Palaeozoic Vertebrate Biostratigraphy and Biogeography

This book offers detailed treatment of palaeozoic vertebrates for use in correlations and in biogeographic studies. With 13 chapters of systematic analysis of biostratigraphic and biogeographic data, it includes summaries of current research as well as new and significant contributions to the fields of geology and evolutionary biology. Introductory chapters explain the basic morphology of vertebrate groups and address issues such as global reconstructions, plate tectonics and palaeogeography. Other chapters discuss the environments, faunas and biozones for each of the major Palaeozoic vertebrate groups, as well as the biogeographic distributions of faunas for each Palaeozoic time interval. With charts and figures that show many of the important fossils discussed in the text, as well as stratigraphic, location, and taxonomic indexes, the book should interest palaeontologists, stratigraphers and other earth scientists concerned with the early history of life on earth.