The dawn of animal life : a biohistorical study / Martin F. Glaessner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Glaessner, Martin F. (Martin Fritz), 1906-

Series:

Cambridge earth science series

Cambridge earth science series.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Invertebrates, Fossil.

Marine invertebrates--Evolution.

Marine invertebrates.

Paleontology--Precambrian.

Paleontology.

Physical Description:

xi, 244 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1984.

Summary:

This 1985 book examines the origin of the present diversity of marine invertebrate animals.

Contents:

1 Precambrian life and its environment: a review

i Theories about the origin of life and its environment

ii The Precambrian, its subdivisions, and the dating of biohistoric events

iii The preservation and recognition of organic remains in rocks: chemofossils, fossil organisms, pseudofossils

iv The cell: organization and life processes. The 'kingdoms' of organisms

v Proterozoic fossils and environments

vi Origins and early differentiation of the Metazoa

2 The Ediacarian faunal assemblages: discovery, composition, significance

i Discoveries at Ediacara

ii Palaeoenvironment and fossilization

iii Composition of the fauna

iv Paleobiology

v Other occurrences of Late Precambrian Metazoa in Australia

vi The Nama fauna of southwestern Africa (Namibia) and possible equivalents in South America

vii Late Precambrian Metazoa from the Northern Hemisphere

viii The concept of Ediacarian fauna

3 The Precambrian diversification of the Metazoa in the light of paleozoology

i The significance of the Ediacarian fauna for metazoan phylogeny

ii Re-assessment of the incompleteness of the palaeontological record

iii The record of the Late Precambrian fauna applied to problems of phylogeny

iv Occupation of the marine environment: habitats and habits

v Conclusions on the physical environments of the Late Precambrian Metazoa

vi The taxonomy of emerging diversity: the meaning of phyla

vii Rates of evolution

4 The Precambrian-Cambrian transition

i Stratigraphic scales: boundaries and historical transitions

ii The fate of the Ediacarian faunas: extinction, survival, replacement

iii The Cambrian Period as the time of the first shelly fossils

iv the oldest Cambrian faunas and their evolutionary antecedents

v Agglutinated, chitinous and mineralized body components in Ediacarian fossils and in some successors

vi Extrinsic and internal factors of biomineralisation and its functional significance

vii Environmental changes at the Precambrian-Cambrian transition

viii Increase in diversity of trace fossils

ix Consequences and causes of evolutionary diversification

5 Emerging animal life: thoughts on interactions of lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere

i Interactions of intrinsic and environmental factors in the emergent biosphere

ii Metazoan expansion in the marine biosphere: a three-stage process

iii Interactions in the light of plate tectonics

iv Animal life: past, present and future.

Notes:

Includes index.

Bibliography: pages 218-237.

ISBN:

0521235073

OCLC:

9394425