Overview

An understanding of the morphology and evolution of the first vertebrates is intrinsic to any serious study of comparative anatomy and vertebrate evolution. This book looks at the radiation of the first fishes, the earliest of all backboned animals, providing detailed descriptions of the morphology of each of the early group of fishes, from primitive jawless craniates 450 million years old to the piscine ancestors of the first land animals, the tetrapods. This is not just a review of the latest work but draws upon many important new discoveries from around the world, and much original research by the author. Each chapter clearly illustrates the major morphological features of each group, both in macroscopic and microscopic structure, discusses their diversity and evolutionary trends, and summarizes their applications in biostratigraphic correlation schemes. The book discusses the origins of vertebrates, the evolution of jaws, the transition from fishes to land animals and outlines the anatomy of the primitive jawless fishes and early jawed fishes. Additional chapters give an overview of the Palaeozoic vertebrate biostratigraphic distributions of Palaeozoic fishes for each period of geological time. It should be of interest not only to the professional palaeontologist, but to any serious student of zoology and vertebrate evolution. This book should be of interest to undergraduates/postgraduates in vertebrate biology/vertebrate palaeontology; and to amateur collectors and professional zoologists and geologists from other disciplines.

Full Product Details

9780412311604

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available