Fossils of the Burgess Shale

Fossils of the Burgess Shale PDF Author: Simon Conway Morris
Publisher: Natural Resources Canada
ISBN: 0660119013
Category : Burgess Shale (B.C.).
Languages : en
Pages : 35

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Book Description
This publication, designed for the public, describes the discovery of the Burgess shale, recent work on its formation, and the flora and fauna found in it. The major animal groups are described and illustrated. The scientific significance of the shale is explained.

Fossils of the Burgess Shale

Fossils of the Burgess Shale PDF Author: Simon Conway Morris
Publisher: Natural Resources Canada
ISBN: 0660119013
Category : Burgess Shale (B.C.).
Languages : en
Pages : 35

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Book Description
This publication, designed for the public, describes the discovery of the Burgess shale, recent work on its formation, and the flora and fauna found in it. The major animal groups are described and illustrated. The scientific significance of the shale is explained.

Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History

Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History PDF Author: Stephen Jay Gould
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393245209
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
"[An] extraordinary book. . . . Mr. Gould is an exceptional combination of scientist and science writer. . . . He is thus exceptionally well placed to tell these stories, and he tells them with fervor and intelligence."—James Gleick, New York Times Book Review High in the Canadian Rockies is a small limestone quarry formed 530 million years ago called the Burgess Shale. It hold the remains of an ancient sea where dozens of strange creatures lived—a forgotten corner of evolution preserved in awesome detail. In this book Stephen Jay Gould explores what the Burgess Shale tells us about evolution and the nature of history.

The Burgess Shale

The Burgess Shale PDF Author: Harry Blackmore Whittington
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Invertebrates, Fossil
Languages : en
Pages : 151

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Book Description


The Fossils of the Burgess Shale

The Fossils of the Burgess Shale PDF Author: D. E. G. Briggs
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781560983644
Category : Burgess Shale (B.C.)
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Since its discovery in 1909 by Charles Doolittle Walcott, then Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the Burgess Shale in the Canadian Rocky Mountains has fascinated both scientists and the public with its plethora of weird wonders - life forms of the past so unfamiliar they cannot easily be assigned to known taxonomic groups. This century's most significant invertebrate fossil discovery, the Burgess Shale provides an unprecedented window into the explosive evolution during the Cambrian period that began about 540 million years ago, one of the most enigmatic episodes in the history of life. This book provides the first comprehensive set of illustrations of the extraordinary life forms revealed in the Burgess Shale. In addition to the more common fossilized hard skeletons, the Burgess Shale preserved the soft parts of these organisms, which provide a key to understanding the early evolution of the major groups of animals that inhabit the earth today. The Fossils of the Burgess Shale shows much remarkable detail - including digestive tracts and other internal organs - of creatures preserved in particles of mud fine enough to penetrate every crack and unevenness. The book begins with the history of exploration and research in the Burgess Shale, the geologic setting and preservation of the fossils, and a discussion of the Cambrian radiation, the period when almost all the major phyla of animals evolved. These introductory chapters are followed by 199 high-quality photographs and line drawings with detailed species accounts that describe important features of each specimen, as well as the ecology and taxonomy of each group. A complete list of all currently accepted species described from the Burgess Shale and a comprehensive bibliography follow the illustrations. The Fossil of the Burgess Shale is a compendium of fascinating Cambrian treasures that offer a rare glimpse into the nature of early life on our planet. They have figured prominently in recent evolutionary debates. The National Museum of Natural History, which houses more than 65,000 fossils collected by Walcott from the Burgess Shale, will open a new exhibition of the specimens in 1995.

