A01=Michel Laurin
acanthostega
acquired limbs
actinopterygians
adaptation
Author_Michel Laurin
Category=RBX
character evolution
dinosaurs
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
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
Product details
- ISBN 9780520266476
- Weight: 544g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 02 Nov 2010
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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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.
Michel Laurin is a vertebrate paleontologist and a CNRS research scientist working in the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris.
