Prehistoric Life: Evolution and the Fossil Record

Prehistoric Life......Page 5
Contents......Page 7
Preface......Page 10
History, Science, and Historical Science......Page 11
Time, Life, and Stratigraphy......Page 15
What is a Fossil?......Page 28
How do Fossils Form?......Page 32
Conclusions: Fossils as Curious Stones......Page 37
Additional Reading......Page 38
Fossils in Sedimentary Rock......Page 39
Taphonomy......Page 47
Time Averaging......Page 52
Mode of Growth......Page 54
Trace Fossils......Page 59
Additional Reading......Page 61
History of Ideas on Biological Classification......Page 62
Applying Linnaeus’ Hierarchy......Page 69
What is a Species and How Does a Paleontologist Identify Them?......Page 80
Conclusions: the Difference Between Inanimate Atoms and Living Things......Page 81
Additional Reading......Page 83
Introduction......Page 84
A Biological Definition of Evolution......Page 86
The History of Evolutionary Thought......Page 88
Science and Religion......Page 96
Darwin and Wallace: Never Ask a Stranger to Present Your Paper at a Meeting You Cannot Attend......Page 103
Natural Selection......Page 104
Conclusions: Why was Natural Selection Not Endorsed at Once by Many Scientists?......Page 106
Additional Reading......Page 109
Introduction......Page 110
Competition and Macroevolution......Page 111
Does Evolution Happen Gradually or Episodically?......Page 115
Natural Selection Operating Above and Below the Level of the Individual Organism......Page 120
Progress and the History of Life......Page 125
Additional Reading......Page 132
Introduction......Page 133
Contingency......Page 134
Boundaries in the Geological Time Scale and the Nature of Extinction......Page 135
The Cretaceous–Tertiary Mass Extinction......Page 136
How has the Existence of Mass Extinctions Influenced the History of Life?......Page 143
Were Most Extinctions Caused by Asteroid Impact?......Page 146
The Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction—Causes and Consequences......Page 147
The Ordovician–Silurian Mass Extinction......Page 150
Habitat Degradation and Mass Extinctions......Page 153
The Sixth Great Mass Extinction: The Current Biodiversity Crisis......Page 154
Conclusions: Lessons from the Past and Future Prospects for Humanity......Page 158
Additional Reading......Page 159
Introduction......Page 160
Methods and Approaches in Systematics......Page 162
The Growth of Molecular Biology and Improvements in DNA Sequencing Technology......Page 166
The Spread of Computers and Computer Programs Used to Study Evolutionary Relationships......Page 169
Systematics and How to go About Identifying Species in the Fossil Record......Page 170
Systematics and its Relevance for Identifying Patterns of Mass Extinction......Page 171
Systematics and the Meaning of Adaptations......Page 173
Additional Reading......Page 179
Introduction......Page 180
Galileo’s Principle......Page 181
Galileo’s Principle and its Relevance to the Biology of Living Organisms......Page 182
Galileo’s Principle and Constraints on the Evolution of Large Body Size......Page 187
Galileo’s Principle and its Relevance to Medieval Architecture......Page 190
Galileo’s Principle and its Relevance to Cratering Density in our Solar System......Page 195
Concluding Remarks......Page 200
Additional Reading......Page 201
Introduction......Page 202
Paleontologist’s Have Come from Many Different Walks of Life and Have Sported Many Different Hairdos......Page 203
Paleontology in Ancient Greece......Page 206
Native American Contributions to Paleontology......Page 211
Concluding Remarks......Page 216
Additional Reading......Page 217
Introduction......Page 218
Early Ideas on Continents in Motion: Continental Drift......Page 219
Plate Tectonics: Continental Drift in a Different Guise and with a Valid Mechanism......Page 224
The Evolutionary Implications of Plate Tectonics......Page 227
Concluding Remarks......Page 234
Additional Reading......Page 235
Introduction......Page 237
Some of the Major Factors that Govern the Climate System......Page 238
Examples of How Life has Influenced Climate: The Difference Between the Proterozoic and the Permian......Page 240
Life Influencing Geology: the Form and Shape of Rivers and the Rocks they Leave Behind......Page 250
Plants, Oxygen, and Coal: More Examples of Life Affecting the Atmosphere and Geology......Page 256
How Geology Affects Climate: Considering How Plate Tectonic Changes have Contributed to Climate Changes Over the Last 60 Million Years......Page 258
Additional Reading......Page 265
Introduction......Page 267
The Earliest Evidence for Life in the Geological Record......Page 268
The Time of Pond Scum and the Rise of Oxygen......Page 273
For Billions of Years Organisms Have Been Modifying the Atmosphere and Their Environment......Page 277
More Effects of Rising Oxygen Levels......Page 278
The Evolution of the Eukaryotic Cell......Page 279
Concluding Remarks......Page 285
Additional Reading......Page 286
Introduction......Page 287
Life Before the Cambrian Radiation......Page 288
The Burgess Shale and the Cambrian Radiation......Page 296
The Ordovician Radiation and Concluding Remarks......Page 310
Additional Reading......Page 312
Introduction......Page 313
Reef-Forming Organisms Today......Page 315
Cnidarians and Outer Space......Page 317
How Modern Cnidarian Corals Feed......Page 320
Reefs Through Geological Time......Page 322
Corals and the Biodiversity Crisis......Page 327
Lessons from Human Effects on Modern Reefs......Page 328
Concluding Remarks......Page 330
Additional Reading......Page 332
Introduction......Page 333
Origins of Multicellularity......Page 334
The Evolution of the Vertebrate Brain......Page 339
Trends in Brain Size Within Primates and Hominids......Page 347
Additional Reading......Page 350
Introduction......Page 351
Cambrian Origins......Page 353
Major Groups of Chordates......Page 354
The Vertebrates......Page 355
Lobe-Finned Aquatic Vertebrates......Page 361
The Origins and Evolution of the Tetrapods......Page 364
Concluding Remarks......Page 371
Additional Reading......Page 372
Introduction......Page 373
What is the Potential that Humans will Encounter Extraterrestrial Civilizations?......Page 374
Possible Evidence for Life in a Martian Meteorite?......Page 380
Additional Reading......Page 384
Introduction......Page 385
How do New Species Evolve—The Shift from Chimps to Hominids......Page 386
Humans in a Changing Climate......Page 388
The Current Biodiversity Crisis......Page 389
Mapping a Course for Future Changes—Climate and Life......Page 390
Concluding Remarks......Page 393
Additional Reading......Page 394
Index......Page 395
Color plate section......Page 243