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41. Vertebrate paleontology
$37.00
42. Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages:
$40.00
43. Vertebrate Life (6th Edition)
$26.00
44. Fossils in the Making: Vertebrate
 
45. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
$102.77
46. Hominin Environments in the East
 
47. Paleontology and geology of the
$37.30
48. Major Transitions in Vertebrate
 
49. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
 
50. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology,
 
51. Journal of Vertebrate PaleontologyVol.
 
52. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology:
 
53. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
 
54. Vertebrate fauna of the Orindan
 
55. Man and the vertebrates
$198.75
56. Colbert's Evolution of the Vertebrates:
$72.00
57. Functional Morphology in Vertebrate
 
58. Journal of Vertebrate PaleontologyVol.
 
59. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology:
$130.00
60. Before the Backbone: Views on

41. Vertebrate paleontology
by Alfred Sherwood ROMER
 Hardcover: 486 Pages (1960)

Isbn: 7766584433
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

42. Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages: Their Role in Paleoecology and Paleobiogeography (Life of the Past)
Hardcover: 296 Pages (2008-03-27)
list price: US$59.95 -- used & new: US$37.00
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0253349273
Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan
Editorial Review

Product Description
This volume presents state-of-the-art papers on important topics and methods in the analysis of vertebrate microfossil assemblages. The minute remains of animals and plants have proven very useful to paleontologists as tools for dating large fossils, describing the environments which existed at the time the fossils were deposited, and identifying and mapping the extent of local floras and faunas, among other things. Due to the large sample sizes that can be obtained, the chance to recover rare taxa is much higher than it is during a search for skeletal remains. Analysis of the data produced from microvertebrate localities can address a wide range of questions as these papers clearly demonstrate. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

4-0 out of 5 stars Good for dinosaur fans
A nice assortment of papers with emphasis on dinosaurs from the Cretaceous. While I sympathize with workers whose favorite taxa or time periods are not discussed in the studies contained in this volume, I think it's unfair to criticize this work too heavily in this regard. After all, giving adequate coverage to 500 million years of Earth history in any one volume always omits far more than it includes. It would be nice, for instance, to see someone give a modern treatment to the vast Permian microfossil record (especially the Russian record which is barely touched in English), but I suppose that volume has still to be written. It's worth noting, too, that this volume is a collection of papers and not a textbook. The papers themselves are generally thorough and well illustrated, but are not meant to be a breakthrough synthesis of microfossil applications. Perhaps a more accurate title would avoid confusion, but that's why I always look at the table of contents before I buy a book since you can't judge a book by its cover. Highly recommended for dinosaur fans.

2-0 out of 5 stars Quite the disappointment
I was quite disappointed in this book, mainly because the title is rather misleading.It should have been called "Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages: Their Role in CRETACEOUS Paleoecology and Paleobiogeography"!I work on Devonian fish where the only things found are microvert `parts'.I was hoping for a more comprehensive volume devoted to microvert recovery, methodology and significance, not one so limited in scope.The first part is devoted to some of that, but it only covers the first 17 pages.The next 230 pages are devoted to specific localities that produce land verts; only one mentions anything about fish.Because of the rarity of macrofossils in general, I'm sure that this would be a valuable addition to the Cretaceous dinosaur, amphibian or bird field paleontologist who values these underrated treasures.However, the volume is nearly useless to other microvertebrate workers and amateurs who key in on larger fossils.I didn't derive any new methodologies from this volume that could be applied to other studies.I remember receiving a flyer from Indiana U Press last summer and the excitement it spawned after seeing this title listed as an upcoming volume.Then, it was postponed at least twice.Unfortunately, it was not worth the wait.While this is hardly important to a scientist, to top-it-all-off, the cover looks like it was designed by a high school art class. ... Read more


43. Vertebrate Life (6th Edition)
by F. H. Pough, Christine M Janis, John B. Heiser
Hardcover: 768 Pages (2001-08-08)
list price: US$110.00 -- used & new: US$40.00
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0130412481
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan
Editorial Review

