Cambridge Paleobiology Series – serie

This beautifully illustrated book describes one of the most famous fossil deposits known: the Hunsrück Slate of Germany. These spectacular fossils, in which not just the hard parts but also the soft-tissues of the animals are preserved in pyrite in many cases, provide the most complete record available of life in the Devonian seas. First published in 1998, the book provides a comprehensive account of these remarkable fossils. It is written in an accessible style, and is extensively illustrated with photographs and X-radiographs of many of the finest specimens. The book reviews the different plant and animal groups, and includes a complete taxonomic list and comprehensive bibliography. It will be of most value to researchers and graduate students in palaeontology, geology and evolutionary biology, but it will also be of interest to amateur collectors and natural historians.

This new text provides an integrated view of the forces that influence the patterns and rates of vertebrate evolution from the level of living populations and species to those that resulted in the origin of the major vertebrate groups. The evolutionary roles of behaviour, development, continental drift, and mass extinctions are compared with the importance of variation and natural selection that were emphasised by Darwin. It is extensively illustrated, showing major transitions between fish and amphibians, dinosaurs and birds, and land mammals and whales. No book since Simpson's Major Features of Evolution has attempted such a broad study of the patterns and forces of evolutionary change. Undergraduate students taking a general or advanced course on evolution, and graduate students and professionals working in evolutionary biology and palaeontology will find the book of great interest.

Taphonomy: A Process Approach is the first book to review the entire field of taphonomy, or the science of fossil preservation. It describes the formation of animal and plant fossils in marine and terrestrial settings and how this affects deciphering the ecology and extinction of past lifeforms and the environments in which they lived. The volume emphasises a process approach to taphonomy and reviews the taphonomic behaviour of all important taxa, plant and animal. It will be useful to anyone interested in the preservation of fossils and the formation of fossil assemblages, but it is aimed primarily at advanced students and professionals working in paleontology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, climate modeling and biogeochemistry.