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Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy
Par Mark P. Witton. 2013
The most authoritative illustrated book on flying reptiles availableFor 150 million years, the skies didn't belong to birds—they belonged to…
the pterosaurs. These flying reptiles, which include the pterodactyls, shared the world with the nonavian dinosaurs until their extinction 65 million years ago. Some pterosaurs, such as the giant azhdarchids, were the largest flying animals of all time, with wingspans exceeding thirty feet and standing heights comparable to modern giraffes. This richly illustrated book takes an unprecedented look at these astonishing creatures, presenting the latest findings on their anatomy, ecology, and extinction.Pterosaurs features some 200 stunning illustrations, including original paintings by Mark Witton and photos of rarely seen fossils. After decades of mystery, paleontologists have finally begun to understand how pterosaurs are related to other reptiles, how they functioned as living animals, and, despite dwarfing all other flying animals, how they managed to become airborne. Here you can explore the fossil evidence of pterosaur behavior and ecology, learn about the skeletal and soft-tissue anatomy of pterosaurs, and consider the newest theories about their cryptic origins. This one-of-a-kind book covers the discovery history, paleobiogeography, anatomy, and behaviors of more than 130 species of pterosaur, and also discusses their demise at the end of the Mesozoic.The most comprehensive book on pterosaurs ever publishedFeatures some 200 illustrations, including original paintings by the authorCovers every known species and major group of pterosaursDescribes pterosaur anatomy, ecology, behaviors, diversity, and moreEncourages further study with 500 references to primary pterosaur literatureThe Lost Tomb: And Other Real-Life Stories of Bones, Burials, and Murder
Par Douglas Preston. 2023
Douglas Preston, the #1 bestselling author of The Lost City of the Monkey God, presents the jaw-dropping discovery of a…
vast Egyptian tomb containing dozens of sealed burial chambers, as well as recounting tales of pirate treasure, mysterious deaths, archaeological mysteries, and more… What&’s it like to be the first to enter an Egyptian burial chamber that&’s been sealed for thousands of years? Where might a blocked doorway or newly excavated corridor lead? And what might this stupendous tomb reveal about the most powerful pharaoh in Egyptian history? From the jungles of Honduras to macabre archaeological sites in the American Southwest, Douglas Preston's journalistic explorations have taken him across the globe. He broke the story of an extraordinary mass grave of animals killed by the asteroid impact that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, he explored what lay hidden in the booby-trapped Money Pit on Oak Island, and he roamed the haunted hills of Italy in search of the Monster of Florence. When he hasn't been co-authoring bestselling thrillers featuring FBI Agent Pendergast, Preston has been writing about some of the world&’s strangest and most dramatic mysteries.The Lost Tomb brings together an astonishing and compelling collection of true stories about buried treasure, enigmatic murders, lost tombs, bizarre crimes, and other fascinating tales of the past and present.Ammonoid Paleobiology: From Macroevolution To Paleogeography (Topics in Geobiology #44)
Par Christian Klug, Dieter Korn, Kenneth De Baets, Isabelle Kruta, Royal H. Mapes. 2015
This two-volume work is a testament to the abiding interest and human fascination with ammonites. We offer a new model…
to explain the morphogenesis of septa and the shell, we explore their habitats by the content of stable isotopes in their shells, we discuss the origin and later evolution of this important clade, and we deliver hypotheses on its demise. The Ammonoidea produced a great number of species that can be used in biostratigraphy and possibly, this is the macrofossil group, which has been used the most for that purpose. Nevertheless, many aspects of their anatomy, mode of life, development or paleobiogeographic distribution are still poorly known. Themes treated are biostratigraphy, paleoecology, paleoenvironment, paleobiogeography, evolution, phylogeny, and ontogeny. Advances such as an explosion of new information about ammonites, new technologies such as isotopic analysis, tomography and virtual paleontology in general, as well as continuous discovery of new fossil finds have given us the opportunity to present a comprehensive and timely "state of the art" compilation. Moreover, it also points the way for future studies to further enhance our understanding of this endlessly fascinating group of organisms.Evolution: An Evolving Theory
Par Charles Devillers, Jean Chaline. 1993
Is evolution predictible? Taking into account the results of such diverse disciplines of natural sciences as e. g. genetics embryology,…
ecology, palaeontology on the threshold of the coming century, the authors stretch out their ideas for discussing this question. Charles Devillers, biologist, and Jean Chaline, palaeontologist and geologist, developed a new assessment of the historic framework of evolution, based on their longterm experiences in scientific research, also including philosophical aspects to life. They aimed the book at a publicreceptive to problems of the origin and evolution of life and especially of mankind to teachers and scientists of various topics in the sciences of life, Earth and the Universe.Palaeontology of Invertebrates
Par Raymond Enay. 1993
