Buch, Englisch, 290 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 453 g
Buch, Englisch, 290 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 453 g
ISBN: 978-0-19-850424-5
Verlag: Oxford University Press
matter of understanding carefully the interrelationship between palaeontological and neontological evidence.
The book is organised into two sections. Part 1 consists of four chapters outlining the principles, namely: the nature of the pattern/process relationship, taxonomic methods and the analysis of pattern, evolutionary theory and the analysis of process and the nature of incompleteness of the fossil record and what to do about it. Armed with these principles and methods, Part 2 is devoted to the five central areas of contemporary research in evolutionary palaeobiology. These are: fossils and
phylogenetic inference; the mechanism of speciation; taxonomic turnover on the geological time-scale; mass-extinctions; the origin of new higher taxa. In each case the nature of the questions and the relevant kinds of evidence, including such new sources as molecular sequence data and stable isotope
ratios where appropriate, are reviewed. The extent to which palaeobiology has, and has not yet, contributed to providing the sought after answers is made clear.