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The Dynamic and Evolving Earth | |
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Introduction | |
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What Is Geology? | |
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Historical Geology and the Formulation of Theories | |
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Origin of the Universe and the Solar System, and Earth's Place in Them | |
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Interpreting Earth History | |
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Why Is Earth a Dynamic and Evolving Planet? | |
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Organic Evolution and the History of Life | |
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Geologic Time and Uniformitarianism | |
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How Does the Study of Historical Geology Benefit Us? | |
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Summary | |
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Earth Materials: Minerals and Rocks | |
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Introduction | |
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Matter and Its Composition | |
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Minerals--The Building Blocks of Rocks | |
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How Many Minerals Are There? | |
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Rock-Forming Minerals and the Rock Cycle | |
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Igneous Rocks | |
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Sedimentary Rocks | |
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Metamorphic Rocks | |
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Plate Tectonics and the Rock Cycle | |
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Earth Materials and Historical Geology | |
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Summary | |
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Plate Tectonics: A Unifying Theory | |
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Introduction | |
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Early Ideas about Continental Drift | |
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Oil, Plate Tectonics, and Politics | |
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Paleomagnetism and Polar Wandering | |
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How Do Magnetic Reversals Relate to Seafloor Spreading? | |
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Plate Tectonics and Plate Boundaries | |
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What Are Hot Sports and Mantle Plumes? | |
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How Are Plate Movement and Motion Determined? | |
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What Is the Driving Mechanism of Plate Tectonics? | |
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How Are Plate Tectonics and Mountain Building Related? | |
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How Does Plate Tectonics Affect the Distribution of Life? | |
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How Does Plate Tectonics Affect the Distribution of Natural Resources? | |
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Summary | |
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Geologic Time: Concepts and Principles | |
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Introduction | |
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How Has the Concept of Geologic Time and Earth's Age Changed Throughout Human History? | |
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Geologic Time and Climate Change | |
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What Are Relative Dating Methods, and Why Are They Important? | |
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Establishment of Geology as a Science--The Triumph of Uniformitarianism over Neptunism and Catastrophism | |
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Lord Kelvin and a Crisis in Geology | |
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What Are Absolute Dating Methods, and Why Are They Important? | |
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Summary | |
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Rocks, Fossils, and Time--Making Sense of the Geologic Record | |
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Introduction | |
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Stratigraphy | |
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Fossils and Uniformitarianism | |
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Fossilization and Fossils | |
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The Relative Geologic Time Scale | |
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Stratigraphic Terminology | |
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Correlation | |
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Absolute Dates and the Relative Geologic Time Scale | |
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Summary | |
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Sedimentary Rocks--The Archives of Earth History | |
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Introduction | |
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Sedimentary Rock Properties | |
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Determining the Relative Ages of Deformed Sedimentary Rocks | |
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Depositional Environments | |
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Environmental Interpretations and Historical Geology | |
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Paleogeography | |
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Summary | |
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Evolution--The Theory and Its Supporting Evidence | |
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Introduction | |
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Evolution: What Does It Mean? | |
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The Tragic Lysenko Affair | |
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Mendel and the Birth of Genetics | |
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The Modern View of Evolution | |
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What Kinds of Evidence Support Evolutionary Theory? | |
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The Fossil Record and Missing Links | |
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Summary | |
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Precambrian Earth and Life History--The Hadean and Archean | |
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Introduction | |
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What Happened during the Hadean? | |
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Continental Foundations--Shields, Platforms, and Cratons | |
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Archean Plate Tectonics and the Origin of Cratons | |
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The Atmosphere and Hydrosphere | |
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The First Organisms | |
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Submarine Hydrothermal Vents and the Origin of Life | |
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Archean Mineral Resources | |
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Summary | |
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Precambrian Earth and Life History--The Proterozoic Eon | |
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Introduction | |
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Evolution Of Proterozoic Continents | |
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Proterozoic Supercontinents | |
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Ancient Glaciers and Their Deposits | |
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The Evolving Atmosphere | |
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Important Events in Life History | |
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Proterozoic Mineral Resources | |
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BIF: From Mine to Steel Mill | |
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Summary | |
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Early Paleozoic Earth History | |
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Introduction | |
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Continental Architecture: Cratons and Mobile Belts | |
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Paleozoic Paleogeography | |
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Early Paleozoic Evolution of North America | |
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The Sauk Sequence | |