How could life have started on Earth and how did it proceed? After a short discussion on the origin of…
life on Earth and the origin of the major body plans the invertebrates are presented in the order of increasing complexity by the most significant fossil representatives. In each case, the adaptive significance of the respective forms and/or structures which more or less profoundly changed the original body plan is treated in detail. In the closing chapter, some general aspects of invertebrates in evolution and palaeoecology, palaeobiogeography and biochronology are outlined.Paleontology of Vertebrates
Par Jean Chaline. 1990
Paleontology of Vertebrates is an introductory text for students in Earth Sciences. It offers the basic knowledge and describes the…
evolution of vertebrate groups, successfully applying the cladistic approach. The reader will learn how vertebrate paleontology can contribute to solve problems in various fields of geosciences, such as biostratigraphy, paleoenvironmental reconstructions and geophysical modes.A novel, interdisciplinary exploration of the relative contributions of rigidity and flexibility in the adoption, maintenance, and evolution of technical…
traditions.Techniques can either be used in rigid, stereotypical ways or in flexibly adaptive ways, or in some combination of the two. The Evolution of Techniques, edited by Mathieu Charbonneau, addresses the impacts of both flexibility and rigidity on how techniques are used, transformed, and reconstructed, at varying social and temporal scales. The multidisciplinary contributors demonstrate the important role of the varied learning contexts and social configurations involved in the transmission, use, and evolution of techniques. They explore the diversity of cognitive, behavioral, sociocultural, and ecological mechanisms that promote and constrain technical flexibility and rigidity, proposing a deeper picture of the enablers of, and obstacles to, technical transmission and change.In line with the extended evolutionary synthesis, the book proposes a more inclusive and materially grounded conception of technical evolution in terms of promiscuous, dynamic, and multidirectional causal processes. Offering new evidence and novel theoretical perspectives, the contributors deploy a diversity of methods, including ethnographies, field and laboratory experiments, cladistics and phylogenetic tree building, historiography, and philosophical analysis. Examples of the wide range of topics covered include field experiments with potters from five cultures, stability and change in Paleolithic toolmaking, why children lack flexibility when making tools, and cultural techniques in nonhuman animals.The volume&’s three thematic sections are:· Timescales of technical rigidity and flexibility· Rigid copying to flexible reconstruction· Exogenous factors of technical rigidity and flexibilityThe volume closes with a discussion by philosopher Kim Sterelny.ContributorsRita Astuti, Adam Howell Boyette, Blandine Bril, Josep Call, Mathieu Charbonneau, Arianna Curioni, Nicola Cutting, Bert De Munck, György Gergely, Anne-Lise Goujon, Ildikó Király, Catherine Lara, Sébastien Manem, Luke McEllin, Helena Miton, Giulio Ongaro, Sarah Pope-Caldwell, Valentine Roux, Manon Schweinfurth, Dan Sperber, Kim Sterelny, Dietrich Stout, James W. A. Strachan, Sadie TenpasPlains Vizcachas: Biology and Evolution of a Peculiar Neotropical Caviomorph Rodent
Par Luciano Luis Rasia, Claudio Gustavo Barbeito, Francisco Acuña. 2024
The plains vizcacha (Lagostomus maximus) is a remarkable rodent of the Neotropic given several peculiar aspects of its biology, some…
of them quite unique among rodents or even among mammals. This book gathers specialists studying plains vizcachas from very different approaches, including paleontology, systematics, morphology, physiology, development and conservation. It is divided in two Parts, 1) Evolutionary History, and 2) Morphology, Development and Physiology. It will surely be a required reading for any researcher working with caviomorph rodents, mastozoology of the Neotropics or internal anatomy and physiology of mammals.The Invention of Prehistory: Empire, Violence, and Our Obsession with Human Origins
Par Stefanos Geroulanos. 2024
“[A]n incisive and captivating reassessment of prehistory . . . In lucid prose, Geroulanos unspools an enthralling and detailed history…
of the development of modern natural science. It’s a must-read.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “An astute, powerfully rendered history of humanity.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review An eminent historian tells the story of how we came to obsess over the origins of humanity—and how, for three centuries, ideas of prehistory have been used to justify devastating violence against others. Books about the origins of humanity dominate bestseller lists, while national newspapers present breathless accounts of new archaeological findings and speculate about what those findings tell us about our earliest ancestors. We are obsessed with prehistory—and, in this respect, our current era is no different from any other in the last three hundred years. In this coruscating work, acclaimed historian Stefanos Geroulanos demonstrates how claims about the earliest humans not only shaped Western intellectual culture, but gave rise to our modern world. The very idea that there was a human past before recorded history only emerged with the Enlightenment, when European thinkers began to reject faith-based notions of humanity and history in favor of supposedly more empirical ideas about the