Product Description
Widely praised for its comprehensive coverage and exceptionallyclear writing style, this best-selling exploration of vertebrate life is the only accurate and up-to-date treatment of vertebrates that employs a phylogenetic perspective and focuses on how vertebrates work, integrating ecology, behavior, anatomy, and physiology in an evolutionary context.A new chapter on conservation draws together information about the basic biology of vertebrates and shows how it is essential for biological and regulatory decisions that affect the survival of species. Discussions of anatomy, physiology, and behavior are placed in an evolutionary context, showing readers how animals work and how they got to be the way they are. Contains information about conservation and endangered species status—related to the basic biology of the groups stresses the importance of good biological information for management and legislation. Features a Cladistic perspective which reflects the widespread adoption of phylogenetic systematics (cladistics) as the basis for determining the evolutionary relationships of organisms. Includes emphasis on conservation—Includes the application of basic biological information about organisms in programs of captive husbandry and management of threatened and endangered species.For professionals in the fields of Vertebrate Zoology, Vertebrate Biology Function, as well as Paleontology and Herpetology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

5-0 out of 5 stars Text book
This is the second time I have purchased a textbook for my son who is at university.Even with the shipping costs, the text is generally quite a bit cheaper than what he would pay at the university.
It came promptly and was new, so in excellent shape.
He still has 2 years of study left before he gets his degree, so we will be using Amazon to look for any other texts books he may need.
We have reccomended Amazon to all his friends.
Thank you,
F. McQuiggin
Winnipeg, Canada

5-0 out of 5 stars M. Karrr. Please take a moment TO THINK!
M. Karr. Sigh..... Are you so dense that you would damage the efforts of gifted academics such as Ms. Janis because you have an issue with the publisher? I mean, do you think that Ms. Janis is actively consulted in their ostensibly heinous marketing maneuvers? Have you ever considered that a good book might be owned by a greedy publisher?

1-0 out of 5 stars DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!!!
Unless this book is specifically required by a class in which you're currently enrolled, you should NOT buy this book!I bought this book, but when I went to their website to download the web content, Pearson told me that ONLY qualified employed instructors were allowed to not only look at the content, but download it as well.This INCLUDES ALL OF THE COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE BOOK.They published the book in two-colour ink, black and blue, to save on costs by providing the colour images from their website.You will not be given access to these colour images by the publishers!!!In my opinion, this publisher is just ripping off people's money, and giving them a misrepresented product which is inferior in quality.If you have a choice of which vertebrate zoology text to buy, DO NOT BUY ONE FROM PEARSON PUBLISHING!!!They're still giving me the runaround just to even LOOK at the pictures from this textbook which I already purchased($>100!!!).I may end up returning it if no resolution is reached!!!

4-0 out of 5 stars Enthusiastically recommended as a college-level text.
Vertebrate Life would serve as an excellent upper-level college textbook to anyone interested in becoming informed about vertebrates.Professionally, I am a physicist, who after visiting the American Museum ofNatural History's Hall of Vertebrates, wanted to learn more about thesubject.Even after reading Vertebrate Life, I don't think that I couldpoint out the squamate bone on a fossilized skull.On the other hand, with733 pages, it is unfair to critize this book about a lack of coverage!Theauthors provide several pages of excellent references at the end of eachchapter.So, if I really wanted to be able to identify a squamate bone,I'm sure that I could have found out from one of references. However, Iwas troubled by a number of typos, some of the them serious.Figure 15-3appears to have the second half of the figure repeated as the first half. It would have been nice to see missing illustrations.Figure 3-6bidentifies the Otic capsule as "Optic capsule" at one point. This confused me for a while. Even with all this, I was fascinated by whatI read, and read the entire book, cover to cover, all 733 pages worth. Forthe serious student of our natural world, I would recommend spending fullprice for this book, and plan on spending more than a few hours with it. ... Read more


44. Fossils in the Making: Vertebrate Taphonomy and Paleoecology (Prehistoric Archeology and Ecology series)
by Anna K. Behrensmeyer, Andrew P. Hill
Paperback: 345 Pages (1988-02-15)
list price: US$30.00 -- used & new: US$26.00
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0226041530
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan
Editorial Review

Product Description

One of the first interdisciplinary discussions of taphonomy (the study of how fossil assemblages are formed) and paleoecology (the reconstruction of ancient ecosystems), this volume helped establish these relatively new disciplines. It was originally published as part of the influential Prehistoric Archeology and Ecology series.

