Author: Britannica Educational Publishing Publisher: Britannica Educational Publishing ISBN: 1615301968 Category : Juvenile Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 341
Book Description
Characterized by a surge in biodiversity and evolutionary development, the Paleozoic Era ushered in the beginnings of life as we know it. Within these pages, readers will discover the fossil and geologic evidence from this time that reveals a dynamic planet, where new species of plants and animals were constantly emerging and continents were breaking apart and reforming. While many of the species from this era are now extinct and the continents are relatively stable, remnants of this era still continue to shed much-needed light on the conditions of Earth, both past and present.
Author: Michael J. Benton Publisher: John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 1119272866 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 656
Book Description
This book presents a comprehensive overview of the science of the history of life. Paleobiologists bring many analytical tools to bear in interpreting the fossil record and the book introduces the latest techniques, from multivariate investigations of biogeography and biostratigraphy to engineering analysis of dinosaur skulls, and from homeobox genes to cladistics. All the well-known fossil groups are included, including microfossils and invertebrates, but an important feature is the thorough coverage of plants, vertebrates and trace fossils together with discussion of the origins of both life and the metazoans. All key related subjects are introduced, such as systematics, ecology, evolution and development, stratigraphy and their roles in understanding where life came from and how it evolved and diversified. Unique features of the book are the numerous case studies from current research that lead students to the primary literature, analytical and mathematical explanations and tools, together with associated problem sets and practical schedules for instructors and students. New to this edition The text and figures have been updated throughout to reflect current opinion on all aspects New case studies illustrate the chapters, drawn from a broad distribution internationally Chapters on Macroevolution, Form and Function, Mass extinctions, Origin of Life, and Origin of Metazoans have been entirely rewritten to reflect substantial advances in these topics There is a new focus on careers in paleobiology
Author: Bruce L. Stinchcomb Publisher: Schiffer Publishing ISBN: 9780764340307 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
In this second book on Paleozoic fossils, over 840 all new specimens from this period are provided, organized by biologic (taxonomic) position. It is a real eye candy feast for fossil enthusiasts. Come and explore the fossil evidence for a world that was ancient and long gone when the dinosaurs ruled the earth. Discover the sponges, archaeocyathids (reef builders), cnidaria, worms, brachiopods, bryozoans, mollusks, arthropods, echinoderms, and chordates that populated the oceans and inhabited the land from 535 to 235 million years ago. Much of the fossil record for this era reveals marine organisms in many forms, but this is also the period when clear evidence for plants and animals appears in hard rock. While the earth presents many natural barriers to the collecting of Paleozoic fossils, the author has overcome those barriers to present readers with a formidable collection.
Author: Stuart Weller Publisher: General Books ISBN: 9781458932099 Category : Languages : en Pages : 256
Book Description
Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. FORMATIONS OF CAMBRIAN AGE. HARDYSTON QUARTZITE. Wherever the sedimentary Paleozoic strata lie normally against the pre-cambrian crystalline rocks without faulting, both in the Kitta- tinny valley and in the outlying areas, the beginning of the sedimentary series is a rock with exceedingly variable lithologic characteristics, but always highly siliceous. In some localities it is a quartzite, sometimes it is a conglomerate, often an arkose, and in its upper layers it becomes more and more calcareous, with some shalcy beds. This formation is known in New Jersey as the Hardyston quartzite. It was first named the Hardystonville quartzite by Wolff and Brooks, but an abbreviation of the name to Hardyston seems desirable. The same formation extends into Pennsylvania, where it is known as the Chiques sandstone, f and similar beds extend southward along the Appalachians. In New Jersey the thickness of the formation is as variable as its physical characters. Wolff and Brooks J gave its thickness as ranging from thirty feet to a foot or less, but their observations were restricted to the region about Franklin Furnace. In other parts of its outcrop the conglomeritic phase of the formation is known to equal or even exceed 200 feet. The age of the formation has been well established as Cambrian. In the early reports of the survey, without fossil evidence, it was correlated with the Potsdam sandstone of New York, but later, Beecher first found fossils in the formation at Hardystonville, belonging to the Trilolnte genus Olenellus, which established its age as lower Cambrian. At a later date Foerste discovered additional fossil localities, Olenellus always being the most conspicuous form. During the field investigations carried on for the preparation of the present rep.
