-differentiated work organization, and the role of evolutionary ecology in California and Great Basin prehistory: a reply to ... An article from: American Antiquity

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Large-game hunting, gender-differentiated work organization, and the role of evolutionary ecology in California and Great Basin prehistory: a reply to ... An article from: American Antiquity
William R. Hildebrandt , and Kelly R. McGuire
Manufacturer: Society for American Archaeology
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from American Antiquity, published by Society for American Archaeology on October 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1988 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Large-game hunting, gender-differentiated work organization, and the role of evolutionary ecology in California and Great Basin prehistory: a reply to Broughton and Bayham.(Comments)
Author: William R. Hildebrandt
Publication: American Antiquity (Refereed)
Date: October 1, 2003
Publisher: Society for American Archaeology
Volume: 68 Issue: 4 Page: 790(3)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Past and Future Rapid Environmental Changes: The Spatial and Evolutionary Responses of Terrestrial Biota (Nato a S I Series Series I, Global Environmental Change)

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Past and Future Rapid Environmental Changes: The Spatial and Evolutionary Responses of Terrestrial Biota (Nato a S I Series Series I, Global Environmental Change)

Manufacturer: Springer-Verlag Telos
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3540618775

Book Description

Numerous experts including ecologists, geneticists, paleontologists and climatologists, investigate the response of terrestrial organisms to changes in their environment. The volume comprises an introductory and a final chapter by the editors as well as another 35 contributions. These are divided into six sections: 1. past environmental changes - the late-Quaternary; 2. spatial responses to past changes; 3. mechanisms enabling spatial responses; 4. evolutionary responses to past changes; 5. mechanisms enabling evolutionary responses; 6. predicted future environmental changes and simulated responses. The overwhelming and unanimous conclusion of all contributors is that forecasted global environmental changes pose a severe threat to the integrity of ecosystems worldwide and to the survival of at least some species.

Book Description

Die 11. Auflage dieser etablierten Einführung wurde sorgfältig überarbeitet und erweitert. Das Buch vermittelt Studierenden der Chemie im Haupt- und Nebenfach das Verständnis für die Grundprinzipien der organischen Chemie und ermöglicht darüber hinaus auch eine Vertiefung des in der Schule gebotenen Lehrstoffes. Das bewährte Konzept, die Bindungsverhältnisse in organischen Molekülen, ihren räumlichen Bau und die grundlegenden Reaktionstypen getrennt von Nomenklatur und Systematik zu behandeln, wurde beibehalten. Metallorganische Reagenzien, Methoden der asymmetrischen Synthese und die Prinzipien katalytischer Prozesse werden ebenso berücksichtigt wie die wichtigsten Methoden zur Charakterisierung organischer Verbindungen. Eine Übersicht über eine Reihe von Naturstoffklassen vermittelt die Grundlagen zum Verständnis biochemischer Prinzipien. Zahlreiche Übungen vertiefen den Stoff und erleichtern die Selbstkontrolle.

Grundlagen Der Organischen Chemie: 2, Verbesserte Und Erweiterte Auflage

Average customer rating:

For basic informations often to hard.

Grundlagen Der Organischen Chemie: 2, Verbesserte Und Erweiterte Auflage
Joachim Buddrus
Manufacturer: Walter De Gruyter Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Customer Reviews:

For basic informations often to hard........1999-06-17

The first version was more structured. The second one is not only basic informations. For amateurs to hard to understand but for students with chemiestry knowledge a quiet good lituratur.

Grundwissen Chemie. Grundlagen der Anorganischen und Organischen Chemie. (Lernmaterialien)

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Grundwissen Chemie. Grundlagen der Anorganischen und Organischen Chemie. (Lernmaterialien)

Manufacturer: Klett
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 3123375102

Theoretische Grundlagen der Organischen Chemie

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Theoretische Grundlagen der Organischen Chemie
Walter Hückel
Manufacturer: Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft Becker & Erler
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000M75RC2

Grundlagen der Organischen Chemie II. Ein Lehr- und Arbeitsbuch für die Kollegstufe. (Lernmaterialien)

