How can we bring together the study of genes, embryos and fossils? Embryos in Deep Time is a critical synthesis of the study of individual development in fossils. It brings together an up-to-date review of concepts from comparative anatomy, ecology and developmental genetics, and examples of different kinds of animals from diverse geological epochs and geographic areas.
Can fossil embryos demonstrate evolutionary changes in reproductive modes? How have changes in ocean chemistry in the past affected the development of marine organisms? What can the microstructure of fossil bone and teeth reveal about maturation time, longevity and changes in growth phases? This book addresses these and other issues and documents with numerous examples and illustrations how fossils provide evidence not only of adult anatomy but also of the life history of individuals at different growth stages. The central topic of Biology today—the transformations occurring during the life of an organism and the mechanisms behind them—is addressed in an integrative manner for extinct animals.
Dr. Marcelo Sanchez is an Assistant Professor for Paleontology at the Palaontologisches Institut und Museum der Universitat Zurich.
“One of the few remaining frontiers in evolutionary biology is the integration of the fossil record with our newly gained understanding of developmental evolution. Few have the boldness to seriously venture into this poorly mapped scientific landscape. With this book, Marcelo Sánchez is setting up a camp there for coming generations of students who shall be able to explore the wilderness of this unsettled and unsettling intellectual territory."--Günter P. Wagner, Yale University
"With feet firmly planted in the fossil record, paleontologist Marcelo Sánchez asks what can be learned about the development of fossils, and development in general, from the paleontological record. This wide-ranging book is ideal for those curious about fossils, evolution, and development."--Charles R. Marshall, University of California Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley
265 pp.5.5 x 8.25Illus: 16 b/w photographs, 35 line illustrations
9780520271937$85.00|£71.00Hardcover
Apr 2012