Author: Bruce L. Stinchcomb Publisher: Schiffer Publishing ISBN: 9780764343278 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Over 670 color photos reveal the Paleozoic plants that covered the earth from 500 to 260 million years ago, well before the dinosaurs roamed the world. These plants provide some of the earliest records to the greening of planet earth. They also make fascinating, very attractive fossils, which can be considered as "nature's artwork." The fossil record provides a window into the first "forests" of the Devonian Period, followed by the peculiar plants of the Lower Carboniferous. These plants, in turn, were followed by those of the Upper Carboniferous, abundant vegetation that is responsible for almost half of the planet's coal seams. Coal swamp vegetation is followed by the more sparse Permian floras, which preceded what was the earth's most profound extinction event. Marine plants also make their appearance in the world during this period, as do various puzzling fossil tracks and burrows previously thought to be marine plant fossils. This book is for all who are curious about the ancient earth.
Author: Jean F. Blashfield Publisher: Heinemann-Raintree Library ISBN: 9781403476593 Category : Juvenile Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 88
Book Description
Imagine giant trees over 100 feet tall covering the land. And monstrous salamanders, dragonflies as big as crows, and millipedes over 6 feet long. Picture abundant life everywhere, then witnessing the end of almost all living things. This is not a science-fiction story. This is the story of our planet, Earth, over 250 million years ago! Journey into the distant past with this book and witness the earliest events in what would become North America; when life on land multiplied, grew to giant proportions, and then suddenly disappeared in the largest extinction our world has ever known.
Author: David Lazarus Publisher: John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 0470671440 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 528
Book Description
Polycystine radiolaria are exclusively marine protists and are found in all ocean waters, from polar regions to the tropics, and at all water depths. There are approximately 600 distinct described living species and several thousand fossil species of polycystines. Radiolarians in general, and polycystines in particular, have recently been shown to be a major component of the living plankton and important to the oceanic carbon cycle. As fossils radiolarians are also fairly common, and often occur in sediments where other types of fossils are absent. This has made them very valuable for certain types of geologic research, particularly estimating the geologic age of the sediments containing them, and as guides to past oceanic water conditions. As our current understanding of the biology, and even taxonomy of the living fauna is still very incomplete, evolutionary studies based on living polycystines are still rare. However, the common occurrence of numerous specimens for many species, and in a wide variety of oceanic environments, provides an excellent opportunity to study the processes of biologic evolution in the fossil record. Paleobiology of the Polycystine Radiolaria is the first major book on radiolarians to appear in the western literature since 2001. Focusing on living and fossil siliceous shelled radiolarians, it is notable for its emphasis not upon morphologic or taxonomic detail but on concepts and applications. The book attempts to provide a balanced, critical review of what is known of the biology, ecology, and fossil record of the group, as well as their use in evolutionary, biostratigraphic and paleoceanographic research. Full chapters on the history of study, and molecular biology, are the first ever in book form. Written for an audience of advanced undergraduate to doctoral students, as well as for a broad range of professionals in the biological and Earth sciences, Paleobiology of the Polycystine Radiolaria summarizes current understanding of the marine planktonic protist group polycystine radiolaria, both in living and fossil form.
Author: Britannica Educational Publishing
Author: Michael J. Benton
Author: 
Author: Bruce L. Stinchcomb
Author: Stuart Weller
Author: Bruce L. Stinchcomb
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Author: Jean F. Blashfield
Author: David Lazarus
Author: Norman Dennis Newell