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This text sets out to establish the key role played by systematics in deciphering the patterns of evolution from the fossil record. It argues that evolutionary trees, constructed from combining phylogenetic and biostratigraphic data, provide the best approach for investigating patterns of evolution through geologic time.
`...has the potential to become the standard reference on the subject - required reading for all palaeontologists. Indeed, I can envisage a state of affairs where no-one will dare use taxonomic data from the fossil record to address evolutionary questions without first checking Smith to ensure that their methods are legal.' DEG Briggs, University of Bristol.