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| Preface | |
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| Introduction to Fossils | |
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| History, Science, and Historical Science | |
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| Time, Life, and Stratigraphy | |
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| What is a Fossil? | |
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| How do Fossils Form? | |
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| Conclusions: Fossils as Curious Stones | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| The Nature of the Fossil Record | |
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| Fossils in Sedimentary Rock | |
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| Taphonomy | |
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| Time Averaging | |
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| Mode of Growth | |
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| Colonial Organisms | |
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| Trace Fossils | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| Organizing the Fossil Record | |
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| History of Ideas on Biological Classification | |
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| Applying Linnaeus' Hierarchy | |
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| What is a Species and How Does a Paleontologist Identify Them? | |
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| Conclusions: the Difference Between Inanimate Atoms and Living Things | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| Introduction to Evolution | |
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| Introduction | |
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| A Biological Definition of Evolution | |
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| The History of Evolutionary Thought | |
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| Science and Religion | |
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| Darwin and Wallace: Never Ask a Stranger to Present Your Paper at a Meeting You Cannot Attend | |
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| Natural Selection | |
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| Conclusions: Why was Natural Selection Not Endorsed at Once by Many Scientists? | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| Macroevolution, Progress, and the History of Life | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Competition and Macroevolution | |
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| Does Evolution Happen Gradually or Episodically? | |
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| Natural Selection Operating Above and Below the Level of the Individual Organism | |
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| Progress and the History of Life | |
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| Conclusions: Patterns and Processes of Increasing Complexity | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| Extinctions: The Legacy of the Fossil Record | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Contingency | |
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| Boundaries in the Geological Time Scale and the Nature of Extinction | |
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| The Cretaceous-Tertiary Mass Extinction | |
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| How has the Existence of Mass Extinctions Influenced the History of Life? | |
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| Were Most Extinctions Caused by Asteroid Impact? | |
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| The Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction-Causes and Consequences | |
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| The Ordovician-Silurian Mass Extinction | |
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| Other Mass Extinction Events: The Late Devonian and the End of the Triassic | |
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| Habitat Degradation and Mass Extinctions | |
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| The Sixth Great Mass Extinction: The Current Biodiversity Crisis | |
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| Conclusions: Lessons from the Past and Future Prospects for Humanity | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| Systematics and the Fossil Record | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Methods and Approaches in Systematics | |
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| The Growth of Molecular Biology and Improvements in DNA Sequencing Technology | |
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| The Spread of Computers and Computer Programs Used to Study Evolutionary Relationships | |
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| Systematics and How to go About Identifying Species in the Fossil Record | |
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| Systematics and its Relevance for Identifying Patterns of Mass Extinction | |
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| Systematics and the Meaning of Adaptations | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| Principles of Growth and Form: Life, the Universe, and Gothic Cathedrals | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Galileo's Principle | |
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| Galileo's Principle and its Relevance to the Biology of Living Organisms | |
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| Galileo's Principle and Constraints on the Evolution of Large Body Size | |
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| Galileo's Principle and its Relevance to Medieval Architecture | |
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| Galileo's Principle and its Relevance to Cratering Density in our Solar System | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| The Role of Fossils in the Genesis of Myths and Legends | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Paleontologist's Have Come from Many Different Walks of Life and Have Sported Many Different Hairdos | |
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| Paleontology in Ancient Greece | |
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| Native American Contributions to Paleontology | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| Plate Tectonics and its Effects on Evolution | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Early Ideas on Continents in Motion: Continental Drift | |
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| Plate Tectonics: Continental Drift in a Different Guise and with a Valid Mechanism | |
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| The Evolutionary Implications of Plate Tectonics | |
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| Biogeography | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| Life, Climate, and Geology | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Some of the Major Factors that Govern the Climate System | |
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| Examples of How Life has Influenced Climate: The Difference Between the Proterozoic and the Permian | |
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| Life Influencing Geology: the Form and Shape of Rivers and the Rocks they Leave Behind | |
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| Plants, Oxygen, and Coal: More Examples of Life Affecting the Atmosphere and Geology | |
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| How Geology Affects Climate: Considering How Plate Tectonic Changes have Contributed to Climate Changes Over the Last 60 Million Years | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| Patterns and Processes of Precambrian Evolution | |
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| Introduction | |
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| The Earliest Evidence for Life in the Geological Record | |
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| The Time of Pond Scum and the Rise of Oxygen | |
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| For Billions of Years Organisms Have Been Modifying the Atmosphere and Their Environment | |
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| More Effects of Rising Oxygen Levels | |
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| The Evolution of the Eukaryotic Cell | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| The Cambrian Radiation and Beyond: Understanding Biology's Big Bang | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Life Before the Cambrian Radiation | |
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| The Burgess Shale and the Cambrian Radiation | |
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| The Ordovician Radiation and Concluding | |
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| Remarks | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| The Evolution and Extinction of Reefs Through Time: From the Precambrian to the Current Biodiversity Crisis | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Reef-Forming Organisms Today | |
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| Cnidarians and Outer Space | |
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| How Modern Cnidarian Corals Feed | |
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| Reefs Through Geological Time | |
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| Corals and the Biodiversity Crisis | |
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| Lessons from Human Effects on Modern Reefs | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| Key Evolutionary Transitions: The Origins of Multicellularity and the Evolution of the Vertebrate Brain | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Origins of Multicellularity | |
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| The Evolution of the Vertebrate Brain | |
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| Trends in Brain Size Within Primates and Hominids | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| Key Events in Vertebrate Evolution | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Cambrian Origins | |
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| Major Groups of Chordates | |
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| The Vertebrates | |
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| Lobe-Finned Aquatic Vertebrates | |
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| The Origins and Evolution of the Tetrapods | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| Are We Alone in the Universe? | |
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| Introduction | |
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| What is the Potential that Humans will Encounter Extraterrestrial Civilizations? | |
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| Radio Waves and the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence | |
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| Possible Evidence for Life in a Martian Meteorite? | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| Humanity: Origins and Prospects | |
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| Introduction | |
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| How do New Species Evolve-The Shift from Chimps to Hominids | |
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| Humans in a Changing Climate | |
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| The Current Biodiversity Crisis | |
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| Mapping a Course for Future Changes-Climate and Life | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Additional Reading | |
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| Color plate section | |
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| Index | |