Quantifying the Evolution of Early Life Numerical Approaches to the Evaluation of Fossils and Ancient Ecosystems

About this book

This volume provides a detailed description of a wide range of numerical, statistical or modeling techniques and novel instrumentation separated into individual chapters written by paleontologists with expertise in the given methodology. Each chapter outlines the strengths and limitations of specific numerical or technological approaches, and ultimately applies the chosen method to a real fossil dataset or sample type. A unifying theme throughout the book is the evaluation of fossils during the prologue and epilogue of one of the most exciting events in Earth History: the Cambrian radiation.

Contents

PART I: NUMERICAL METHODS
1. Ordination methods and the evaluation of Ediacaran communities Matthew E. Clapham.
2. Exploratory Multivariate Techniques and their Utility for Understanding Ancient Ecosystems John W. Huntley
3. Morphometrics in the Study of Ediacaran Fossil Forms Marc Laflamme and Michelle M. Casey.
4. Analyzing Predation from the Dawn of the Phanerozoic Lindsey R. Leighton
5. Ecospace Utilization during the Ediacaran Radiation and the Cambrian Eco-plosion Andrew M. Bush, Richard K. Bambach, and Douglas H. Erwin
6. Quantifying Bioturbation in Ediacaran and Cambrian Rocks Katherine N. Marenco and David J. Bottjer
7. Assessing the role of skeletons in Early Paleozoic carbonate production: Insights from Cambro-Ordovician strata, western Newfoundland Sara B. Pruss and Hannah Clemente
8. Exploring the Ecological Dynamics of Extinction Amelinda E. Webb and Lindsey R. Leighton
9. Fossils with Little Relief -- Using Lasers to Conserve, Image, and Analyse the Ediacara biota Jonathan B. Antcliffe and Martin D. Brasier

PART II: TECHNOLOGICAL APPROACHES
10. Confocal laser scanning microscopy and Raman (and fluorescence) spectroscopic imagery of permineralized Cambrian and Neoproterozoic fossils J. William Schopf and Anatoliy B. Kudryavtsev
11. X-ray microanalysis of Burgess Shale and similarly preserved fossils Patrick J. Orr and Stuart Kearns
12. Ultrastructural Approaches to the Microfossil Record: Assessing Biological Affinities by use of Transmission Electron Microscopy Sebastian Willman and Phoebe A. Cohen
13. Paleobiological applications of focused ion beam electron microscopy (FIB-EM): An ultrastructural approach to the (micro)fossil record James D. Schiffbauer and Shuhai Xiao
14. Reconstructing deep-time biology with molecular fossils Christian Hallmann, Amy Kelly, S. Neal Gupta, and Roger E. Summons
15. Carbon and Sulfur Stable Isotopic Systems and Their Application in Paleoenvironmental Analysis Kathleen A. McFadden and Amy E. Kelly

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