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More About This Title Vertebrate Palaeontology 3e (Instructor's Manual &images from the Book Downloadable to PowerPoint CD-ROM)
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- Highlights astonishing new discoveries including new dinosaurs and Mesozoic birds from China
- features a new chapter on how to study fossil vertebrates
- provides an increased emphasis on the cladistic framework with cladograms set apart from the body of the text and full lists of diagnostic characters
- includes new molecular evidence on early mammal diversification
- new features aid study including new functional and developmental feature spreads, key questions and extensive references to useful web sites
- strong phylogenetic focus making it an up-to-date source of the latest broad-scale systematic data on vertebrate evolution
To access the artwork from the book, please visit: www.blackwellpublishing.com/benton.
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Key Questions.
Introduction.
Sea Squirts And The Lancelet.
Phylum Hemichordata: Pterobranchs And Acorn Worms.
Deuterostome Relationships.
Chordate Origins.
Vertebrates And The Head.
Further Reading.
2. How To Study Fossil Vertebrates:.
Key Questions.
Introduction.
Digging Up Bones.
Geology And Fossil Vertebrates.
Biology And Fossil Vertebrates.
Discovering Phylogeny.
The Quality Of The Fossil Record.
Further Reading.
3. Early Fishes:.
Key Questions.
Introduction.
Cambrian Vertebrates.
Vertebrate Hard Tissues.
The Jawless Fishes.
Origin Of Jaws And Gnathostome Relationships.
Class Placodermi: Armour-Plated Monsters.
Class Chondrichthyes: The First Sharks.
Class Acanthodii: The ‘Spiny Skins’.
Devonian Environments.
Class Osteichthyes: The Bony Fishes.
Early Fish Evolution And Mass Extinction.
Further Reading.
4. The Early Tetrapods And Amphibians:.
Key Questions.
Introduction.
Problems Of Life On Land.
Devonian Tetrapods.
The Carboniferous World.
Diversity Of Carboniferous Tetrapods.
Temnospondyls And Reptiliomorphs After The Carboniferous.
Evolution Of Modern Amphibians.
Further Reading.
5. The Evolution Of Early Amniotes:.
Key Questions.
Introduction.
Hylonomus And Paleothyris– Biology Of The First Amniotes.
Amniote Evolution.
The Permian World.
The Early Evolution Of Anapsids And Diapsids.
Basal Synapsid Evolution.
Mass Extinction.
Further Reading.
6. Reptiles Of The Triassic:.
Key Questions.
Introduction.
The Triassic Scene.
Evolution Of The Archosauromorphs.
In Triassic Seas.
The Origin Of The Dinosaurs.
Further Reading.
7. The Evolution Of Fishes After The Devonian:.
Key Questions.
Introduction.
The Early Sharks And Chimaeras.
Post-Palaeozoic Chondrichthyan Radiation.
The Early Bony Fishes.
Radiation Of The Teleosts.
Post-Devonian Evolution Of Fishes.
Further Reading.
8. The Age Of Dinosaurs:.
Key Questions.
Introduction.
Biology Of Plateosaurus.
The Jurassic And Cretaceous World.
The Diversity Of Saurischian Dinosaurs.
The Diversity Of Ornithischian Dinosaurs.
Were The Dinosaurs Warm-Blooded Or Not?.
Order Terosauria.
Order Testudines: The Turtles.
Order Crocodylia.
Superorder Lepidosauria.
The Great Sea Dragons.
Diversification Of Jurassic–Cretaceous Reptiles.
The KT Event.
Further Reading.
9. The Birds:.
Key Questions.
Introduction.
Archaeopteryx.
The Origin Of Bird Flight.
Toothed Birds Of The Cretaceous.
The Radiation Of Modern Birds.
Flightless Birds: Division Palaeognathae.
Division Neognathae.
Diversification Of The Birds.
Further Reading.
10. The Mammals:.
Key Questions.
Introduction.
Cynodonts And The Acquisition Of Mammalian Characters.
The First Mammals.
The Mesozoic Mammals.
The Marsupials.
South American Mammals – Another World Apart.
The Afrotheria And Break-Up Of Gondwana.
The Beginning Of The Age Of Placental Mammals.
Basal Laurasiatherians: Insectivores And Bats.
Superorder Cetartiodactyla: Cattle, Pigs And Whales.
Order Perissodactyla: Grazers And Browsers.
Orders Carnivora And Pholidota.
Superorder Archonta: Primates, Tree Shrews And Flying Lemurs.
Superorder Glires: Rodents, Rabbits And Relatives.
Ice Age Extinction Of Large Mammals.
The Pattern Of Mammalian Evolution.
Further Reading.
11. Human Evolution:.
Key Questions.
Introduction.
What Are The Primates?.
The Early Fossil Record Of Primates.
Superfamily Hominoidea: The Apes.
Evolution Of Human Characteristics.
The Early Stages Of Human Evolution.
The Last Two Million Years Of Human Evolution.
Further Reading.
Appendix: Classification Of The Vertebrates.
Glossary.
References.
Index
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Electric Review.Net, September 2004 <!--end-->
"This is the third edition of a very long running (1990) and highly successful textbook in the field of vertebrate palaeontology...an invaluable aid to those who wish to know more about vertebrate fossils. There are plenty of well-drawn labelled diagrams. The text is clear and the book superbly planned and ordered...A classic textbook..."
Down to Earth, December 2004
"Mike Benton's textbook on vertebrate palaeontology has been an aclaimed success since its first edition in 1990...it has now undergone very substantial further revision for its newly published third edition...This new edition reflects the enormous upsurge in research and results for vertebrate palaeontology over just the past ten years, in which Mike himself has played a leading role...a one-stop buy for all those who would like a good background perspective and summary of vertebrate palaeontology...a book which I can strongly recommend."
Robin Cocks, GA Magazine of the Geologists' Association, March 2005
[The] simple language and general attitude make it accessible even to readers not familiar with paleontology at all. ...the author has succeeded in making it as comprehensive as possible in respect to such complex factual material. In few other books is the biological diversity of vertebrates presented in such an elegant and precise manner.... These parts of the book impressively show the unusual extent of the author's knowledge. Michael Benton is an expert on the early evolution of dinosaurs, but his expertise in a range of problems of vertebrate paleontology is astonishing... No doubt that Michael Benton's professional review of the evolution of the most complex of animals has to be placed high on the evolutionary tree of university textbooks. There is probably no better, more comprehensive and up-to-date source..."
Journal of Sedimentary Research, March 2005
'This volume... is on the way to becoming a classic. This third edition...is also all one could hope for in a field that is changing so fast... The interest of the book is very much in the diversity of approaches used...This book is certainly the best introduction to the palaeontology of the vertebrates which is currently available, and its potential readership clearly passes beyond the student world alone. It has been translated into many languages, and one can only hope that a French edition will also see the light of day.'
Professor Eric Buffetaut (Paris), Géochronique, June 2005
"...a textbook aimed at enthusiasts and undergraduates...it is well laid out and the clear narrative style makes it accessible and easily read. I am sure anyone who wishes to learn more about the history of vertebrates will find it a very useful and informative book with much of interest to be gleaned."
Glasgow Naturalist, June 2006
