Functional Morphology In Vertebrate Paleontology

Looks at how fossil vertebrates moved, fed and reproduced.

This book celebrates the contributions of Dr. Frederick S. Szalay to the field of Mammalian Evolutionary Morphology. Professor Szalay is a strong advocate for biologically and evolutionarily meaningful character analysis. He has published about 200 articles, six monographs, and six books on this subject. This book features subjects such as the evolution and adaptation of mammals and provides up-to-date articles on the evolutionary morphology of a wide range of mammalian groups.

Vertebrate palaeontology is a lively field, with new discoveries reported every week... and not only dinosaurs! This new edition reflects the international scope of vertebrate palaeontology, with a special focus on exciting new finds from China. A key aim is to explain the science. Gone are the days of guesswork. Young researchers use impressive new numerical and imaging methods to explore the tree of life, macroevolution, global change, and functional morphology. The fourth edition is completely revised. The cladistic framework is strengthened, and new functional and developmental spreads are added. Study aids include: key questions, research to be done, and recommendations of further reading and web sites. The book is designed for palaeontology courses in biology and geology departments. It is also aimed at enthusiasts who want to experience the flavour of how the research is done. The book is strongly phylogenetic, and this makes it a source of current data on vertebrate evolution.

Why do living organisms have the designs (and especially the skeletons) that they actually possess? Is it possible, and legitimate, to infer from the fossilised remains of a long-dead creature how it functioned as a living system, with all the components operating together in harmony? Some 40 years ago there was an often stated view that studies of functional morphology in fossil animals could never be more than clever speculation. Yet as time went by, it became increasingly clear that functional interpretations, when carried out in the right way, were indeed a proper field for study in palaeontology, and that animal skeletons, of almost any kind, could yield definitive information about how their bearers had lived. We need first to consider the origins of animal skeletons. There are two important factors here. The first is contingency, in other words the 'accidents of history'', which established suites of body plans which could subsequently be modified in different ways. Yet as ROGER THOMAS and WOLF-ERNST REIF pointed out in their 'Skeleton-Space'' model (1993), there are confining physico-chemical constratints which thereafter determine evolutionary pathways. There are, in fact, only a limited number of ways in which a skeleton can be functional, as determined by the properties of the material of which it is constructed, constraints upon growth and development, and the requirement for its component parts to function in terms of the whole organism. In consequence "the discovery of 'good'' designs  those that are viable and that can be constructed with available materials  was inevitable, and in principle predictable ... the recurring designs we observed are attractors, orderly and stable configurations of matter that must necessarily emerge in the course of evolution" (THOMAS & REIF 1993). Where then, with this in mind, do we proceed from here? Amongst compendia regarding form and function in fossils, we have the recent Functional Morphology of the Invertebrate Skeleton (1999), a fine collection of 43 papers edited by ENRICO SAVAZZI. Here one finds both specialised case histories and encompassing reviews, dealing with many kinds of invertebrate, and very useful it is regarding the various ways in which invertebrate palaeontologists study their fossils as living organisms. But the present volume is something different, for it encapsulates the refreshingly individual approach which has emerged in Germany over the last several years, most vigorously articulated by MICHAEL GUDO and his colleagues at the Senckeneberg Institute, Frankfurt am Main. Their basic concept is that the structural and functional constraints on living organisms can best be interpreted in terms of engineering analogues. Mechanical engineering, after all is about how machines are constructed and how they work, and there are simple analogues all around us. Consider, for a moment the evident correspondence between the claw of a crab and a pair of pincers, or an arthropod limb and the arm of a mechanical digger. There are surely many useful insights to be derived from an understanding of engineering principles, and the research papers collected in the present volume are a testament to the vigour of this approach. For herein we find not only concepts, but also tools and techniques in common use in engineering applied to biomechanics; computer-aided design and tomography, landmark analysis, Finite Element Analysis, and CAT-scans. Such tools give a much greater objectivity to analysis of function, for it is true enough, as Carpenter comments in this volume, that 'theoretical models are often tainted with preconcieved ideas''. There are thirty papers in five sections, each of which consists of several papers, and at the beginning of each section is an explanatory introduction and summary. Section 1, Functional morphology and biomechanics. Following introductory comments by GUDO et al., there are six papers all concerned with vertebrates, and especially dinosaurs. T

In this first volume of a new series, Maina (School of Anatomical Sciences, U. of the Witwatersrand) discusses the morphologies of vertebrate respiratory organs and structures, explaining the differences among functional designs and strategies that have developed in order to facilitate the acquisition of molecular oxygen and elimination of carbon dioxide. Geared towards a wide range of readers (students of biology, experts in zoology, physiology, morphology, biological microscopy, biomedical engineering, paleontology, ecology, etc.), the first chapter outlines fundamental factors that prescribed the design of the gas exchangers and the principles upon which the constructions were founded, with subsequent chapters sequenced to show the progressive developments in the evolution of vertebrate respiratory organs approximately in the order in which they occurred. Illustrated with 97 full page b & w images, a four-page section of color photographs, and several b & w drawings. Distributed by Enfield. Oversize: 9x12". Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

An essential introduction to the paleobiology of animal body size, locomotion, and feeding. Paleobiology is the branch of evolutionary biology involved in the reconstruction of the life histories of extinct organisms. It answers the questions, How do we use fossils to reconstruct the size of prehistoric animals, and How did they move and feed? Drawing on a rich inventory of South American Miocene fossils, Vertebrate Paleobiology: A Form and Function Approach examines different aspects of functional morphology and how they are tested by paleontologists, anatomists, and zoologists. Beginning with a review of various methodologies to interpret fossils, the authors turn to the main concepts important to functional morphology and give examples of each. They conclude by showing how functional morphology enables a dynamic, broadscale reconstruction of the life of prehistoric animals during the South American Miocene. Originally published in Spanish, Vertebrate Paleobiology: A Form and Function Approach provides a broad sweep of recent developments, including theoretical and practical techniques, applied to the study of extinct vertebrates.

Dealing with important systems starting from lower vertebrates to mammals, this book covers topics including morphological, biochemical and molecular aspects of cartilages of the skeleton of sea lamprey; evolutionary transformation of respiratory islets of airbreathing fish, and more.

An essential introduction to the paleobiology of animal body size, locomotion, and feeding. Paleobiology is the branch of evolutionary biology involved in the reconstruction of the life histories of extinct organisms. It answers the questions, How do we use fossils to reconstruct the size of prehistoric animals, and How did they move and feed? Drawing on a rich inventory of South American Miocene fossils, Vertebrate Paleobiology: A Form and Function Approach examines different aspects of functional morphology and how they are tested by paleontologists, anatomists, and zoologists. Beginning with a review of various methodologies to interpret fossils, the authors turn to the main concepts important to functional morphology and give examples of each. They conclude by showing how functional morphology enables a dynamic, broadscale reconstruction of the life of prehistoric animals during the South American Miocene. Originally published in Spanish, Vertebrate Paleobiology: A Form and Function Approach provides a broad sweep of recent developments, including theoretical and practical techniques, applied to the study of extinct vertebrates.