Interpretation of Biological and Environmental Changes Across the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Boundary

Interpretation of Biological and Environmental Changes Across the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Boundary PDF Author: L.E. Babcock
Publisher: Gulf Professional Publishing
ISBN: 9780444520654
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
The Neoproterozoic-Cambrian transition was a time of fundamental change in the biosphere. Between about 570 and 510 million years ago, marine organisms underwent considerable evolutionary innovation during a time of shifting ecological setting. This dramatic activity culminated in the first stratigraphic appearances of many recognizable groups of animals, an "event" often referred to as the "Cambrian explosion". In addition, there was a major change from a microbial mat-dominated sediment-water interface to a more extensively burrowed interface in shallow-marine settings. The early fossil record is a function not only of the rise or ecological diversification of marine organisms, but also the development of taphonomic and sedimentary conditions suitable for the preservation of mineralizing and nonmineralizing organisms. This book is devoted to an exploration of some of the emerging concepts and techniques used to develop greater insight into the early record of biologic diversification and the preservational record of that diversification during the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian transition. * Addresses key issues related to the Cambrian diversification of multicellular animals * Provocative new ideas about the factors involved in the exceptional preservation of fossils, with a balance between the development of ideas and hypothesis testing * Broad coverage of topics related to the Cambrian diversification of animals and the fossil record of that diversification; broad geographic coverage

A Geoscience Guide to the Burgess Shale

A Geoscience Guide to the Burgess Shale PDF Author: Murray Coppold
Publisher: Field, B.C. : Burgess Shale Geoscience Foundation
ISBN:
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description


The Crucible of Creation

The Crucible of Creation PDF Author: Simon Conway Morris
Publisher: Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
Paleontologist Simon Conway Morris provides a guided tour of the world's richest treasure trove of fossils--a fantastically rich deposit of bizarre and bewildering Cambrain fossils, located in Western Canada. 4 plates. 90 linecuts.

The Smithsonian's History of America in 101 Objects

The Smithsonian's History of America in 101 Objects PDF Author: Richard Kurin
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143128159
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 786

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Book Description
The Smithsonian Institution is America's largest, most important, and most beloved repository for the objects that define our common heritage. Now Under Secretary for Art, History, and Culture Richard Kurin, aided by a team of top Smithsonian curators and scholars, has assembled a literary exhibition of 101 objects from across the Smithsonian's museums that together offer a marvelous new perspective on the history of the United States. Ranging from the earliest years of the pre-Columbian continent to the digital age, and from the American Revolution to Vietnam, each entry pairs the fascinating history surrounding each object with the story of its creation or discovery and the place it has come to occupy in our national memory. Kurin sheds remarkable new light on objects we think we know well, from Lincoln's hat to Dorothy's ruby slippers and Julia Child's kitchen, including the often astonishing tales of how each made its way into the collections of the Smithsonian. Other objects will be eye-opening new discoveries for many, but no less evocative of the most poignant and important moments of the American experience. Some objects, such as Harriet Tubman's hymnal, Sitting Bull's ledger, Cesar Chavez's union jacket, and the Enola Gay bomber, tell difficult stories from the nation's history, and inspire controversies when exhibited at the Smithsonian. Others, from George Washington's sword to the space shuttle Discovery, celebrate the richness and vitality of the American spirit. In Kurin's hands, each object comes to vivid life, providing a tactile connection to American history. Beautifully designed and illustrated with color photographs throughout, The Smithsonian's History of America in 101 Objects is a rich and fascinating journey through America's collective memory, and a beautiful object in its own right.

Life in Stone

Life in Stone PDF Author: Rolf Ludvigsen
Publisher: UBC Press
ISBN: 0774841516
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Life in Stone is the first book to focus on British Columbia's fossils. Each of its chapters is written by a specialist for a general audience, and each is devoted to a separate fossil group that is particularly well represented in the province. Richly illustrated with photographs and drawings, Life in Stone will provide fascinating reading for anyone interested in learning more about the animals and plants that inhabited British Columbia during prehistoric times.

Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems

Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems PDF Author: Paul Selden
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1840766239
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems describes all of the main Fossil Lagerstätten (sites of exceptional fossil preservation) from around the world in a chronological order. It covers the history of research, stratigraphy and taphonomy, main faunal and floral elements, and the palaeoecology of each site and gives a comparison with coeval sites around the w