Download or read book Cenozoic Mammals and their Evolutionary Context written by Loic Costeur and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2017-11-20 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cenozoic Mammals and Their Evolutionary Context explores 65 million years of evolutionary history within the class of Mammalia, investigating the reasons behind the success of this group of animals. Their physiology, life history traits and adaptability led them to become one of the major components of the world’s terrestrial ecosystems. The authors describe how biogeographic, climatic and environmental events played a crucial role in shaping terrestrial mammalian faunas, highlighting some of the major evolutionary radiations and adaptations that led mammals to colonize all environments, including the marine realm and the air. This book is a high level scientific description of mammalian morphological adaptations, such asosteology and morphofunction, which made them successful in various environments and through 65 million years of changing climates. The book proposes a scientific review of the major advances in our understanding of how present mammalian diversity and biogeography have been shaped in the previous two decades. Reviews all major adaptive radiations such as swimming, flying-gliding, arboreal and fossorial behaviors and diets Describes how mammals can be used to reconstruct past climates and past terrestrial environments through original quantitative and qualitative methods Investigates the roots of today’s mammalian diversity and biogeography Focuses on the last 25 million years, which saw a dramatic change to modern groups still existing today
Download or read book Mesozoic Mammals from South America and Their Forerunners written by Guillermo W. Rougier and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-02-22 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book summarizes the most relevant published paleontological information, supplemented by our own original work, on the record of Mesozoic mammals’ evolution, their close ancestors and their immediate descendants. Mammals evolved in a systematically diverse world, amidst a dynamic geography that is at the root of the 6,500 species living today. Fossils of Mesozoic mammals, while rare and often incomplete, are key to understanding how mammals have evolved over more than 200 million years. Mesozoic mammals and their close relatives occur in a few dozen localities from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru spanning from the Mid- Triassic to the Late Cretaceous, with some lineages surviving the cataclysmic end of the Cretaceous period, into the Cenozoic of Argentina. There are roughly 25 recognized mammalian species distributed in several distinctive lineages, including australosphenidans, multituberculates, gondwanatherians, eutriconodonts, amphilestids and dryolestoids, among others. With its focus on diversity, systematics, phylogeny, and their impact on the evolution of mammals, there is no similar book currently available.
Download or read book After the Dinosaurs written by Donald R. Prothero and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2006-07-13 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating study of the thousands of new animal species that walked in the footsteps of the dinosaurs—and the climate changes that brought them forth. The fascinating group of animals called dinosaurs became extinct some 65 million years ago (except for their feathered descendants). In their place evolved an enormous variety of land creatures, especially mammals, which in their way were every bit as remarkable as their Mesozoic cousins. The Age of Mammals, the Cenozoic Era, has never had its Jurassic Park, but it was an amazing time in earth’s history, populated by a wonderful assortment of bizarre animals. The rapid evolution of thousands of species of mammals brought forth many incredible creatures―including our own ancestors. Their story is part of a larger story of new life emerging from the greenhouse conditions of the Mesozoic, warming up dramatically about 55 million years ago, and then cooling rapidly so that 33 million years ago the glacial ice returned. The earth’s vegetation went through equally dramatic changes, from tropical jungles in Montana and forests at the poles. Life in the sea underwent striking evolution reflecting global climate change, including the emergence of such creatures as giant sharks, seals, sea lions, dolphins, and whales. Engaging and insightful, After the Dinosaurs is a book for everyone who has an abiding fascination with the remarkable life of the past.
Download or read book Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic Mammals of North America written by Michael O. Woodburne and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2004-04-21 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book places into modern context the information by which North American mammalian paleontologists recognize, divide, calibrate, and discuss intervals of mammalian evolution known as North American Land Mammal Ages. It incorporates new information on the systematic biology of the fossil record and utilizes the many recent advances in geochronologic methods and their results. The book describes the increasingly highly resolved stratigraphy into which all available temporally significant data and applications are integrated. Extensive temporal coverage includes the Lancian part of the Late Cretaceous, and geographical coverage includes information from Mexico, an integral part of the North American fauna, past and present.
