SCIENCES
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EARTH SCIENCES |
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VERTEBRATE PALAEONTOLOGY (Third edition)Michael J. Benton (2004)Links cited in the book |
Read more about the Chengjiang site and its exceptionally preserved fossils at http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Lagerstatten/chngjang/index.html and http://www.palaeos.com/Paleozoic/Cambrian/Chengjiang.html.
Box 1.3. Genes and brainsRead more about amphioxus development at http://academic.emporia.edu/sievertl/verstruc/ammodel.htm, and new discoveries about the neural crest of basal chordates at http://anatomy.med.unsw.edu.au/cbl/embryo/Notes/ncrest.htm, and the song It's a long way from amphioxus, sung to the tune of It's a long way to Tipperary, with audio performance, at http://www.molecularevolution.org/mbl/resources/amphioxus/.
Find out more about Walking with dinosaurs, and other BBC projects on palaeontological themes, at http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life/ and my accounts of how palaeontologists worked with film producers to make the series, as well as a defence of the whole enterprise, at http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/dinosaur/walking.html.
Box 2.2. Geological timeThe 2009 Geological Society of America time scale is available at http://www.geosociety.org/science/timescale/timescl.htm. A more current time scale is the 2004 'Cambridge' time scale, a summary of which may be seen at http://www.stratigraphy.org/bak/geowhen/index.html.
Find out more about the amazing Gogo fishes at http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Lagerstatten/Gogo/index.html and http://www.heritage.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahpi/record.pl?RNE101335.
CHAPTER 4: The early tetrapods and amphibians
These web sites offer fascinating glimpses of the excitement of current work on basal tetrapods:
http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Terrestrial_Vertebrates&contgroup=Sarcopterygii,
the 'Tree of Life' pages about basal tetrapods, and with links on many of the important Palaeozoic
taxa. Read more about the origin of tetrapods at
http://carlzimmer.com/books/watersedge/index.html.
Full 3-D details of the anatomy of the living coelacanth
Latimeria are at http://digimorph.org/specimens/Latimeria_chalumnae/whole/.
Read more about the antero-posterior zonation of the limb bud and Hox gene mapping at http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/gee/shubin2.html.
Box 4.3. Tetrapods of the volcanic springs
Read more about the East Kirkton site and its tetrapod fossils at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/sci_tech/highlights/001219_blacklagoon.shtml
Box 4.5. Relationships of the basal tetrapods For more information, go to http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Terrestrial_Vertebrates&contgroup=Sarcopterygii, where a series of pages take you through an alternative cladogram of basal tetrapods, based on the work of Laurin (1998). Don't be confused by his rather heterodox use of group names such as 'Amphibia', 'Anthracosauria', and 'Tetrapoda'.Box 5.1. Relationships of early amniotes
Read more about basal amniote phylogeny at http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Amniota&contgroup=Terrestrial_vertebrates.
Box 5.2. The Bromacker locality
Read more about the Early Permian Bromacker tetrapod locality in Germany at the 'official' home pages: http://www.carnegiemnh.org/research/eudibamus/index.html and http://www.epilog.de/Dokumente/Show/Ausstellung/Prehistoric/Gotha_Ursaurier.htm. These give more information, and illustrations of the site and some of the fossils.
Box 5.3. Relationships of the synapsid groups
For more detail on the phylogeny of basal synapsids, go to http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Synapsida&contgroup=Amniota.
Box 5.5. Therapsids of the Karoo
For everything on the fossils of the Karoo, visit the web sites of the Iziko South African Museum at http://www.iziko.org.za/sam/exhib_nh.html and the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research at http://www.wits.ac.za/geosciences/bpi/research.htm.
CHAPTER 6: Tetrapods of the Triassic
Useful web pages include
http://rainbow.ldeo.columbia.edu/courses/v1001/9.html
on the Triassic and its fossil tetrapods,
http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Diapsida&contgroup=Amniota
on diapsid phylogeny, and http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/01/tet_zoo_rhynchosaurs_i.php
on rhynchosaurs. You can see a detailed 3-D dissection of the skull of the 'rauisuchian'
Saurosuchus at http://digimorph.org/specimens/Saurosuchus_galilei/.
