Vertebrate Palaeontology

Michael Benton is Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Bristol. He is interested particularly in early reptiles, Triassic dinosaurs and macroevolution, and has published 50 books and 160 scientific articles.

1. Vertebrate Origins:.Key Questions.Introduction.Sea Squirts And The Lancelet.Phylum Hemichordata: Pterobranchs And Acorn Worms.Deuterostome Relationships.Chordate Origins.Vertebrates And The Head.Further Reading.2. How To Study Fossil Vertebrates:.Key Questions.Introduction.Digging Up Bones.Geology And Fossil Vertebrates.Biology And Fossil Vertebrates.Discovering Phylogeny.The Quality Of The Fossil Record.Further Reading.3. Early Fishes:.Key Questions.Introduction.Cambrian Vertebrates.Vertebrate Hard Tissues.The Jawless Fishes.Origin Of Jaws And Gnathostome Relationships.Class Placodermi: Armour-Plated Monsters.Class Chondrichthyes: The First Sharks.Class Acanthodii: The 'Spiny Skins'.Devonian Environments.Class Osteichthyes: The Bony Fishes.Early Fish Evolution And Mass Extinction.Further Reading.4. The Early Tetrapods And Amphibians:.Key Questions.Introduction.Problems Of Life On Land.Devonian Tetrapods.The Carboniferous World.Diversity Of Carboniferous Tetrapods.Temnospondyls And Reptiliomorphs After The Carboniferous.Evolution Of Modern Amphibians.Further Reading.5. The Evolution Of Early Amniotes:.Key Questions.Introduction.Hylonomus And Paleothyris - Biology Of The First Amniotes.Amniote Evolution.The Permian World.The Early Evolution Of Anapsids And Diapsids.Basal Synapsid Evolution.Mass Extinction.Further Reading.6. Reptiles Of The Triassic:.Key Questions.Introduction.The Triassic Scene.Evolution Of The Archosauromorphs.In Triassic Seas.The Origin Of The Dinosaurs.Further Reading.7. The Evolution Of Fishes After The Devonian:.Key Questions.Introduction.The Early Sharks And Chimaeras.Post-Palaeozoic Chondrichthyan Radiation.The Early Bony Fishes.Radiation Of The Teleosts.Post-Devonian Evolution Of Fishes.Further Reading.8. The Age Of Dinosaurs:.Key Questions.Introduction.Biology Of Plateosaurus.The Jurassic And Cretaceous World.The Diversity Of Saurischian Dinosaurs.The Diversity Of Ornithischian Dinosaurs.Were The Dinosaurs Warm-Blooded Or Not?.Order Terosauria.Order Testudines: The Turtles.Order Crocodylia.Superorder Lepidosauria.The Great Sea Dragons.Diversification Of Jurassic-Cretaceous Reptiles.The KT Event.Further Reading.9. The Birds:.Key Questions.Introduction.Archaeopteryx.The Origin Of Bird Flight.Toothed Birds Of The Cretaceous.The Radiation Of Modern Birds.Flightless Birds: Division Palaeognathae.Division Neognathae.Diversification Of The Birds.Further Reading.10. The Mammals:.Key Questions.Introduction.Cynodonts And The Acquisition Of Mammalian Characters.The First Mammals.The Mesozoic Mammals.The Marsupials.South American Mammals - Another World Apart.The Afrotheria And Break-Up Of Gondwana.The Beginning Of The Age Of Placental Mammals.Basal Laurasiatherians: Insectivores And Bats.Superorder Cetartiodactyla: Cattle, Pigs And Whales.Order Perissodactyla: Grazers And Browsers.Orders Carnivora And Pholidota.Superorder Archonta: Primates, Tree Shrews And Flying Lemurs.Superorder Glires: Rodents, Rabbits And Relatives.Ice Age Extinction Of Large Mammals.The Pattern Of Mammalian Evolution.Further Reading.11. Human Evolution:.Key Questions.Introduction.What Are The Primates?.The Early Fossil Record Of Primates.Superfamily Hominoidea: The Apes.Evolution Of Human Characteristics.The Early Stages Of Human Evolution.The Last Two Million Years Of Human Evolution.Further Reading.Appendix: Classification Of The Vertebrates.Glossary.References.Index