Amphibian Evolution : The Life of Early Land Vertebrates.
Title:
Amphibian Evolution : The Life of Early Land Vertebrates.
Author:
Schoch, Rainer R.
ISBN:
9781118759158
Personal Author:
Edition:
1st ed.
Physical Description:
1 online resource (294 pages)
Series:
TOPA Topics in Paleobiology
Contents:
Amphibian Evolution: The Life of Early Land Vertebrates -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 Changing paradigms in amphibian evolution -- 1.2 Paleobiology: data, methods, and time scales -- 1.3 Concepts and metaphors: how scientists "figure out" problems -- 1.4 Characters and phylogenies -- 1.5 What's in a name? -- References -- 2 The Amphibian World: Now and Then -- 2.1 Tetrapoda -- 2.1.1 The tetrapod skeleton -- 2.1.2 Tetrapod characters -- 2.1.3 Stem-tetrapods (Tetrapodomorpha) -- 2.1.4 Carboniferous tetrapods or tetrapodomorphs? -- 2.2 The amniote stem-group -- 2.2.1 Anthracosauria -- 2.2.2 Seymouriamorpha -- 2.2.3 Chroniosuchia -- 2.2.4 Lepospondyli -- 2.2.4.1 Lepospondyl characters -- 2.2.4.2 Microsauria -- 2.2.4.3 Lysorophia -- 2.2.4.4 Nectridea -- 2.2.4.5 Aïstopoda -- 2.2.4.6 Adelospondyli -- 2.2.4.7 Acherontiscidae -- 2.2.5 Gephyrostegida -- 2.2.6 Amniota -- 2.2.6.1 Stem-amniotes and early crown amniotes -- 2.3 The lissamphibian stem-group (Temnospondyli) -- 2.3.1 Edopoidea -- 2.3.2 Dendrerpeton and Balanerpeton -- 2.3.3 Dvinosauria -- 2.3.4 Dissorophoidea and Zatracheidae -- 2.3.5 Eryopoidea -- 2.3.6 Stereospondyli -- 2.4 Albanerpetontidae -- 2.5 Lissamphibia -- 2.5.1 Lissamphibian characters -- 2.5.2 Batrachia -- 2.5.2.1 Anura (frogs and toads) -- 2.5.2.2 Caudata (salamanders) -- 2.5.2.3 Gymnophiona (caecilians) -- References -- 3 Amphibian Life Through Time -- 3.1 Aquatic predators prepare for land -- 3.2 Hot springs, scorpions, and little creepers -- 3.3 Life in the tropical coal forest -- 3.4 Neotenes explore unfavorable waters -- 3.5 Lowlands, uplands, and a cave -- 3.6 Hide and protect: extreme life in the hothouse -- 3.7 Predators in deltas, lakes, and brackish swamps -- 3.8 Stereospondyls in refugia, lissamphibians on the rise -- 3.9 Batrachians diversify, stereospondyls disappear.
3.10 Lissamphibians expand into diverse habitats -- References -- 4 The Amphibian Soft Body -- 4.1 How to infer soft tissues in extinct taxa -- 4.2 Fossil evidence: soft tissue preservation -- 4.3 Head and visceral skeleton -- 4.4 Respiratory organs -- 4.5 Lateral lines, electroreception, and ears -- References -- 5 Evolution of Functional Systems -- 5.1 How paradigms and brackets give a functional scenario -- 5.2 Feeding and breathing under water -- 5.3 Decoupling breathing and feeding -- 5.4 Hearing: exapting the spiracle and hyomandibula -- 5.5 Respiration in early tetrapods -- 5.6 The evolution of terrestrial feeding -- 5.7 Transforming fins into limbs -- 5.8 Locomotion of Paleozoic tetrapods -- References -- 6 Development and Evolution -- 6.1 Ontogeny in modern amphibians -- 6.2 Fossil ontogenies -- 6.3 Ontogeny as a sequence: developmental trajectories -- 6.4 Histology: the skeleton as archive -- 6.5 Changing shape: allometry -- 6.6 Heterochrony: the evolution of development -- 6.7 Body plans: gene regulation and morphogenesis -- References -- 7 Paleoecology -- 7.1 Lissamphibian ecology -- 7.2 Paleoecology: problems and perspectives -- 7.3 Paleozoic and Mesozoic amphibians -- 7.4 Amphibian evolution as a walk through trophic levels -- References -- 8 Life History Evolution -- 8.1 Plasticity, reaction norm, and canalization -- 8.2 Reaction norms in extant amphibians -- 8.3 The biphasic life cycle in lissamphibians -- 8.4 Seymouriamorphs: biphasic life cycles without metamorphosis -- 8.5 Temnospondyls: flexible uni- and biphasic ontogenies -- 8.6 Lepospondyls: dwarfism and uniphasic life cycles -- 8.7 The evolution of metamorphosis -- 8.8 The evolution of neoteny -- 8.9 General features of life history evolution -- References -- 9 Phylogeny -- 9.1 Phylogeny of amphibians -- 9.2 The big picture: tetrapod diversification.
9.3 The origin of lissamphibians -- References -- 10 Macroevolution -- 10.1 What is macroevolution? -- 10.2 Patterns of early tetrapod evolution -- 10.3 Major factors of amphibian evolution -- 10.4 Clades, space, and time -- 10.5 Diversity, disparity, and extinction -- 10.6 The evolution of terrestriality -- References -- Index -- Supplementary Images.
Abstract:
This book focuses on the first vertebrates to conquer land and their long journey to become fully independent from the water. It traces the origin of tetrapod features and tries to explain how and why they transformed into organs that permit life on land. Although the major frame of the topic lies in the past 370 million years and necessarily deals with many fossils, it is far from restricted to paleontology. The aim is to achieve a comprehensive picture of amphibian evolution. It focuses on major questions in current paleobiology: how diverse were the early tetrapods? In which environments did they live, and how did they come to be preserved? What do we know about the soft body of extinct amphibians, and what does that tell us about the evolution of crucial organs during the transition to land? How did early amphibians develop and grow, and which were the major factors of their evolution? The Topics in Paleobiology Series is published in collaboration with the Palaeontological Association, and is edited by Professor Mike Benton, University of Bristol. Books in the series provide a summary of the current state of knowledge, a trusted route into the primary literature, and will act as pointers for future directions for research. As well as volumes on individual groups, the series will also deal with topics that have a cross-cutting relevance, such as the evolution of significant ecosystems, particular key times and events in the history of life, climate change, and the application of a new techniques such as molecular palaeontology. The books are written by leading international experts and will be pitched at a level suitable for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, and researchers in both the paleontological and biological sciences.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
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