Experimental Approaches to Understanding Fossil Organisms

Experimental Approaches to Understanding Fossil Organisms PDF

Author: Daniel I. Hembree

Publisher: Springer Science & Business

Published: 2014-04-29

Total Pages: 425

ISBN-13: 9401787212

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Paleontologists and geologists struggle with research questions often complicated by the loss or even absence of key paleobiological and paleoenvironmental information. Insight into this missing data can be gained through direct exploration of analogous living organisms and modern environments. Creative, experimental and interdisciplinary treatments of such ancient-Earth analogs form the basis of Lessons from the Living. This volume unites a diverse range of expert paleontologists, neontologists and geologists presenting case studies that cover a spectrum of topics, including functional morphology, taphonomy, environments and organism-substrate interactions.

Nearshore Marine Paleoclimatic Regions, Increasing Zoogeographic Provinciality, Molluscan Extinctions, and Paleoshorelines, California

Nearshore Marine Paleoclimatic Regions, Increasing Zoogeographic Provinciality, Molluscan Extinctions, and Paleoshorelines, California PDF

Author: Clarence A. Hall

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 502

ISBN-13: 9780813723570

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Approximately 3000 middle and late Cenozoic nearshore marine molluscan taxa from western California are assigned to six time periods, spanning ~25 m.y. In this interdisciplinary study, western California is palinspastically restored for each of the time periods by backsliding and back-rotating large fault blocks or crustal units. Marine fossil assemblages are assigned to nearshore paleoclimatic regions or water masses within palinspastically restored California. In addition, this volume reveals positive feedback mechanisms between paleolatitudinal changes in sea-surface paleotemperature gradients and changes in the diversity of marine mollusks along the California coast through time; defines "equable" based effective temperatures; and analyzes extinction rates among macroinvertebrate marine taxa from coastal California and the possible causes of these extinctions. The late Paleogene to Neogene faunas reflect an increase in faunal diversity related to strengthened temperature gradients, greater extremes in sea-surface temperatures, reduction in temperateness, and the development of an embayed California coastline.

Lanterna Rally - Theme by Grace Themes