"Taphonomy is plainly here to stay, and this book makes a first class introduction to its range and appeal."—Anthony Smith, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews
... Read more

45. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Volume 26 Number 4 -- 11 Dec. 2006
by Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
 Paperback: Pages (2006)

Asin: B000UD4SYG
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan
Editorial Review

Product Description
Magazine -- retails $70.00 issue ... Read more


46. Hominin Environments in the East African Pliocene: An Assessment of the Faunal Evidence (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology)
Paperback: 356 Pages (2010-11-02)
list price: US$129.00 -- used & new: US$102.77
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 9048167914
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan
Editorial Review

Product Description

This volume presents the work of researchers at many sites spanning the East African Pliocene. The authors take a broad approach that seeks to compare paleoenvironmental and paleoecological patterns across localities and among various taxonomic groups. This volume aims to synthesize large amounts of faunal data, and to present the evolution of East African vertebrates in the context of environmental and climatic changes during the Pliocene.

... Read more

47. Paleontology and geology of the Bridger Formation, southern Green River Basin, southwestern Wyoming (Contributions in biology and geology)
by Robert M West
 Paperback: 47 Pages (1984)
list price: US$6.95
Isbn: 0893260991
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

48. Major Transitions in Vertebrate Evolution (Life of the Past)
Hardcover: 432 Pages (2007-08-21)
list price: US$49.95 -- used & new: US$37.30
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0253349265
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan
Editorial Review

Product Description
New discoveries of ancient vertebrates, filling in gaps in the fossil record, are quickly eroding the traditionally recognized differences between the principal groups of vertebrates--for example, between dinosaurs and birds--and radically changing our understanding of the evolutionary history of the major group of animals to which our species belongs. This book describes this changing scientific landscape and contributes to the revolution in our knowledge of the developmental mechanisms that underlie evolutionary transformation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

5-0 out of 5 stars Vertebrate evolution revisited
"Major Transitions in Vertebrate Evolution" is a collection of excellent, state-of-the-art reviews of aspects of some of the principal transitions in the evolutionary history of vertebrates. In recent years, traditional research on the fossil record of many groups of vertebrates has been augmented by studies in the emerging discipline of 'evo-devo,' which utilizes sophisticated tools to explore the underlying controls of and pathways for the ontogenetic development of anatomical features. This combination of approaches has led to a veritable renaissance in the study of vertebrate evolution. The contributions in the present volume require solid grounding in the comparative anatomy and paleontology of vertebrates, and thus the book is definitely aimed at the advanced student and specialist. I particularly enjoyed the chapters by Hall and Witten on skeletal tissues, Janvier's magisterial review of the origin and early evolutionary history of vertebrates, and Caldwell's synopsis of thinking about the origin and evolution of snakes. The volume is beautifully produced and includes a section with superb color photographs. I definitely recommend it to any serious student of vertebrate biology and evolution.