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The Tippecanoe Sequence | |
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Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore | |
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The Appalachian Mobile Belt and the Taconic Orogeny | |
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Early Paleozoic Mineral Resources | |
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Summary | |
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Late Paleozoic Earth History | |
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Introduction | |
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Late Paleozoic Paleogeography | |
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Late Paleozoic Evolution of North America | |
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The Kaskaskia Sequence | |
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The Canning Basin, Australia--A Devonian Great Barrier Reef | |
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The Absaroka Sequence | |
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History of the Late Paleozoic Mobile Belts | |
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What Role Did Microplates and Terranes Play in the Formation of Pangaea? | |
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Late Paleozoic Mineral Resources | |
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Summary | |
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Paleozoic Life History: Invertebrates | |
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Introduction | |
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What Was the Cambrian Explosion? | |
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The Emergence of a Shelly Fauna | |
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Paleozoic Invertebrate Marine Life | |
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Mass Extinctions and Their Possible Causes | |
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Summary | |
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Paleozoic Life History: Vertebrates and Plants | |
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Introduction | |
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Vertebrate Evolution | |
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Fish | |
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Amphibians--Vertebrates Invade the Land | |
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Evolution of the Reptiles--The Land Is Conquered | |
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Plant Evolution | |
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Palynology: A Link Between Geology and Biology | |
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Summary | |
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Mesozoic Earth History | |
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Introduction | |
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The Breakup of Pangaea | |
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Mesozoic History of North America | |
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Continental Interior | |
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Eastern Coastal Region | |
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Gulf Coastal Region | |
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Western Region | |
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Petrified Forest National Park | |
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What Role Did Accretion of Terranes Play in the Growth of Western North America? | |
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Mesozoic Mineral Resources | |
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Summary | |
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Life of the Mesozoic Era | |
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Introduction | |
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Marine Invertebrates and Phytoplankton | |
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Aquatic and Semiaquatic Vertebrates--Fish and Amphibians | |
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Plants-Primary Producers on Land | |
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The Diversification of Reptiles | |
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Dinosaur Behavior | |
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From Reptiles to Birds | |
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Vertebrates and the Origin of Flight | |
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Origin and Early Evolution of Mammals | |
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Mesozoic Climates and Paleogeography | |
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Mass Extinctions--A Crisis in the History of Life | |
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Summary | |
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Cenozoic Geologic History: The Tertiary Period | |
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Introduction | |
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Cenozoic Plate Tectonics--An Overview | |
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Cenozoic Orogenic Belts | |
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The North American Cordillera | |
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Geologic History of the Teton Range | |
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The Continental Interior | |
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Cenozoic History of the Appalachian Mountains | |
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The Southern and Eastern Continental Margins | |
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Tertiary Mineral Resources | |
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Summary | |
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Cenozoic Geologic History: The Quaternary Period | |
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Introduction | |
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Pleistocene and Holocene Tectonism and Volcanism | |
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Pleistocene Stratigraphy | |
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Supervolcanoes and the Origin of the Yellowstone Caldera | |
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Onset of the Ice Age | |
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Glaciation and Its Effects | |
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What Caused Pleistocene Glaciation? | |
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Quaternary Mineral Resources | |
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Summary | |
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Life of the Cenozoic Era | |
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Introduction | |
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Marine Invertebrates and Phytoplankton | |
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Cenozoic Vegetation and Climate | |
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Cenozoic Birds | |
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The Age of Mammals Begins | |
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Diversification of Placental Mammals | |
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Not All Giant Land Animals Were Dinosaurs | |
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Mammals of the Tertiary Period | |
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Pleistocene Faunas | |
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Intercontinental Migrations | |
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Summary | |
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Primate and Human Evolution | |
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Introduction | |
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What Are Primates? | |
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Prosimians | |
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Anthropoids | |
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Hominids | |
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Footprints at Laetoli | |
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Summary | |
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Epilogue | |
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Metric Conversion Chart | |
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Classification of Organisms | |
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Mineral Identification | |
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Glossary | |
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Answers to Multiple-Choice Review Questions | |
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Credits | |
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Index | |