How vertebrates left the water [[electronic resource] /] / Michel Laurin

• Autore: Laurin Michel
• Pubblicazione: Berkeley, : University of California Press, c2010
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (217 p.)
• Disciplina: 596.13/8
• Soggetto topico: Vertebrates - Evolution; Evolution
• Soggetto non controllato: acanthostega; acquired limbs; actinopterygians; adaptation; character evolution; dinosaurs; evolution; evolutionary history; evolutionary processes; evolutionary science; extant species; extant vertebrates; extinct animals; finned vertebrates; fossils; geology; life on earth; life sciences; limbs; molecular dating; nonfiction; paleontological dating; paleontology; phylogeny; popular science; science; tetrapods; vertebrate animals; vertebrates; zoology
• Note generali: Translation of: Systématique, paleontologie et biologie evolutive moderne : l'exemple de la sortie des eaux chez les vertebres. 2008.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. How Can We Reconstruct Evolutionary History? -- 2. How Can We Reconstruct Evolutionary History? -- 3. Paleontological Context -- 4. Vertebrate Limb Evolution -- 5. Diversity of Paleozoic Stegocephalians -- 6. Adaptations to Life on Land -- 7. Synthesis and Conclusion -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: More than three hundred million years ago-a relatively recent date in the two billion years since life first appeared-vertebrate animals first ventured onto land. This usefully illustrated book describes how some finned vertebrates acquired limbs, giving rise to more than 25,000 extant tetrapod species. Michel Laurin uses paleontological, geological, physiological, and comparative anatomical data to describe this monumental event. He summarizes key concepts of modern paleontological research, including biological nomenclature, paleontological and molecular dating, and the methods used to infer phylogeny and character evolution. Along with a discussion of the evolutionary pressures that may have led vertebrates onto dry land, the book also shows how extant vertebrates yield clues about the conquest of land and how scientists uncover evolutionary history.
• Titolo autorizzato: How vertebrates left the water
• ISBN: 1-282-79024-2; 9786612790249; 0-520-94798-3
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910814320403321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II