Fossils, phylogeny, and form : an analytical approach / edited by Jonathan M. Adrain, Gregory D. Edgecombe, Bruce S. Lieberman.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Adrain, Jonathan M.

Edgecombe, Gregory D.

Lieberman, Bruce S.

Series:

Topics in geobiology ; v. 19.

Topics in geobiology ; v. 19

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Paleobiology.

Physical Description:

xiv, 402 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, [2001]

Summary:

Phylogenetic analysis and morphometrics have been developed by biologists into rigorous analytic tools for testing hypotheses about the relationships between groups of species. This book applies these tools to paleontological data. The fossil record is our one true chronicle of the history of life, preserving a set of macroevolutionary patterns; thus various hypotheses about evolutionary processes can be tested in the fossil record using phylogentic analysis and morphometrics. The first book of its type, Fossils, Phylogeny, and Form will be useful in evolutionary biology, paleontology, systematics, evolutionary development, theoretical biology, biogeography, and zoology. It will also provide a practical, researcher-friendly gateway into computer-based phylogenetics and morphometrics.

Contents:

Paleobiology: an empirical historical science / J.M. Adrain, Gregory D. Edgecombe, and Bruce S. Lieberman

Phylogenetic systematics: five steps to enlightenment / Deborah A. McLennan and Daniel R. Brooks

Morphometry and phylogeny in the resolution of paleobiological problems - unlocking the evolutionary significance of an assemblage of Silurian trilobites / Nigel C. Hughes and Ralph E. Chapman

Morphological disparity: a primer / Matthew A. Wills

Homology, characters, and morphometric data / Miriam Leah Zelditch, Donald L. Swiderski, and William L. Fink

Landmarks, localization, and the use of morphometrics in phylogenetic analysis / Norman MacLeod

Cladistic biogeography: component-based methods and paleontological application / Malte C. Ebach and Gregory D. Edgecombe

Stratigraphy, phylogeny, and species sampling in time and space / Jonathan M. Adrain and Stephen R. Westrop

Analyzing speciation rates in macroevolutionary studies / Bruce S. Lieberman

The nature and origin of supraspecific taxa revisited - with special reference to Trilobita / Niles Eldredge

The role and design of databases in paleontology / Roger L. Kaesler, Jill W. Krebs, and Douglas L. Miller.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0306467216

OCLC:

48038232