3-0 out of 5 stars More like a few important transitions
This book contains excellent, college-level material.It is well-written, current, and thorough.However, I was disappointed by the misleading term 'major.'To me, this category includes the transition to warm-blood, emergence upon land, adoption of ruminant lifestyle with symbiotic bacteria, bipedalism, live-birth, and flight.The book is focused on anatomy (bone, cartilage, teeth), and of these topics only discusses flight (evolution of birds).Apparently physiology and ecology are not relevant. ... Read more


49. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Volume 27 Number 1 -- 12 March 2007
by Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
 Paperback: Pages (2007)

Asin: B000UD6CP4
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan
Editorial Review

Product Description
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology magazine ... Read more


50. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Supplement to Vol. 23 No. 3 Sept. 2003
by N/A
 Paperback: Pages (2003-01-01)

Asin: B003JDU4OC
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

51. Journal of Vertebrate PaleontologyVol. 21 No. 4 14December 20019th International Meeting on Early Vertebrates / Lower Vertebrates ISSN 0272-4634
by Staff of Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
 Paperback: Pages (2001)

Asin: B000U8C9YW
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

52. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology: Volume 20, Number 2, 27 June 2000
by N/A
 Paperback: Pages (2000)

Asin: B0042KKYQO
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

53. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Volume 25 Number 4 -- 30 Dec. 2005
by Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
 Paperback: 250 Pages (2005)

Asin: B002RNVCR8
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan
Editorial Review

Product Description
Magazine. ISSN 0272-4634 . Wang Et al-Galeaspid Histology and Homology. Gallo-Lepidotes from Brazil. Friedman and Johnson-New Species of Mene. Danilov and Parham-Uzbekistan Turtle Skull. Barrett Et Al. Cranial Osteology of Lufengosaurus. Jurassic Ornithischians from China. Ne information on Segisaurus. Megalosaur postcranial Osteology. Acrocanthosaurus Endocast. Morphology in Tyrannosaurus. Dental Morphology in Tyrannosaurus. Skull of spinosaurus. And More. ... Read more


54. Vertebrate fauna of the Orindan and Siestan beds in middle California (University of California, Berkeley University of California publications on geological sciences)
by John C Merriam
 Paperback: 385 Pages (1913)

Asin: B000872A7Q
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

55. Man and the vertebrates
by Alfred Sherwood Romer
 Paperback: Pages (1963)

Asin: B000859R24
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

56. Colbert's Evolution of the Vertebrates: A History of the Backboned Animals Through Time
by Edwin H. Colbert, Michael Morales, Eli C. Minkoff
Hardcover: 576 Pages (2001-12-15)
-- used & new: US$198.75
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0471384615
Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan
Editorial Review

Product Description
Vertebrate evolution is studied through comparative anatomy and functional morphology of existing vertebrates as well as fossil records. Since the publication of the previous edition of Colbert’s Evolution of the Vertebrates: A History of the Backboned Animals Through Time, there have been significant advances in the knowledge surrounding backboned animals. This latest edition of the classic text is completely revised to offer the most recent discoveries in this continually evolving field of science.Covering the various aspects of vertebrate life, from skeletal system to ecology, behavior, and physiology, the Fifth Edition includes new sections on conodonts, dinosaurs, primates, and the origin of birds, and discusses:

  • Analysis of morphological and molecular data
  • Early diversification of vertebrates
  • The evolution of dinosaurs
  • The origin of mammals
  • Early ruling reptiles
  • Basic adaptation of ungulates

Colbert’s Evolution of the Vertebrates, Fifth Edition carries on its legacy as an invaluable reference for professionals in evolutionary biology and paleontology, as well as an ideal textbook for students in those fields. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

1-0 out of 5 stars Obsolete!
I agree with Protero that this book is out-of-date.While I am not a paleontologist or even a biologist, I've noticed several glaring errors, such as the continued use of the phylogenetically incorrect term "mammal-like reptiles" for basal synapsids and therapsids and the inexplicable lumping together of Nimravidae and Felidae (the author speaks as if the nimravids and true saber-toothed cats such as Smilodon were the same lineage).The book seems to have a lot of good information, but I'm not sure what content I can trust.Perhaps it would be helpful in combination with a couple other solid vertebrate paleontology books for cross-reference, but I cannot recommend it alone.