world. From the “state of nature” and Romantic notions of virtuous German barbarians to theories about Neanderthals, killer apes, and a matriarchal paradise where women ruled, Geroulanos captures the sheer variety and strangeness of the ideas that animated many of the major thinkers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Charles Darwin, and Karl Marx. Yet as Geroulanos shows, such ideas became, for the most part, the ideological foundations of repressive regimes and globe-spanning empires. Deeming other peoples “savages” allowed for guilt-free violence against them; notions of “killer apes” who were our evolutionary predecessors made war seem natural. The emergence of modern science only accelerated the West’s imperialism. The Nazi obsession with race was rooted in archaeological claims about prehistoric IndoGermans; the idea that colonialized peoples could be “bombed back to the Stone Age” was made possible by the technology of flight and the anthropological idea that civilization advanced in stages. As Geroulanos argues, accounts of prehistory tell us more about the moment when they are proposed than about the deep past—and if we hope to start improving our future, we would be better off setting aside the search for how it all started. A necessary, timely, indelible account of how the quest for understanding the origins of humanity became the handmaiden of war and empire, The Invention of Prehistory will forever change how we think about the deep past.The Fossil Detectives: Discovering Prehistoric Britain
Par Douglas Palmer, Hermione Cockburn. 2008
Fossils provide us with a tantalizing glimpse of Britain's prehistoric past and hold the key to unlocking the secrets of…
life's history and evolution. Since the appearance of primitive organisms in Britain more than a billion years ago, oceans, deserts, swamps and vast mountains have come and gone in our corner of western Europe; forests of long-extinct trees, flowers and grasses have covered the land, and dinosaurs and other strange creatures have roamed across it. How do we know? The evidence is all around us - in the rocks and fossils that lie beneath the landscape.In this highly informative and practical book, which accompanies the BBC series, presenter Hermione Cockburn and renowned palaeontologist Douglas Palmer take an in-depth look at the most exciting fossil stories from around the country. When and why were dinosaur fossils first discovered in Britain? How was the biggest fish ever to have swum in the sea unearthed near Peterborough? What do modern medical techniques have to offer fossil hunters?Packed with colour photographs and illustrations, Fossils Detectives is full of surprising facts and features. And for those who want to try their hand at some fossil detecting of their own, the book includes an extensive regional gazetteer of fossil-hunting sites and places to visit, and guidance on identifying your fossil finds.Get ready for some time travel around Britain, with the Fossil Detectives!Taxonomists specializing in different groups once based phylogenetic analysis only on morphological data; molecular data was used more rarely. Although…
molecular systematics is routine today, the use of morphological data continues to be important, especially for phylogenetic placement of many taxa known only from fossils and rare or difficult to collect species. In addition, morphological analyses help identify potential biases in molecular analyses. And finally, scenarios with respect to morphology continue to motivate biologists: the beauty of a cheetah or a baobab does not lie in their DNA sequence, but instead on what they are and do! This book is an up-to-date revision of methods and principles of phylogenetic analysis of morphological data. It is also a general guide for using the computer program TNT in the analysis of such data. The book covers the main aspects of phylogenetic analysis and general methods to compare classifications derived from molecules and morphology. The basic aspects of molecular analysis are covered only as needed to highlight the differences with methods and assumptions for analysis of morphological datasets.History of Cenozoic Mammals from South America: A New Model (Springer Earth System Sciences)
Par Federico Agnolin. 2024
The Cenozoic history of South America faunas mainly rests on the evidence yielded by the study of fossil mammals. Following…
the seminal work of William D. Matthew, George G. Simpson established the slogan “Splendid Isolation” for describing the evolutionary history of South American faunas. He envisaged South America (as well as other Southern Hemisphere landmasses) as dead ends in the evolution and geographical expansion of animals and plants that since the Mesozoic come in successive migratory waves from the North.More than 40 years passed away from the last important contribution by Simpson (1980). Since then, in spite to the exponential increase in biological, paleontological and geological knowledge, and an incredibly new number of fossils, his scheme remained almost unpolluted and most recent books regarding the palaeobiogeography of South American vertebrates follow this paradigm nearly without criticism.However, the factthat South America was joined to Africa, Australia, Antarctica and India during most of the Cretaceous, and that it was still connected Australia (via Antarctica) and probably Africa up to the Paleogene, together with the large number of shared biotic components between these landmasses, point in favor of a different paleobiogeographical scenario.The book aims to demonstrate that during the Paleogene (and most of the Neogene) the nature and evolutionary history of South American vertebrates is by far much more intricate than previously envisaged. As will be shown, new evidence suggests that southern landmasses may have played an important role in the early evolution and radiation of extant mammal clades. This book is not written to conform with the ideal of a technical manual or a review, and is not carried forward to collect all that has been said before. The main goals are to criticize the current Palaeobiogeographic Model of Vertebrate Settlement of South America, and to propose a new vision based on the evidence provided by the natural world in the last decades.Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe
