"...reveals how much wider is the scope of palaeobiology than just humans and human origins, or even primates. It is a book with an honest approach, always vigilant that it is treading along a slippery path. Practioners of palaeobiology will find it useful for having assembled a recondite set of facts and for its deliberate cautiousness." Nature

• 1. Introduction J. Damuth and B. MacFadden; Part I. The Biological Significance of Mammalian Body Size: 2. The physiological significance of body size B. K. McNab; 3. The behavioral/ecological significance of body size J. F. Eisenberg; 4. The functional anatomy of body weight T. Grand; 5. Evolutionary strategies and body size in a guild of mammals V. C. Maiorana; 6. The cotton rat model R. A. Martin; Part II. The Estimation of Mammalian Body Mass: 7. Methods and problems in estimating body size in fossil primates W. Jungers; 8. Structural allometry of the lower limb bones in the Anthropoidea C. Ruff; 9. Skeletal and dental predictors of body weight in carnivores B. Van Valkenburgh; 10. Estimates of body size for insular dwarf mammoths V. L. Roth; 11. Skeletal dimensions of ungulates as predictors of body weight K. M. Scott; 12. Correlation of body weight in ungulates with cranio-dental variables C. Janis; 13. Problems with using tooth size to estimate the body size of fossil mammals M. Fortelius; 14. Problems in estimating body masses of archaic fossil ungulates using dental measurements J. Damuth; 15. Body-size estimates and size distribution of ungulates (Mammalia) from the Late Miocene Love Bone Bed, Florida B. J. MacFadden and R. C. Hulbert; 16. Summary: discussion and recommendations for body-mass estimation J. Damuth and B. J. MacFadden; Appendices: data and equations for body-mass estimation.

"...reveals how much wider is the scope of palaeobiology than just humans and human origins, or even primates. It is a book with an honest approach, always vigilant that it is treading along a slippery path. Practioners of palaeobiology will find it useful for having assembled a recondite set of facts and for its deliberate cautiousness." Nature

• 1. Introduction J. Damuth and B. MacFadden; Part I. The Biological Significance of Mammalian Body Size: 2. The physiological significance of body size B. K. McNab; 3. The behavioral/ecological significance of body size J. F. Eisenberg; 4. The functional anatomy of body weight T. Grand; 5. Evolutionary strategies and body size in a guild of mammals V. C. Maiorana; 6. The cotton rat model R. A. Martin; Part II. The Estimation of Mammalian Body Mass: 7. Methods and problems in estimating body size in fossil primates W. Jungers; 8. Structural allometry of the lower limb bones in the Anthropoidea C. Ruff; 9. Skeletal and dental predictors of body weight in carnivores B. Van Valkenburgh; 10. Estimates of body size for insular dwarf mammoths V. L. Roth; 11. Skeletal dimensions of ungulates as predictors of body weight K. M. Scott; 12. Correlation of body weight in ungulates with cranio-dental variables C. Janis; 13. Problems with using tooth size to estimate the body size of fossil mammals M. Fortelius; 14. Problems in estimating body masses of archaic fossil ungulates using dental measurements J. Damuth; 15. Body-size estimates and size distribution of ungulates (Mammalia) from the Late Miocene Love Bone Bed, Florida B. J. MacFadden and R. C. Hulbert; 16. Summary: discussion and recommendations for body-mass estimation J. Damuth and B. J. MacFadden; Appendices: data and equations for body-mass estimation.