1-0 out of 5 stars Badly dated--should not have been published
I knew and liked Ned Colbert, and loved the early editions of this once-classic book. He passed away on November 15, 2001, shortly after this edition appeared, so it makes it even more difficult to be honest and frank. But it is necessary, since this is a clear case of a publisher trying to push an outdated, badly conceived project on the market, and few but professional vertebrate paleontologists will realize how problematic this book has become.
In its first edition (written in 1955), Colbert's Evolution of the Vertebrates was an excellent non-technical review of vertebrate evolution as it was known almost 50 years ago. The second (1969) edition and third (1980) edition began to become more and more outdated, since Colbert retired in the 1960s, and became less and less connected to the latest developments (both in discoveries and in philosophy) that had occurred in vertebrate paleontology. By the time of the fourth edition (published in 1991), the publisher brought in Mike Morales as a younger co-author, but it made no difference-the book was badly out of date in both its approach and its facts. Most of us hoped that this would be its last edition, since there was little that could be done to salvage it. But in this edition, they have added a third author, Eli Minkoff, a biologist who is not a vertebrate paleontologist and who clearly has not kept up with the important developments that have occurred in the past decades. Consequently, the book is full of errors of both omission and commission in every chapter, and should not have been published, let alone used by anyone to teach a modern course in fossil vertebrates.
The problems are so numerous that I cannot list them all in a brief review, but I will mention a few of the more important ones here. It starts with the authors' ambivalence toward the cladistic revolution, which in the past 20 years has completely transformed the way we think about fossil vertebrates. In places, they attempt to be current by paying lip-service to cladograms, but their fundamentally old-fashioned philosophy is unchanged everywhere else. On page 16, they mention (but never explain) cladistics in one brief paragraph, and then throughout the book they place Colbert's 50-year-old diagrams (with no resolution of phylogenetic relationships) side-by-side with a cladogram of some of the same taxa-or use one of the outdated diagrams with no attempt to show more recent hypotheses at all. Again and again, they make anachronistic statements suggesting that we can't know anything about phylogeny because of a lack of a suitable ancestor, or statements like "no clear indication of relationships among gnathostomous fishes can be determined from their stratigraphic order of occurrence in the rocks" (p. 48)-as if it ever could in a group with such a poor fossil record!
Certainly, they have a right to disagree with the prevailing philosophy in their profession if they so choose, although they end up painting a very unrepresentative and inaccurate picture of what we have learned as a consequence. Even more disturbing is the clear evidence that none of the authors keep up with the new discoveries made in past 20 years. Certainly, I haven't seen any of them at the meetings of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology during that time, and apparently they don't read the journals, either. It is jarring to read, page after page, statements, ideas, or taxonomic concepts that have become grossly outdated, and should have disappeared long ago. Among the numerous examples are: the discredited notion that jaws are derived from gill arches (p. 38); Romer's idea that tetrapods left the water to escape drying pools, or chase prey, when all the recent discoveries of Acanthostega show that the tetrapod limb appeared in fully aquatic animals long before there was any need to crawl out on land (p. 85); the idea that anthracosaurs like Seymouria had anything to do with amniote origins, when recent discoveries like Westlothiana (not even mentioned in this book) have shifted the focus elsewhere (p. 105); the failure to note (p. 154) that the latest fossils show that snakes are descended from mosasaurs; a grossly antiquated approach to Mesozoic mammals and their relationships in Chapter 19, with almost no mention of the last decade of amazing discoveries; a carnivore "phylogeny" (p. 379) that treats "Fissipedia" as a natural group, and fails to show that pinnipeds are clearly descended from bears, not from the carnivoran stem; no mention (p. 394) of Ambulocetus and all the other recent spectacular transitional whale discoveries (all published long before this book went to press); the outdated notion (p. 428) that protoceratids are related to tragulids, rather than camels; the idea that perissodactyls have anything to do with phenacodonts (p. 452), instead of the recent discoveries of Chinese taxa like Radinskya, which point in a whole new direction; the outdated idea (p. 467) that brontotheres survived the Eocene (thanks to revisions of the time scale completed a decade ago), or that chalicotheres dug up roots (p. 469) with their peculiar claws (debunked by Coombs 20 years ago); the complete failure to mention (p. 480) all the new primitive elephants like Numidotherium and Phosphatherium, which push proboscideans back to the Paleocene of North Africa. The list could go on and on, but these are among the more glaring examples of a failure to recognize or incorporate any of the past 20 years of discoveries.
Equally jarring is the repeated use of taxa that were manifestly unnatural even in 1955, and have not been used by vertebrate paleontologists in many years. The examples are too numerous to mention, but it feels like going through a time warp to read about "chondrosteans," "holosteans," "labyrinthodonts," "thecodonts," "Prototheria," "eupantotheres," "condylarths," "palaeodonts," as if anyone still practicing vertebrate paleontology took those taxa seriously. Symptomatic of this problem is the use of the archaic term "mammal-like reptiles," a misnomer that reflects several serious misconceptions. Synapsids (the "mammal-like reptiles") and the true reptiles are two distinct lineages that originated separately and simultaneously in the mid-Carboniferous, so synapsids have never been members of, or descended from reptiles (in even the broadest sense of the word). Call them "protomammals" if you will-but they are not, and have never been, reptiles!
These problems might not matter if this were just a trade book intended for the popular audience, who might not care if it is accurate or up-to-date in every detail. But I know of several institutions where paleontologists (not vertebrate paleontologists) still use this book to teach classes in vertebrate evolution, completely unaware of how grossly outdated this book had become. Nor is it the only choice on the market written at this level. Michael Benton's Vertebrate Paleontology (2nd edition, 2000, Blackwell) is fully up-to-date and much more affordable [...]. Clearly, the editors at Wiley-Liss are trying to extend their franchise long beyond its useful life, and instead of consulting with qualified vertebrate paleontologists who could have made the book up-to-date, they foisted this sad shadow of a former classic on the unsuspecting profession.

