The Adequacy of the Fossil Record

About this book

An up-to-date review of the adequacy of the fossil record and its utility, providing a critical examination of the role and use of evidence in palaeontology. Leading authorities contribute review chapters on specific topics, assess the strengths and weaknesses of fossil evidence and provide critical essays on the research methodologies of research palaeontologists and their scientific results.

Contents

Introduction - adequacy versus incompleteness, Stephen K. Donovan and Christopher R.C. Paul; adequacy, completeness and the fossil record, Christopher R.C. Paul; determining stratugraphics ranges, Charles R. Marshall; resolution of the fossil record - the fidelity of preservation, David M. Martill; the completeness of the Pleistocene fossil record - implications for stratigraphic adequacy, Benjamin J. Greenstein et al; an overview of the completeness of the fossil record, Christopher R.C. Paul and Stephen K. Donovan; fossil solids and completeness of the rock and fossil records, Gregory J. Retallack; phylogenetic analyses and the quality of the fossil record, Peter J. Wagner; "taxonomic barriers" and other distortions within the fossil record, Carl F. Koch; patterns of occurrence of benthic Foraminifera in time and space, Stephen J. Culver and Martin A. Buzas; the fossil record of cheilostome bryozoa in the Neogene and Quaternay of tropical America - adequacy for phylogenetic and evolutionary studies, Alan H. Cheetham and Jeremy B.C. Jackson; the fossil record of bivalue molluscs, Elizabeth M. Harper; the quality of the fossil record of the vertebrates, Michael J. Benton.

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