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Grundlagen der Organischen Chemie II. Ein Lehr- und Arbeitsbuch für die Kollegstufe. (Lernmaterialien)
Bernd Löwe , Alexander Riedl , and Michael Schallies
Manufacturer: C. C. Buchner, Bambg.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 3766163183

Theoretische Grundlagen Der Organischen Chemie, Band 1: Sechste Auflage

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Theoretische Grundlagen Der Organischen Chemie, Band 1: Sechste Auflage
Walter Huckel
Manufacturer: Akademische Verlagsgesells Chaft / Geest & Portig K - G
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000L375S6

Product Description

This highly readable book uncovers the mysteries of the physics of elementary particles for a broad audience. From the familiar notions of atoms and molecules to the complex ideas of the grand unification of all the basic forces, this book allows the interested lay public to appreciate the fascinating building blocks of matter that make up our universe. Beginning with a description of the quantum nature of atoms and particles, readers are introduced to the elementary constituents of atomic nuclei: quarks. The book goes on to consider all of the important ideas in particle physics: quantum electrodynamics and quantum chromodynamics, the theory of strong interactions, the gauge theories of the weak and electromagnetic interactions, as well as the problem of mass generation. To conclude the book, the ideas of grand unification are described, and finally, some applications to astrophysics are discussed. Your guide to this exciting world is an author who, together with the originator of the idea of quarks, Murray Gell-Mann, has played an important role in the development of the theory of quantum chromodynamics and the concept of grand unification.

Book Description

Wide Awake in the Pelican State—which mimics the title of Dinty W. Moore's contribution to the collection—brings together twenty-one of the finest modern writers who claim Louisiana as home, having lived all or some part of their lives in the Pelican State. Each author shares the knack of telling a good story, a Louisiana tradition that dates back two hundred years to the tales told by African American griots and the stories swapped among Mississippi river workers on boats, in taverns, and around campfires.

Though united by talent and place, these writers speak with inflections that vary by gender, race, education, religion, and time spent elsewhere. Their stories are also richly diverse, ranging from Ernest Gaines's humorous portrait of black culture in rural Louisiana to Tim Parrish's aching depiction of white working-class family life in Baton Rouge, from Ellen Gilchrist's acerbically funny rendering of wealthy New Orleans bankers to Richard Ford's flinty unfolding of a father-son relationship in the marshy netherworld south of the Crescent City. The pieces span the full swath of Louisiana experience, be it the life of a Vietnamese refugee in Lake Charles or the miraculous appearance of the image of Jesus on a refrigerator in Holly Springs.

In addition to their Louisiana-rooted inspiration and highest regard for craft, the stories in Wide Awake in the Pelican State share a deep humanity. These are stories about people—noble and nefarious, some living high and others down on their luck—as they fathom the tragic depths and comic heights of love, betrayal, family, change, and life writ large.

Contributors to Wide Awake in the Pelican State: John Biguenet, James Lee Burke, Robert Olen Butler, Kelly Cherry, Moira Crone, Albert Belisle Davis, Charles deGravelles, John Dufresne, Richard Ford, Ernest J. Gaines, Louis Gallo, Tim Gautreaux, Norman German, Ellen Gilchrist, Joan Arbour Grant, Shirley Ann Grau, Dinty W. Moore, Tim Parrish, Tom Piazza, Nancy Richard, James Wilcox.

AUTHOR BIO: Ann Brewster Dobie is the editor of Something in Common: Contemporary Louisiana Stories and Uncommonplace: An Anthology of Contemporary Louisiana Poets. For thirteen years she served as director of the National Writing Project of Acadiana and now coordinates the Louisiana Writing Project. She is a professor emerita of English at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Customer Reviews:

nothing better!.......2007-02-07

Not only should everyone in Louisiana read this book, but everyone in the country should!

Strange title; inscrutable cover; GREAT STORIES.......2006-05-18

This is an anthology with a strange title, inscrutable cover, and some of the best stories I've read. Some oldies but goodies (i.e., "The Convict") and many new-to-me stories. Some are surprisingly dark, but of course Louisiana is the land of mojo, Spanish-moss draped trees along black bayous . . . Well worth the read. These are stories to be read and read over again.

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