PrefaceTo the Student: Why Study Fossils?PART I: THE FOSSIL RECORD: A WINDOW ON THE PAST 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? Conclusions2. Variation in Fossils Theme: Variation; How do Organisms vary during their Lifespans? How do Populations of Organisms Vary? Conclusions3. Species and Speciation4. Systematics Why Systematics? Evolution and Classification; Competing Systematic Philosophies; Molecular Systematics; Codes of Systematic Nomenclature; Conclusions5. Evolution The Evolution of Evolution; The "Evolutionary Synthesis"; Challenges to the Neo-Darwinian Synthesis; Evolution and the Fossil Record; Conclusions6. Extinction7. Functional Morphology Form and Function; Theoretical Morphology; Functional Hypotheses as Testable Science; Case Studies in Functional Morphology; Conclusions8. Paleoecology Ecology and Paleoecology; Ecological Relationships; Environmental Limiting Factors; Direct Paleoecological Evidence; Some Ecological Ideas that have been Applied (and Misapplied) to the Fossil Record; Evolutionary Paleoecology; Conclusions9. Biogeography Organisms in Space and Time; Ecological Biogeography; Historical Biogeography; Conclusions10. Biostratigraphy Faunal Succession; Biostratigraphic Zonations; Factors controlling Fossil Distributions; Biostratigraphic Sampling; The Time Significance of Biostratigraphic Events; North American Land Mammal "Ages" and Biochronology; Resolution, Precision, and Accuracy; Index Fossils and the Global Biostratigraphic Standard; ConclusionsPART II: LIFE OF THE PAST AND PRESENT 11. Life's Origins and Early Evolution Concocting the "Primordial Soup"; Mud and Mosh Pits, Kitty Litter and Fool's Gold; Life is a Commune; The Earliest Fossils; Cambrian "Explosion"-or "Short Fuse"?; Why did Life Change So Slowly Before the Cambrian?; Rocks, Hox, and Molecular Clocks.12. Micropaleontology: Fossil Protistans Introduction; The Kingdoms of Life; Systematics; Foraminifera; Radiolaria; Diatoms; Coccolithophores13. Colonial Life: Sponges, Archaeocyathans, and Cnidarians14. The Lophophorates: Brachiopods and Bryozoans15. Jointed Limbs: The Arthropods16. Kingdom of the Seashell: The Molluscs Introduction; Systematics; Mollusc Origins and Diversification; Gastropods; Bivalves; Cephalopods17. Spiny Skins: The Echinoderms18. 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 Mammals19. Fossilized Behavior: Trace Fossils20. Traces of Earth's Green Mantle: Paleobotany Introduction; Plant Taphonomy; The First Photosynthetic Organisms; The Plant Kingdom; Vascular Plants; Tracheophytes; Naked Seeds: The Gymnosperms; Flower Power: The Angiosperm Revolution; Floras through Time GlossaryBibliographyIndex
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