Download or read book Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America Volume 1 Terrestrial Carnivores Ungulates and Ungulate Like Mammals written by Christine M. Janis and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998-05-28 with total page 712 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is designed as a source and reference for people interested in the history and fossil record of North American tertiary mammals. Each chapter covers a different family or order, and includes information on anatomical features, systematics, the distribution of the genera and species at different fossil localities, and a discussion of their paleobiology. Many of these groups have never been covered in this fashion before.
Download or read book The Cenozoic Era written by Britannica Educational Publishing and published by Britannica Educational Publishing. This book was released on 2010-04-01 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Its constant evolution over the millennia since its inception has made the Earth a dynamic entity, subject to numerous climactic and environmental forces that are forever changing this planet. In its most recent stage, the planet has seen an incredible diversification in plant and animal life, with the most prominent development of the Cenozoic era being the emergence of mammals. This book examines our most immediate ancestors and the geologic, geographic, and environmental factors that helped make their primacy inevitable.
Download or read book Mammalian Evolution Diversity and Systematics written by Frank Zachos and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2018-10-22 with total page 822 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are nearly 6,000 mammalian species, among them our own. Research on our evolutionary cousins has a long history, but the last 20 years have seen particularly rapid progress in disentangling the interrelationships and evolutionary history of mammals. The present volume combines up-to-date reviews on mammalian phylogenetics with paleontological, taxonomic and evolutionary chapters and also summarizes the historical development of our insights in mammalian relationships, and thus our own place in the Tree of Life. Our book places the present biodiversity crisis in context, with one in four mammal species threatened by extinction, and reviews the distribution and conservation of mammalian diversity across the globe. This volume is the introductory tome to the new Mammalia series of the Handbook of Zoology and will be essential reading for mammalogists, zoologists and conservationists alike.
Download or read book The Origin and Evolution of Mammals written by T. S. Kemp and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2004-11-04 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mammals are the dominant large animals of today, occurring in virtually every environment. This book is an account of the remarkable 320 million year long fossil record that documents their origin, their long spell as no more than small, nocturnal creatures, and their explosive radiation since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Tom Kemp also unveils the exciting molecular evidence, which, coupled with important new fossils, is presently challenging current thinking on the interrelationships and historical biogeography of mammals. The Origin and Evolution of Mammals will be of interest to advanced undergraduate and graduate students as well as researchers in vertebrate palaeontology, biogeography, mammalian systematics and molecular taxonomy. It will also be welcomed by vertebrate fossil enthusiasts and evolutionary biologists of all levels with an interest in macroevolutionary problems.
Download or read book Evolution of Cenozoic Land Mammal Faunas and Ecosystems written by Isaac Casanovas-Vilar and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume presents an array of different case studies which take as primary material data sourced from the NOW ('New and Old Worlds') database of fossil mammals. The NOW database was one of the very first large paleobiological databases, and since 1996 it has been expanded from including mainly Neogene European land mammals to cover the entire Cenozoic at a global scale. In the last two decades the number of works that are based in the use of huge databases to explore ecological and evolutionary questions has increased exponentially, and even though the importance of big data in paleobiological research has been outlined in selected chapters of general works, no volume has appeared before this one which solely focuses on the databases as a primary source in reconstructing the past. The purpose of this book is to provide an illustrative volume showing the importance of big data in paleobiological research, and presenting a broad array of unpublished examples and case studies. The book is mainly aimed to professional palaeobiologists working with Cenozoic land mammals, but the scope of the book is broad enough to fit the interest for evolutionary biologists, paleoclimatologists and paleoecologists. The volume is divided in four parts. The first part includes two chapters on the development of large paleobiological databases, providing a first-hand account on the logic and the functioning of these databases. This is a much-needed perspective which is ignored by most researchers and users of such databases and, even if centered in the NOW database, the lessons that can be learned from this part can be extended to other examples. After this introductory part, the body of the book follows and is divided into three parts: patterns in regional faunas; large scale patterns and processes; and ecological, biogeographical and evolutionary patterns of key taxa. Each chapter is written by well-known specialists in the field, with some participation of members of the NOW advisory board. The array of selected mammal taxa ranges from carnivores, equids, ruminants and rodents to the genusHomo. The topics studied also include the diversification and radiation of major clades, large-scale paleobiogeographical patterns, the evolution of ecomorphological patterns and paleobiological problems such as evolution of body size or species longevity. In most cases the results are discussed in relation to protracted environmental or paleogeographic changes.
