In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs: Early Mesozoic Tetrapods

ISBN-13: 9780521458993 / Angielski / Miękka / 1997 / 448 str.

Nicholas C. Fraser; Hans-Dieter Sues; Hans-Dieter Sues

Opis

The early Mesozoic period was a critical period in the evolution of life on land when most of todays major groups of terrestrial vertebrates arose and dinosaurs and pterosaurs rose to prominence. In recent years this period has received a great deal of attention from palaeontologists, and it is now felt that the small vertebrates which lived in the shadows of the first dinosaurs tell us a great deal about the evolution of modern terrestrial ecosystems. This book is an attempt to collate all the information on the small vertebrates and features contributions by experts with international reputations in their fields. There are chapters on the taxonomy and phylogeny of the key vertebrate groups followed by a section dealing with the most significant fossiliferous assemblages worldwide. The final section looks at how faunal turnover at this time is measured and examines the possibility of mass extinctions.

Recenzje

'As a manual to begin investigating the workings of the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic world, this is a good book.' Science

Spis treści

Acknowledgments; List of contributors; Introduction Nicholas C. Fraser and Hans-Dieter Sues; Part I. Phylogeny: Introduction; 1. Late Triassic and Jurassic amphibians: fossil record and phylogeny Andrew Milner; 2. The Lepidosauromorpha: an overview with special emphasis on the Squamata Olivier Rieppel; 3. Late Triassic-Early Jurassic sphenodontians from China and the phylogeny of the Sphenodontia Xiao-chun Wu; 4. Marine members of the Sphenodontia Robert L. Carroll and Rupert Wild; 5. Patterns of evolution in Mesozoic Crocodyliformes James M. Clark; 6. Sister-group relationships of mammals and transformations of diagnostic mammalian characters Zhexi Luo; Part II. Faunal Assemblages: 7. A review of the British Middle Triassic tetrapod assemblages Michael J. Benton, Geoffrey Warrington, Andrew J. Newell and Patrick S. Spencer; 8. Small tetrapods from the Upper Triassic of the Richmond Basin, Virginia Hans-Dieter Sues; 9. Microvertebrates from the Placerias Quarry: a window on Late Triassic vertebrate diversity in the American Southwest Fran Tannenbaum Kaye and Kevin Padian; 10. Late Triassic microvertebrates from central Europe Denise Sigogneau and Gerhard Hahn; 11. Assemblages of small tetrapods from British Late Triassic fissure deposits Nicholas C. Fraser; 12. Ornithiscian dinosaurs from the Upper Triassic of the United States Adrian P. Hunt and Spencer G. Lucas; 13. Early Jurassic small tetrapods from the McCoy Brook formation of Nova Scotia Neil H. Shubin, Paul E. Olsen and Hans-Dieter Sues; 14. The small tetrapods of the Lower Lufeng Formation, Yunnan, China Zhexi Luo and Xiao-chun Wu; 15. Assemblages of small tetrapods from the Early Jurassic of Britain Susan E. Evans and Kenneth A. Kermack; 16. A review of the Early Jurassic tetrapods from the Glen Canyon Group of the American Southwest Hans-Dieter Sues, James M. Clark and Farish A. Jenkins, Jr; 17. An Early or Middle Jurassic tetrapod assemblage from the La Boca Formation, northeastern Mexico James M. Clark, Marisol Montellano, James A. Hopson, René Hernández and David Fastovsky; 18. Middle Jurassic microvertebrate assemblages from the British Isles Susan E. Evans and Andrew Milner; 19. A new Bathonian microvertebrate locality in the English Midlands Sara J. Metcalf and Rachel J. Walker; Part III. Faunal Change: 20. The chronology and biogeography of mammalian origins Spencer G. Lucas and Adrian P. Hunt; 21. Biotic and climatic changes in the Carnian (Triassic) of Europe and adjacent areas Michael J. Simms, Alastair H. Ruffell and Andrew L. A. Johnson; 22. Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic extinctions among continental tetrapods Michael J. Benton; 23. Comments on 'Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic extinctions among continental tetrapods' Nicholas C. Fraser and Hans-Dieter Sues; 24. What was the tempo and mode of evolutionary change in the Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic? Kevin Padian; 25. Field trip guide: field guide to three late Triassic tetrapod sites in Virginia and North Carolina Paul E. Olsen and Annika K. Johansson.