Methods in Paleoecology: Reconstructing Cenozoic Terrestrial Environments and Ecological Communities

ISBN-13: 9783319942643 / Angielski / Twarda / 2018 / 410 str.

Croft, Darin A.

Opis

This volume focuses on the reconstruction of past ecosystems and provides a comprehensive review of current techniques and their application in recent studies. The 16 chapters are organized into three thematic groups: organismal approaches (ecomorphology, postcranial functional morphology, evolutionary dental morphology, microwear and mesowear, body mass), contextual studies (ichnofossils, community structure, plant macrofossils, pollen, paleosols and sedimentology, and phytoliths), and special techniques (inorganic isotopes, biomineral isotopes, 3-D morphometrics, bone microstructure, and modelling). Current investigators, advanced undergraduates and graduate students interested in the field of paleoecology will find this book useful. The structure of the volume will also make it suitable for teaching a college-level course on reconstructing Cenozoic ecosystems.

Spis treści

1 Introduction to Paleoecological Reconstruction

Darin A. Croft, Denise F. Su, and Scott W. Simpson.-

2 Estimation of Body Size in Fossil Mammals

Samantha S.B. Hopkins.-

3 Functional Morphology of the Postcranial Skeleton

Rachel H. Dunn.-

4 Evolutionary Dental Morphology

Alistair R. Evans and Silvia Pineda-Munoz.-

5 Using Dental Mesowear and Microwear for Dietary Inference: A Review of Current Techniques and Applications

Jeremy L. Green and Darin A. Croft.-

6 Permanent Record: The Use of Dental and Bone Microstructure to Assess Life History Evolution and Ecology

Russell Hogg.-

7 Isotopic Ecology from Biominerals

Pennilyn Higgins.-

8 Reconstructing Terrestrial Paleoenvironments Using Sedimentary Organic Biomarkers

Melissa A. Berke.-

9 Paleopedology as a Tool for Reconstructing Paleoenvironments and 

Emily J. Beverly, William E. Lukens, and Gary E. Stinchcomb.-

10 The Role of Continental Trace Fossils in Cenozoic Paleoenvironmental and Paleoecological Reconstructions

Daniel Hembree.-

11 Fossil Pollen and Spores in Paleoecology

Luke Mander and Surangi W. Punyasena.-

12 Phytoliths in Paleoecology: Analytical Considerations, Current Use, and Future Directions

Caroline A.E. Strömberg, Regan E. Dunn, Camilla Crifò, and Elisha B. Harris.-

13 Reconstructing Paleoclimate and Paleoecology Using Fossil 

Daniel J. Peppe, Aly Baumgartner, Andrew Flynn, and Benjamin Blonder.-

14 Three-Dimensional Geometric Morphometrics in Paleoecology

Sabrina C. Curran.-

15 Ecomorphology

W. Andrew Barr.-

16 Mammal Community Structure Analysis

Kris Kovarovic, Denise F. Su, and Kari Lintulaakso.-

17 Ecometrics: A Trait-based Approach to Paleoclimate and Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction

Wesley A. Vermillion, P. David Polly, Jason J. Head, Jussi T. Eronen, and A. Michelle Lawing.-

18 Summary and Synthesis

 Denise F. Su and Darin A. Croft.- 

O autorze

Dr. Darin A. Croft is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anatomy at the Case School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Dr. Scott Simpson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anatomy at the Case School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Dr. Denise F. Su is the Curator and Head of Paleobotany and Paleoecology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Blurb

This volume focuses on the reconstruction of past ecosystems and provides a comprehensive review of current techniques and their application in exemplar studies. The 18 chapters address a wide variety of topics that span vertebrate paleobiology and paleoecology (body mass, postcranial functional morphology, evolutionary dental morphology, microwear and mesowear, ecomorphology, mammal community structure analysis), contextual paleoenvironmental studies (paleosols and sedimentology, ichnofossils, pollen, phytoliths, plant macrofossils), and special techniques (bone microstructure, biomineral isotopes, inorganic isotopes, 3-D morphometrics, and ecometric modeling). A final chapter discusses how to integrate results of these studies with taphonomic data in order to more accurately characterize an ancient ecosystem.

 Current investigators, advanced undergraduates, and graduate students interested in the field of paleoecology will find this book immensely useful. The length and structure of the volume also makes it suitable for teaching a college-level course on reconstructing Cenozoic ecosystems.