| Contents |
To the student : why study fossils? -- Part I. The fossil record : a window on the past. 1. The fossil record ; 2. Variation in fossils ; 3. Species and speciation ; 4. Systematics ; 5. Evolution ; 6. Extinction ; 7. Functional morphology ; 8. Paleoecology ; 9. Biogeography ; 10. Biostratigraphy -- Part II. Life of the past and present. 11. Life's origins and early evolution ; 12. Micropaleontology : fossil protistans ; 13. Colonial life : sponges, archaeocyathans, and cnidarians ; 14. The "lophophorates" : brachiopods and bryozoans ; 15. Jointed limbs : the arthropods ; 16. Kingdom of the seashell : the molluscs ; 17. Spiny skins : the echinoderms ; 18. Dry bones : vertebrates and their relatives ; 19. Fossilized behavior : trace fossils ; 20. Traces of the earth's green mantle : paleobotany -- Glossary. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| LCCN | 2013006698 |
| ISBN | 9780231158923 (cloth : acid-free paper) |
| ISBN | 0231158920 (cloth : acid-free paper) |
| ISBN | 9780231158930 (paperback : acid-free paper) |
| ISBN | 0231158939 (paperback : acid-free paper) |
