Systematics and the Fossil Record - documenting evolutionary patterns

Smith, Andrew B.

ISBN 10: 0632036427 / ISBN 13: 9780632036424

Published by Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, 1994

About this Item

Illustrated with charts and diagrams, large octavo, pp viii, 223, slightly age-toned at the margins, otherwise extremely clean internally, paperback, slight creasing to the rear cover. [ The text sets out to establish the key role played by systematics in deciphering patterns of evolution from the fossil record. It begins by considering the nature of the species in the fossil record and then outlines recent advances in the methodology used to establish phylogenetics relationships, stressing why fossil evidence can be crucial. The way species are grouped into higher taxa, and how this affects their utility in evolutionary studies is also discussed. Because the fossil record abounds with sampling and preservational biases, the book emphasizes that observed patterns can rarely be taken at face value. It is argued that evolutionary trees, constructed from combining phylogenetic and biostratigraphic data, provide the best approach for investigating patterns of evolution through geological time. The only integrated text covering the study of evolutionary patterns from a phylogenetic stance.].

Seller Inventory # 018993

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Systematics and the Fossil Record - documenting evolutionary patterns
• Publisher: Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford
• Publication Date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0632036427
• ISBN 13: 9780632036424
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: First British edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Geology
  • Science
  • Evolution

About this title

Synopsis

This new text sets out to establish the key role played by systematics in deciphering patterns of evolution from the fossil record. It begins by considering the nature of the species in the fossil record and then outlines recent advances in the methodology used to establish phylogenetics relationships, stressing why fossil evidence can be crucial. The way species are grouped into higher taxa, and how this affects their utility in evolutionary studies is also discussed. Because the fossil record abounds with sampling and preservational biases, the book emphasizes that observed patterns can rarely be taken at face value. It is argued that evolutionary trees, constructed from combining phylogenetic and biostratigraphic data, provide the best approach for investigating patterns of evolution through geologic time.

• The only integrated text covering the study of evolutionary patterns from a phylogenetic stance.

About the Author

Andrew B. Smith is associate professor in the Archaeology Department, University of Cape Town, South Africa. He received his Ph.D. in 1974 from the University of California, Berkeley, and has taught and worked in the United States, and many countries in north, west and southern Africa.