Donald R. Prothero
Department of Geology
Occidental College
Los Angeles, CA 90041
[....]

1-0 out of 5 stars Badly dated--should not have been published
I knew and liked Ned Colbert, and loved the early editions of this once-classic book. He passed away on November 15, 2001, shortly after this edition appeared, so it makes it even more difficult to be honest and frank. But it is necessary, since this is a clear case of a publisher trying to push an outdated, badly conceived project on the market, and few but professional vertebrate paleontologists will realize how problematic this book has become.
In its first edition (written in 1955), Colbert's Evolution of the Vertebrates was an excellent non-technical review of vertebrate evolution as it was known almost 50 years ago. The second (1969) edition and third (1980) edition began to become more and more outdated, since Colbert retired in the 1960s, and became less and less connected to the latest developments (both in discoveries and in philosophy) that had occurred in vertebrate paleontology. By the time of the fourth edition (published in 1991), the publisher brought in Mike Morales as a younger co-author, but it made no difference-the book was badly out of date in both its approach and its facts. Most of us hoped that this would be its last edition, since there was little that could be done to salvage it. But in this edition, they have added a third author, Eli Minkoff, a biologist who is not a vertebrate paleontologist and who clearly has not kept up with the important developments that have occurred in the past decades. Consequently, the book is full of errors of both omission and commission in every chapter, and should not have been published, let alone used by anyone to teach a modern course in fossil vertebrates.
The problems are so numerous that I cannot list them all in a brief review, but I will mention a few of the more important ones here. It starts with the authors' ambivalence toward the cladistic revolution, which in the past 20 years has completely transformed the way we think about fossil vertebrates. In places, they attempt to be current by paying lip-service to cladograms, but their fundamentally old-fashioned philosophy is unchanged everywhere else. On page 16, they mention (but never explain) cladistics in one brief paragraph, and then throughout the book they place Colbert's 50-year-old diagrams (with no resolution of phylogenetic relationships) side-by-side with a cladogram of some of the same taxa-or use one of the outdated diagrams with no attempt to show more recent hypotheses at all. Again and again, they make anachronistic statements suggesting that we can't know anything about phylogeny because of a lack of a suitable ancestor, or statements like "no clear indication of relationships among gnathostomous fishes can be determined from their stratigraphic order of occurrence in the rocks" (p. 48)-as if it ever could in a group with such a poor fossil record!
Certainly, they have a right to disagree with the prevailing philosophy in their profession if they so choose, although they end up painting a very unrepresentative and inaccurate picture of what we have learned as a consequence. Even more disturbing is the clear evidence that none of the authors keep up with the new discoveries made in past 20 years. Certainly, I haven't seen any of them at the meetings of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology during that time, and apparently they don't read the journals, either. It is jarring to read, page after page, statements, ideas, or taxonomic concepts that have become grossly outdated, and should have disappeared long ago. Among the numerous examples are: the discredited notion that jaws are derived from gill