An account of new research on dinosaur origins is at
http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/macro/origins.html.
Box 6.3. The Elgin reptiles
Read more at http://www.morayfirth-partnership.org/mfptreasure/infozone/56.htm, a very brief account of the Elgin reptiles, and http://aleph0.clarku.edu/huxley/guide6.html, a quirky guide to Thomas Henry Huxley, the great Victorian anatomist, and his early work on the Elgin reptiles.
CHAPTER 7: The evolution of fishes after the Devonian
Broad introductions to Chondrichthyes and Actinopterygii may be found at http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/basalfish/chondrofr.html
and http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/actinopterygii/actinofr.html,
and detailed cladograms at http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Actinopterygii&contgroup=Gnathostomata.
Learn more about the 3-D anatomy of modern cartilaginous and bony fishes at http://digimorph.org/listbygroup.phtml?grp=fish&sort=SpeciesName.
For the fish fanatic, 'welcome to the world of fishes' at http://www.fishbase.org/home.htm
and everything you ever wanted to know about sharks at http://www.elasmo.com/. Read about the excavation of new
Leedsichthys specimens in 2002 at http://www.nerc.ac.uk/publications/planetearth/2002/autumn/aut02-bigfish.pdf
Read more about the Bear Gulch fishes and their setting at http://www.sju.edu/research/bear_gulch and the Bearsden Stethacanthus at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stethacanthus.
Box 7.3 Cretaceous jaws!Read more about Cretaceous sharks and their dinosaurian prey at http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/evolution/cretoxyrhina.htm, http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/evolution/squalicorax.htm, http://www.oceansofkansas.com/sharks.html and http://www.oceansofkansas.com/bite.html.
Box 7.5. Semionotid species flocksRead more about the Newark Supergroup and its fish swarms at http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/mccune/spec.html.
Box 7.7. The Green River fishes of WyomingRead more, and see colour photographs of the spectacular Green River fossils at http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/tertiary/eoc/greenriver.html, http://www.fossilnews.com/2000/grnrv/grnrv.html, and http://www.fossilmuseum.net/Fossil_Galleries/GreenRiverFish.htm.
For a mass of information about plesiosaurs, go to http://www.plesiosaur.com/, and about ichthyosaurs, go to http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/people/motani/ichthyo/. Three-dimensional images of skulls of some dinosaurs and pterosaurs are at http://digimorph.org/listbygroup.phtml?grp=dinosaur&sort=SpeciesName
Section 8.6. Pterosaurs The rolling, awkward locomotion of the Early Cretaceous pterosaur Anhanguera may be viewed at http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/dinosaur/animation.html.Box 8.1. African dinosaurs and continental movements
Read more about Scott Sampson and his work on Madagascar at http://www.scottsampson.net/index.php?page=dinosaur-research.Box 8.2. Dinosaurs with feathers
Read more about the discoveries, and see colour images of the fossils at http://www.peabody.yale.edu/explore/cfd/cfd2.html and http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/dinosaurs-other-extinct-creatures/dino-birds/, and of imaginative life restorations at http://australianmuseum.net.au/Chinese-dinosaurs. All feathered dinosaurs so far reported are summarised at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feathered_dinosaurs.Box 8.3. The necks of sauropods
Explore the DinoMorph software at http://ix.cs.uoregon.edu/~kent/paleontology/dinosaurs.html, and some moving images at http://ix.cs.uoregon.edu/~kent/paleontology/new/index.html.Box 8.5. Relationships of the dinosaurs
The 2008 supertree of dinosaurs, with enormous colour phylogeny of dinosaur species, is described here http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/macro/supertree/index.html.Box 8.6. Baby dinosaurs
Read more about dinosaur eggs and embryos at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/96/dinoeggs/, and about Jack Horner and his research at http://www.museumoftherockies.org/Home/EXPLORE/Dinosaurs/PeopleinPaleo/JackHorner/tabid/389/Default.aspx and http://mtprof.msun.edu/Spr2004/horner.html. Box 8.9. Giant crocodile from Africa Read more about Sarcosuchus at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/supercroc/ and see (and hear) the beast at http://www.supercroc.com/. New and startling crocoidles from Africa were announced by Paul Sereno in November 2009 at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/091119-dinosaurs-crocodiles-missions.html. Box 8.10. The origin of snakes Read more about the earliest limbed snakes at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/680116.stm, and http://www.karencarr.com/News/legs/legged_snake.htm.Box 9.3. The wonderful birds of Liaoning
Excellent web coverage of the Liaoning bird localities and some of the specimens may be seen at http://www.peabody.yale.edu/explore/cfd/cfd2.html and http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/dinosaurs-other-extinct-creatures/dino-birds/, and of imaginative life restorations at http://australianmuseum.net.au/Chinese-dinosaurs, a general account of Enantiornithes at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enantiornithes, and a digital 3D scan of the skull of Confuciusornis at http://digimorph.org/specimens/Confuciusornis_sp./skull/.Box 9.4. Neognath relationships
Read more about the relationships of modern bird groups at at http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Neornithes&contgroup=AvesBox 9.5. Giant horse-eating birds of the Eocene
Read more about giant flesh-eating birds at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phorusrhacidae and http://darrennaish.blogspot.com/2006/11/more-on-phorusrhacids-biggest-fastest.html.