Download or read book Cenozoic Mammals of Africa written by Lars Werdelin and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2010-07-20 with total page 1008 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This impressively comprehensive volume is a long-awaited and worthy successor to the now outdated 1978 classic, Evolution of African Mammals. A must-have reference work for everyone interested in mammalian evolution." David Pilbeam, Harvard University and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology --
Download or read book Beasts of Eden written by David Rains Wallace and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2004-05-18 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mammals first evolved at about the same time as dinosaurs, and their story is perhaps the more fascinating of the two—in part because it is also our own story. In this literate and entertaining book, eminent naturalist David Rains Wallace brings the saga of ancient mammals to a general audience for the first time. Using artist Rudolph Zallinger's majestic The Age of Mammals mural at the Peabody Museum as a frame for his narrative, Wallace deftly moves over varied terrain—drawing from history, science, evolutionary theory, and art history—to present a lively account of fossil discoveries and an overview of what those discoveries have revealed about early mammals and their evolution. In these pages we encounter towering mammoths, tiny horses, giant-clawed ground sloths, whales with legs, uintatheres, zhelestids, and other exotic extinct creatures as well as the scientists who discovered and wondered about their remains. We meet such memorable figures as Georges Cuvier, Richard Owen, Edward D. Cope, George Gaylord Simpson, and Stephen Jay Gould and learn of their heated disputes, from Cuvier's and Owen's fights with early evolutionists to present controversies over the Late Cretaceous mass extinction. Wallace's own lifelong interest in evolution is reflected in the book's evocative and engaging style and in the personal experiences he expertly weaves into the tale, providing an altogether expansive perspective on what Darwin described as the "grandeur" of evolution.
Download or read book A Brief History of South American Metatherians written by Francisco Goin and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-10-16 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book summarizes major aspects of the evolution of South American metatherians, including their epistemologic, phylogenetic, biogeographic, faunal, tectonic, paleoclimatic, and metabolic contexts. A brief overview of the evolution of each major South American lineage ("Ameridelphia", Sparassodonta, Didelphimorphia, Paucituberculata, Microbiotheria, and Polydolopimorphia) is provided. It is argued that due to physiological constraints, metatherian evolution closely followed the conditions imposed by global temperatures. In general terms, during the Paleocene and the early Eocene multiple radiations of metatherian lineages occurred, with many adaptive types exploiting insectivorous, frugivorous, and omnivorous adaptive zones. In turn, a mixture of generalized and specialized types, the latter mainly exploiting carnivorous and granivorous-folivorous adaptive zones, characterized the second half of the Cenozoic. In both periods, climate was the critical driver of their radiation and turnovers.
Download or read book Mammal Teeth written by Peter S. Ungar and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2010-10-01 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner, 2010 PROSE Award for Excellence in the Biological Sciences. Professional and Scholarly Publishing division of the Association of American Publishers In this unique book, Peter S. Ungar tells the story of mammalian teeth from their origin through their evolution to their current diversity. Mammal Teeth traces the evolutionary history of teeth, beginning with the very first mineralized vertebrate structures half a billion years ago. Ungar describes how the simple conical tooth of early vertebrates became the molars, incisors, and other forms we see in mammals today. Evolutionary adaptations changed pointy teeth into flatter ones, with specialized shapes designed to complement the corresponding jaw. Ungar explains tooth structure and function in the context of nutritional needs. The myriad tooth shapes produced by evolution offer different solutions to the fundamental problem of how to squeeze as many nutrients as possible out of foods. The book also highlights Ungar's own path-breaking studies that show how microwear analysis can help us understand ancient diets. The final part of the book provides an in-depth examination of mammalian teeth today, surveying all orders in the class, family by family. Ungar describes some of the more bizarre teeth, such as tusks, and the mammal diversity that accompanies these morphological wonders. Mammal Teeth captures the evolution of mammals, including humans, through the prism of dental change. Synthesizing decades of research, Ungar reveals the interconnections among mammal diet, dentition, and evolution. His book is a must-read for paleontologists, mammalogists, and anthropologists.