arches (p. 38); Romer's idea that tetrapods left the water to escape drying pools, or chase prey, when all the recent discoveries of Acanthostega show that the tetrapod limb appeared in fully aquatic animals long before there was any need to crawl out on land (p. 85); the idea that anthracosaurs like Seymouria had anything to do with amniote origins, when recent discoveries like Westlothiana (not even mentioned in this book) have shifted the focus elsewhere (p. 105); the failure to note (p. 154) that the latest fossils show that snakes are descended from mosasaurs; a grossly antiquated approach to Mesozoic mammals and their relationships in Chapter 19, with almost no mention of the last decade of amazing discoveries; a carnivore "phylogeny" (p. 379) that treats "Fissipedia" as a natural group, and fails to show that pinnipeds are clearly descended from bears, not from the carnivoran stem; no mention (p. 394) of Ambulocetus and all the other recent spectacular transitional whale discoveries (all published long before this book went to press); the outdated notion (p. 428) that protoceratids are related to tragulids, rather than camels; the idea that perissodactyls have anything to do with phenacodonts (p. 452), instead of the recent discoveries of Chinese taxa like Radinskya, which point in a whole new direction; the outdated idea (p. 467) that brontotheres survived the Eocene (thanks to revisions of the time scale completed a decade ago), or that chalicotheres dug up roots (p. 469) with their peculiar claws (debunked by Coombs 20 years ago); the complete failure to mention (p. 480) all the new primitive elephants like Numidotherium and Phosphatherium, which push proboscideans back to the Paleocene of North Africa. The list could go on and on, but these are among the more glaring examples of a failure to recognize or incorporate any of the past 20 years of discoveries.
Equally jarring is the repeated use of taxa that were manifestly unnatural even in 1955, and have not been used by vertebrate paleontologists in many years. The examples are too numerous to mention, but it feels like going through a time warp to read about "chondrosteans," "holosteans," "labyrinthodonts," "thecodonts," "Prototheria," "eupantotheres," "condylarths," "palaeodonts," as if anyone still practicing vertebrate paleontology took those taxa seriously. Symptomatic of this problem is the use of the archaic term "mammal-like reptiles," a misnomer that reflects several serious misconceptions. Synapsids (the "mammal-like reptiles") and the true reptiles are two distinct lineages that originated separately and simultaneously in the mid-Carboniferous, so synapsids have never been members of, or descended from reptiles (in even the broadest sense of the word). Call them "protomammals" if you will-but they are not, and have never been, reptiles!
These problems might not matter if this were just a trade book intended for the popular audience, who might not care if it is accurate or up-to-date in every detail. But I know of several institutions where paleontologists (not vertebrate paleontologists) still use this book to teach classes in vertebrate evolution, completely unaware of how grossly outdated this book had become. Nor is it the only choice on the market written at this level. Michael Benton's Vertebrate Paleontology (2nd edition, 2000, Blackwell) is fully up-to-date and much more affordable (especially since Wiley is charging $145 for this book!). Clearly, the editors at Wiley-Liss are trying to extend their franchise long beyond its useful life, and instead of consulting with qualified vertebrate paleontologists who could have made the book up-to-date, they foisted this sad shadow of a former classic on the unsuspecting profession ...

