Fossil Primates
Fossil Primates
Reconstructing the paleobiology of fossil non-human primates, this book is intended as an exposition of non-human primate evolution that includes information about evolutionary theory and processes, paleobiology, paleoenvironment, how fossils are formed, how fossils illustrate evolutionary processes, the reconstruction of life from fossils, the formation of the primate fossil record, functional anatomy, and the genetic bases of anatomy. Throughout, the emphasis of the book is on the biology of fossil primates, not their taxonomic classification or systematics, or formal species descriptions. The author draws detailed pictures of the paleoenvironment of fossil primates, including contemporary animals and plants, and ancient primate communities, emphasizing our ability to reconstruct lifeways from fragmentary bones and teeth, using functional anatomy, stable isotopes from enamel and collagen, and high resolution CT-scans of the cranium. Fossil Primates will be essential reading for advanced undergraduates and graduate students in evolutionary anthropology, primatology and vertebrate paleobiology.
- Discusses the genetic bases underlying anatomy in an evolutionary development ('evo-devo') framework – novel anatomical structures are explained in connection with the exploding field of experimental embryology
- Investigates how fossil primates fit within evolutionary patterns seen among other mammals - species and speciation, extinction, and rates of evolutionary change are examined
- Examines the formation of fossils and the nature of the fossil record – by incorporating geological processes with paleontology, the reader can easily understand how fossil primates can preserve events of the past
Reviews & endorsements
'… students will get a lively introduction to some of the palaeobiology and geographical/ecological context of many of our non-hominin fossil relatives.' Todd C. Rae, Primate Eye
Product details
June 2015Hardback
9781107005303
316 pages
253 × 178 × 18 mm
0.78kg
103 b/w illus. 8 tables
Available
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1. Introduction: primates in evolutionary time
- 2. Primate taxonomy
- 3. Fossils and fossilization
- 4. The world of the past
- 5. The lifeways of extinct animals
- 6. Evolutionary processes and the pattern of primate evolution
- 7. Primate origins
- 8. The Paleocene primate radiation
- 9. The Eocene primate radiation
- 10. The Malagasy primate radiation
- 11. The Oligocene bottleneck
- 12. Rise of the anthropoids
- 13. The platyrrhine radiation
- 14. The Miocene hominoid radiation
- 15. The cercopithecoid radiation
- 16. Late Cenozoic climate changes
- 17. Conclusions
- References
- Index.
