Mammalian paleoecology : using the past to study the present

著者

    • Smith, Felisa A.

書誌事項

Mammalian paleoecology : using the past to study the present

Felisa A. Smith

Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021

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注記

Includes bibliographical references and index

Summary: "This book provides an overview of how we obtain information from long-dead mammals and explains what this information can tell us of relevance to ongoing pressing environmental issues"-- Provided by publisher

収録内容

  • Old bones, footprints, and trace evidence of life
  • Taphonomy : putting the dead to work
  • Determining age and context
  • On being the right size
  • Show me your teeth and I will tell you what you are
  • Stable isotopes and the reconstruction of mammalian movement, diet and trophic relationships
  • Non-traditional 'fossils'
  • Reconstructing past climate
  • The past as prologue : the importance of a deeper temporal perspective in climate change research
  • Biodiversity on Earth

内容説明・目次

内容説明

What can the interactions of ancient mammals and their environments tell us about the present-and the future? Classic paleontology has focused on the study of fossils and the reconstruction of lineages of extinct species. But as diverse fossils of animals and plants were unearthed and catalogued, it became possible to reconstruct more elaborate ecosystems, tying together plants, animals, and geology. By the second half of the twentieth century, this effort gave birth to the field of paleoecology: the study of the interactions between organisms and their environments across geologic timescales. In Mammalian Paleoecology, Felisa Smith broadly considers extinct mammals in an ecological context. Arguing that the past has much to teach us and that mammals, which display an impressive array of diverse life history and ecological characteristics, are the ideal organism through which to view the fossil record, Smith * reviews the history, major fossil-hunting figures, and fundamental principles of paleoecology, including stratigraphy, dating, and taphonomy * discusses the importance of mammal body size, how to estimate size, and what size and shape reveal about long-dead organisms * explains the structure, function, and utility of different types of mammal teeth * highlights other important methods and proxies used in modern paleoecology, including stable isotopes, ancient DNA, and paleomidden analyses * assesses nontraditional fossils * presents readers with several case studies that describe how the fossil record can help inform the scientific discussion on anthropogenic climate change Mammalian Paleoecology is an approachable overview of how we obtain information from fossils and what this information can tell us about the environments of the distant past. It will profoundly affect the way paleontologists and climatologists view the lives of ancient mammals.

目次

Acknowledgements 1. Introduction Part I: General Principles of Paleoecology 2. Old Bones, footprints and trace evidence of life 3. Taphonomy -putting the dead to work 4. Determining age and context Part II: Characterizing the ecology of fossil organisms 5. On being the right size 6. Show me your teeth and I will tell you what you are 7. Stable isotopes and the reconstruction of mammalian movement, diet and trophic relationships 8. Non-traditional 'fossils' 9. Reconstructing past climate Part III: Using paleoecology to understand the present 10. The past as prologue: the importance of a deeper temporal perspective in climate change research 11. Biodiversity on Earth Index

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