5-0 out of 5 stars Clear and Insightful
"The book points out very cleary the climatic and geological conditions, and environment that allowed the various taxa of vertebrates to evolve and thrive.The clarity and insightfulness of the authors are highly recommended." --W.H. Tam, University of Western Ontario

5-0 out of 5 stars Great Book!
"Eminently readable and lavishly illustrated (with Lois Darling's classic drawings of reconstructed species plus up-to-date cladograms), Colbert's Evolution of the Vertebrates is the perfect book for students of vertebrate paleontology. Unlike encyclopedic reference texts which are full of confusing jargon, this is a book that can be read by the non-specialist.Colbert tells--and shows--the fascinating story of vertebrate evolution and diversity, with all of the major groups represented. With thorough yet uncluttered text and well-chosen figures, with complete coverage of paleoecology, stratigraphy, and taphonomy, this book is perfect for anyone who wishes to learn more about our "extended" family tree." --Alexander J. Werth, Ph.D., Hampden-Sydney College ... Read more


57. Functional Morphology in Vertebrate Paleontology
Paperback: 296 Pages (1997-10-28)
list price: US$80.00 -- used & new: US$72.00
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0521629217
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Editorial Review

Product Description
A crucial task for paleontologists and paleobiologists is the reconstruction of the appearance, movements, and behavior of extinct vertebrates from studies of their bones or other, more rarely preserved parts. A related issue is the boundary between the scientific evidence for reconstruction and the need to resort to imagination. In this book, sixteen paleontologists and biologists discuss these questions, review the current status of functional studies of extinct vertebrates in the context of similar work on living animals, and present a broad philosophical view of the subject's development within the framework of phylogenetic analysis. The authors describe and debate methods for making realistic inferences of function in fossil vertebrates, and present examples where we may be confident that our reconstructions are both detailed and accurate. ... Read more


58. Journal of Vertebrate PaleontologyVol. 24 No. 2 11 June 2004 ISSN 0272-4634
by Staff of Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
 Paperback: Pages (2004)

Asin: B000U8A5JS
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59. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology: Volume 22, Number 4, 14 January 2003
by N/A
 Paperback: Pages (2003)

Asin: B0042KOCGC
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60. Before the Backbone: Views on the Origin of the Vertebrates
by H. Gee
Hardcover: 368 Pages (1996-08-31)
list price: US$169.00 -- used & new: US$130.00
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Asin: 0412483009
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan
Editorial Review

Product Description
This book provides the first unbiased guide to a field newlyinvigorated by technical advances in molecular and developmentalbiology. This book will be essential reading for students andresearchers in areas such as developmental biology, vertebratezoology and palaeontology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

5-0 out of 5 stars The emergence of the vertebrate head
The general reader with some background in comparative anatomy, will find this reference an informative discussion on historical views (eg, Garstang, Gislén, Romer, etc), not so historical views (eg, Jefferies), and modern anatomical and molecular results concerning how vertebrates arose. A wide varieties of views are supported, but a number of conclusions are nonetheless formulated. Gislén's view of the carpoid as an echinoderm with chordate affinities is considered more correct than Jefferies' view of the carpoid as a chordate with echinoderm affinities. Recent molecular evidence supports chordates diverging from (echinoderms and hemichordates), and within the chordates, urochordates diverging from (cephalochordates and craniates). Larval paedomorphosis as the mechanism originating the vertebrates is unlikely, and the sessility of tunicates is probably a derived trait. While strong homologies between homeobox genes and organ systems in both arthropods and vertebrates are acknowledged, it is noted that molecular methods set deuterostome phyla clearly apart from protostome phyla, suggesting the direct ancestry of the vertebrates is not from the arthropods. Molecular methods also indicate that the amphioxus is not a degenerate vertebrate, but essentially a primitive one, and elaboration of its features leads to the emergence of the vertebrate head. ... Read more


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