Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, 1988 — 698 p. — ISBN 0716718227.
Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution is the first detailed, authoritative review of the fossil record of vertebrates to be published in 20 years. Distinguished paleontologist Robert L.Carroll provides complete, current data on all fossil groups, which he examines in the context of evolutionary processes and functional anatomy. The skeletal structure and way of life of the major groups are discussed, as are their interrelationships and distribution in time and space. This integrated approach provides a remarkably coherent analysis of the history of vertebrates through 600 million years of evolution.This extraordinary new work features more than 1700 illustrations, including 500 newly drafted line drawings of the representative members of all major vertebrate groups. Forty phylogenies and cladograms depict relationships among major groups.Significant discoveries and the formulation of new theories over the past two decades have vastly increased our knowledge of fossil vertebrates, especially of earlier forms from the Paleozoic and Mesozoic. Newly discovered forms of jawless fish, sharks, and amphibians are described here in full detail,as are the major transitions between amphibians and reptiles, reptiles and mammals, and dinosaurs and birds.Carroll pays particular attention to subjects in which conflicting evidence has led to alternative hypotheses, such as the origin of vertebrates, the emergence of each of the major groups, and the cataclysmic extinction at the end of the Mesozoic. He also demonstrates the importance of functional anatomy in providing a deeper understanding of the nature and relationships of extinct organisms,and he comments at length on the resurgent concern over the methodology of classification.Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution is a completely modern, up-to-date, and indispensable volume for all professional vertebrate paleontologists and students of geology,biology, and evolutionary theory.