Download or read book The Evolution of the Mammals written by L. B. Halstead and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Origin and Evolution of Mammals written by Thomas Stainforth Kemp and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2005 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Synapsida are the 'mammal-like' reptiles and mammals, a group that diverged from a common ancestor shared with reptiles and birds about 340 million years. The fossil record of the synapsids is extraordinarily good, and documents the three phases of the history of the group, each one of which points to important evolutionary generalisations as well as relating an intrinsically fascinating story. The first stage leads from the origin of the group to the earliest mammals. The non-mammalian synapsids constituted the first radiation of fully terrestrial vertebrates, dominating the land long before the dinosaurs displaced them and took over that role. The fossil record illustrates the relationship between this radiation and the environmental conditions of the Permo-Triassic when it occurred. It also illustrates to a far greater degree than any other fossil record the origin of a major new taxon. The sequence of acquisition of mammalian structures and functions inferred from the fossils leads to an interpretation about the processes involved in the evolution of mammalian biological organisation. The second stage is the Mesozoic history of mammals. Throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods, mammals remained small, insectivorous or omnivorous animals living a nocturnal existence. They were abundant and diverse, but failed completely to evolve into any of the middle-sized and large-sized forms familiar amongst today's mammals. This is usually, though not completely satisfactorily, explained by competitive exclusion by dinosaurs. The third stage is the great Cenozoic radiation of mammals. From the moment the dinosaurs disappeared 65 million years ago, new kinds of mammals proceeded to evolve. Medium and large bodied herbivore and carnivore groups appeared early, and from then onwards a kaleidoscope of origins, flourishings, and extinctions of lineages of mammals took place. This great story interweaves changing climates, shifting continents, ecological opportunities, and the fulfilment of the adaptive potential of Mammalia. The latest molecular evidence that is having a huge impact on ideas about the timing and origins of the modern mammalian taxa is discussed along with the fossil evidence. The book reviews these three stages in turn, bringing up to date the palaeontological evidence and incorporating the molecular taxonomic data that has been rapidly accumulating over the last few years, and which is responsible for a series of exciting, radicalnew ideas about relationships amongst mammals and their inferred palaeo-biogeographic history.
Download or read book The Cenozoic Era written by John P. Rafferty and published by . This book was released on 2010-08-15 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Its constant evolution over the millennia since its inception has made the Earth a dynamic entity, subject to numerous climactic and environmental forces that are forever changing this planet. In its most recent stage, The planet has seen an incredible diversification in plant and animal life, with the most prominent development of the Cenozoic era being the emergence of mammals. This book examines our most immediate ancestors And The geologic, geographic, and environmental factors that helped make their primacy inevitable.
Download or read book Primate Origins and Evolution written by Robert D. Martin and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 804 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unique book carries out a comprehensive reconstruction of the evolutionary history of living and fossil primates. The text takes a comparative approach and covers the broadest possible spectrum of evidence. Although emphasis is placed on reviews of the anatomical characteristics of such species seen in a functional context, attention is also given both to evidence from the chromosomal level and to comparative molecular evidence. The tree-shrews, once thought to provide an approximate model for the ancestral primates, are repeatedly shown to differ from them significantly in key features. The primary objective throughout the book is the identification of such key characteristics in the earliest primates and investigation of the fate of these features during the subsequent evolution of the group. The major events of human evolution are examined in a broad evolutionary context, thus avoiding the ad hoc arguments that commonly result from narrow comparisons. This book will be of special interest to advanced students of anthropology and zoology, in particular to primatologists and evolutionary biologists and those concerned with mammals generally. Since technical terminology has been explained throughout, the book will also be accessible to a wide audience of people interested in primate evolution.