Par Lisa Randall. 2015
In this brilliant exploration of our cosmic environment, the renowned particle physicist and New York Times bestselling author of Warped…
Passages and Knocking on Heaven’s Door uses her research into dark matter to illuminate the startling connections between the furthest reaches of space and life here on Earth.Sixty-six million years ago, an object the size of a city descended from space to crash into Earth, creating a devastating cataclysm that killed off the dinosaurs, along with three-quarters of the other species on the planet. What was its origin? In Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs, Lisa Randall proposes it was a comet that was dislodged from its orbit as the Solar System passed through a disk of dark matter embedded in the Milky Way. In a sense, it might have been dark matter that killed the dinosaurs.Working through the background and consequences of this proposal, Randall shares with us the latest findings—established and speculative—regarding the nature and role of dark matter and the origin of the Universe, our galaxy, our Solar System, and life, along with the process by which scientists explore new concepts. In Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs, Randall tells a breathtaking story that weaves together the cosmos’ history and our own, illuminating the deep relationships that are critical to our world and the astonishing beauty inherent in the most familiar things.Australian Caves and Karst Systems (Cave and Karst Systems of the World)
Par John Webb, Susan White, Garry K. Smith. 2023
This book, part of the series Cave and Karst Systems of the World, begins with a review of the interaction…
between people and caves in Australia (including conservation), followed by descriptions of the spectacular cave diving sites, before comprehensively covering all the major carbonate and noncarbonate karst areas, subdivided by rock type and region, and including the origin of the caves. This is followed by broad overviews of cave minerals and speleothems, cave biology and cave fossils. Each section was written by one or more specialists in the topic and is illustrated by clear diagrams and superb colour photos. The book emphasises the unique aspects of the Australian karst, including the variability in the age of the caves (very old to very young) and the impact of isolation on the stygofauna, as well as the vertebrate fossils preserved in the caves. Written in an easy-to-read style, the book is a primary reference guide to Australian karst and represents a valuable asset for anyone interested in the topic, not only cavers and academics.Time Traveler: In Search of Dinosaurs and Other Fossils from Montana to Mongolia
Par Michael Novacek. 2003
Hunting for fossils with a preeminent guide and teacherMichael Novacek, a world-renowned paleontologist who has discovered important fossils on virtually…
every continent, is an authority on patterns of evolution and on the relationships among extinct and extant organisms. Time Traveler is his captivating account of how his boyhood enthusiasm for dinosaurs became a lifelong commitment to vanguard science. He takes us with him as he discovers fossils in his own backyard in Los Angeles, then goes looking for them in the high Andes, the black volcanic mountains of Yemen, and the incredibly rich fossil badlands of the Gobi desert.Wherever Novacek goes he searches for still undiscovered evidence of what life was like on Earth millions of years ago. Along the way he has almost drowned, been stung by deadly scorpions, been held at gunpoint by a renegade army, and nearly choked in raging dust storms. Fieldwork is very demanding in a host of unusual, dramatic, sometimes hilarious ways, and Novacek writes of its alluring perils with affection and discernment. But Time Traveler also makes sense of many complex themes - about dinosaur evolution, continental drift, mass extinctions, new methods for understanding ancient environments, and the evolutionary secrets of DNA in fossil organisms. It is also an enthralling adventure story.Dinosaur Tracks of Mesozoic Basins in Brazil: Impact of Paleoenvironmental and Paleoclimatic Changes
Par Ismar de Souza Carvalho, Giuseppe Leonardi. 2024
This book presents the diversity of Dinosaur tracks found in Mesozoic basins in Brazil and brings it in a paleoenvironmental…
context. Each chapter includes information about the geology of the site, the distribution of the footprints, their diversity as well as a paleontological interpretation. The book provides information about the paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic aspects of the Mesozoic. All chapters contain a geological map, images of the footprints and dinosaur tracks and a reconstruction of the environment in which the tracks were found. The book is aimed at geoscientists and paleontologists, including researchers which focus on evolution subjects.