CHAPTER 10: The mammals
There are dozens of excellent web sites on mammals, including a review of the living orders at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/chordata/mammalia.html,
complete listings of all living species at http://vertebrates.si.edu/mammals/msw/
and http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biology/VHAYSSEN/msi/
, a museum exhibit at http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/mammal.html,
and images of most living mammals at http://www.mammalsociety.org/imagelibrary/index.html.
Box 10.1. Tooth occlusion in cynodonts
Read more about cynodonts at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynodont and http://www.palaeos.com/Vertebrates/Units/410Cynodontia/410.000.html.
Box 10.2. Jaw joint to middle ear
Read more about the evolution of the cynodont jaw and the mammalian auditory ossicles at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_of_mammalian_auditory_ossicles.
Box 10.3. Relationships of the Mesozoic mammals
Read more about Mesozoic mammals at http://home.arcor.de/ktdykes/meseucaz.htm and http://www.dinodata.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=43&Itemid=143.
Box 10.4. The first placental mammalRead about Eomaia, the oldest placental mammal, at http://www.carnegiemnh.org/research/eomaia/, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/04/0423_020425_firstmammal.html, and http://www.evolutionpages.com/Eomaia%20scansoria.htm.
Box 10.5. Giant ground sloth dung: a new kind of data dumpMore information, and colour photographs, of the ground sloth coprolite may be seen at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/03/0325_040325_hominiddna.html.
Box 10.8. The Messel Oil Shales - total preservation of mammalian fossilsRead more and see images of the spectacular fossils from Messel in colour at http://www.grube-messel.de/, http://www.messelmuseum.de/ and http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Lagerstatten/Messel/index.html
Box 10.10. The cave lion comes to life!There are many web sites about ancient DNA, or aDNA, frome xtinct mammals. Read a general account of ancient DNA at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_DNA, and more about the DNA of the cave lion, and other Pleistocene mammals, at http://www.uni-mainz.de/FB/Biologie/Anthropologie/MolA/English/Research/Research.html.
Box 10.11. The largest rodent ever
See colour images of the buffalo-sized guinea pig at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/09/photogalleries/giantrodent/.
CHAPTER 11: Human evolution
Complete listings of modern primate species are given at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/chordata/mammalia/primates.html,
http://www.primates.com/classification/
and http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/aboutp/taxonomy/.
An attractive overview of modern primates is http://anthro.palomar.edu/primate/.
Good accounts of hominid fossils may be read at http://www.archaeologyinfo.com/evolution.htm,
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/, and
http://www.modernhumanorigins.com/. These sites
offer broad introductions to human evolution, but also report recent discoveries in their news sections:
http://www.newscientist.com/topic/human-evolution,
http://www.becominghuman.org/, and
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life/human/human_evolution/.
Hominid skulls may be seen in 3D at http://www.anth.ucsb.edu/projects/human/.
A general account of African, or mitochontrial, Eve is given at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve, and an update to the chronology of the migration of modern humans out of Africa at http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2009/september/humans-spread-out-of-africa-later37866.html.