Systematics and the Fossil Record: Documenting Evolutionary PatternsISBN: 978-0-632-03642-4
Paperback
232 pages
June 1994, Wiley-Blackwell
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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.