Patterns of evolution, as illustrated by the fossil record

Patterns of evolution, as illustrated by the fossil record PDF Author:
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080868460
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 607

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Book Description
Patterns of evolution, as illustrated by the fossil record

Patterns of evolution, as illustrated by the fossil record

Patterns of evolution, as illustrated by the fossil record PDF Author:
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080868460
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 607

Get Book Here

Book Description
Patterns of evolution, as illustrated by the fossil record

Evolutionary Patterns

Evolutionary Patterns PDF Author: Alan H. Cheetham
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226389316
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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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.

Systematics and the Fossil Record

Systematics and the Fossil Record PDF Author: Andrew B. Smith
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444313908
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
This new text sets out to establish the key role played by systematics in deciphering patterns of evolution from the fossil record. It begins by considering the nature of the species in the fossil record and then outlines recent advances in the methodology used to establish phylogenetics relationships, stressing why fossil evidence can be crucial. The way species are grouped into higher taxa, and how this affects their utility in evolutionary studies is also discussed. Because the fossil record abounds with sampling and preservational biases, the book emphasizes that observed patterns can rarely be taken at face value. It is argued that evolutionary trees, constructed from combining phylogenetic and biostratigraphic data, provide the best approach for investigating patterns of evolution through geologic time. The only integrated text covering the study of evolutionary patterns from a phylogenetic stance.

Patterns and Processes of Vertebrate Evolution

Patterns and Processes of Vertebrate Evolution PDF Author: Robert Lynn Carroll
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521478090
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 442

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Book Description
The factors that influenced the evolution of the vertebrates are compared with the importance of variation and selection that Darwin emphasised in this broad study of the patterns and forces of evolutionary change.

Rereading the Fossil Record

Rereading the Fossil Record PDF Author: David Sepkoski
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022627294X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 441

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Book Description
Rereading the Fossil Record presents the first-ever historical account of the origin, rise, and importance of paleobiology, from the mid-nineteenth century to the late 1980s. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, David Sepkoski shows how the movement was conceived and promoted by a small but influential group of paleontologists and examines the intellectual, disciplinary, and political dynamics involved in the ascendency of paleobiology. By tracing the role of computer technology, large databases, and quantitative analytical methods in the emergence of paleobiology, this book also offers insight into the growing prominence and centrality of data-driven approaches in recent science.

Prehistoric Life

Prehistoric Life PDF Author: Bruce S. Lieberman
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444334085
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 405

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Book Description
Prehistoric life is the archive of evolution preserved in the fossil record. This book focuses on the meaning and significance of that archive and is designed for introductory college science students, including non-science majors, enrolled in survey courses emphasizing paleontology, geology and biology. From the origins of animals to the evolution of rap music, from ancient mass extinctions to the current biodiversity crisis, and from the Snowball Earth to present day climate change this book covers it, with an eye towards showing how past life on Earth puts the modern world into its proper context. The history of life and the patterns and processes of evolution are especially emphasized, as are the interconnections between our planet, its climate system, and its varied life forms. The book does not just describe the history of life, but uses actual examples from life’s history to illustrate important concepts and theories.

Phanerozoic Diversity Patterns

Phanerozoic Diversity Patterns PDF Author: J. Valentine
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400855055
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 453

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Book Description
Here twenty-one leading paleontologists use important refinements in fossil diversity data to provide critical evaluations of older hypotheses of diversification and extinction processes and to propose fresh interpretations. Originally published in 1986. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Patterns and Processes in the History of Life

Patterns and Processes in the History of Life PDF Author: D.M. Raup
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642708315
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 448

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Book Description
Hypothesis testing is not a straightforward matter in the fossil record and here, too interactions with biology can be extremely profitable. Quite simply, predictions regarding long-term consequences of processes observed in liv ing organisms can be tested directly using paleontological data if those liv ing organisms have an adequate fossil record, thus avoiding the pitfalls of extrapolative approaches. We hope to see a burgeoning of this interactive effort in the coming years. Framing and testing of hypotheses in paleon tological subjects inevitably raises the problem of inferring process from pattern, and the consideration and elimination of a broad range of rival hy is an essential procedure here. In a historical science such as potheses paleontology, the problem often arises that the events that are of most in terest are unique in the history of life. For example, replication of the metazoan radiation at the beginning of the Cambrian is not feasible. How ever, decomposition of such problems into component hypotheses may at least in part alleviate this difficulty. For example, hypotheses built upon the role of species packing might be tested by comparing evolutionary dy namics (both morphological and taxonomic) during another global diversi fication, such as the biotic rebound from the end-Permian extinction, which removed perhaps 95% of the marine species (see Valentine, this volume). The subject of extinction, and mass extinction in particular, has become important in both paleobiology and biology.

Handbook of Paleoanthropology

Handbook of Paleoanthropology PDF Author: Winfried Henke
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540324747
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 2057

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Book Description
This 3-volume handbook brings together contributions by the world ́s leading specialists that reflect the broad spectrum of modern palaeoanthropology, thus presenting an indispensable resource for professionals and students alike. Vol. 1 reviews principles, methods, and approaches, recounting recent advances and state-of-the-art knowledge in phylogenetic analysis, palaeoecology and evolutionary theory and philosophy. Vol. 2 examines primate origins, evolution, behaviour, and adaptive variety, emphasizing integration of fossil data with contemporary knowledge of the behaviour and ecology of living primates in natural environments. Vol. 3 deals with fossil and molecular evidence for the evolution of Homo sapiens and its fossil relatives.

The Structure of Evolutionary Theory

The Structure of Evolutionary Theory PDF Author: Stephen Jay Gould
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674417925
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1460

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Book Description
The world’s most revered and eloquent interpreter of evolutionary ideas offers here a work of explanatory force unprecedented in our time—a landmark publication, both for its historical sweep and for its scientific vision. With characteristic attention to detail, Stephen Jay Gould first describes the content and discusses the history and origins of the three core commitments of classical Darwinism: that natural selection works on organisms, not genes or species; that it is almost exclusively the mechanism of adaptive evolutionary change; and that these changes are incremental, not drastic. Next, he examines the three critiques that currently challenge this classic Darwinian edifice: that selection operates on multiple levels, from the gene to the group; that evolution proceeds by a variety of mechanisms, not just natural selection; and that causes operating at broader scales, including catastrophes, have figured prominently in the course of evolution. Then, in a stunning tour de force that will likely stimulate discussion and debate for decades, Gould proposes his own system for integrating these classical commitments and contemporary critiques into a new structure of evolutionary thought. In 2001 the Library of Congress named Stephen Jay Gould one of America’s eighty-three Living Legends—people who embody the “quintessentially American ideal of individual creativity, conviction, dedication, and exuberance.” Each of these qualities finds full expression in this peerless work, the likes of which the scientific world has not seen—and may not see again—for well over a century.