Raymond R. Rogers, David A. Eberth, and Anthony R. Fiorillo (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226723709
- eISBN:
- 9780226723730
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226723730.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
The vertebrate fossil record extends back more than 500 million years, and bonebeds—localized concentrations of the skeletal remains of vertebrate animals—help unlock the secrets of this long ...
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The vertebrate fossil record extends back more than 500 million years, and bonebeds—localized concentrations of the skeletal remains of vertebrate animals—help unlock the secrets of this long history. Often spectacularly preserved, bonebeds—both modern and ancient—can reveal more about life histories, ecological associations, and preservation patterns than any single skeleton or bone. For this reason, they are frequently studied by paleobiologists, geologists, and archeologists seeking to piece together the vertebrate record. In this book, thirteen researchers combine their experiences to provide readers with workable definitions, theoretical frameworks, and a compendium of modern techniques in bonebed data collection and analysis. By addressing the historical, theoretical, and practical aspects of bonebed research, they provide the background and methods that students and professionals need to explore and understand these records of ancient life and death.Less
The vertebrate fossil record extends back more than 500 million years, and bonebeds—localized concentrations of the skeletal remains of vertebrate animals—help unlock the secrets of this long history. Often spectacularly preserved, bonebeds—both modern and ancient—can reveal more about life histories, ecological associations, and preservation patterns than any single skeleton or bone. For this reason, they are frequently studied by paleobiologists, geologists, and archeologists seeking to piece together the vertebrate record. In this book, thirteen researchers combine their experiences to provide readers with workable definitions, theoretical frameworks, and a compendium of modern techniques in bonebed data collection and analysis. By addressing the historical, theoretical, and practical aspects of bonebed research, they provide the background and methods that students and professionals need to explore and understand these records of ancient life and death.
Andrew V. Z. Brower and Randall T. Schuh
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- September 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781501752773
- eISBN:
- 9781501752797
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501752773.003.0010
- Subject:
- Biology, Biochemistry / Molecular Biology
This chapter discusses how the methods for testing theories of cospeciation are not well suited to test coevolutionary theories of ecological association, adaptation, and more loosely constrained ...
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This chapter discusses how the methods for testing theories of cospeciation are not well suited to test coevolutionary theories of ecological association, adaptation, and more loosely constrained patterns of host association. It is, nonetheless, desirable to evaluate such theories in a rigorous historical context. Indeed, the ability to use the results of cladistic analyses to evaluate ecological and adaptational theories represents a truly powerful application of the method. This area of inquiry has become a standard approach in contemporary phylogenetic research, to the extent that one's chances of publishing a study in a high-profile journal may be diminished if the tree is not couched as a test of such a hypothesis. Within the cladistic framework, two interrelated approaches to evaluating adaptational hypotheses have been proposed: mapping and optimization. The chapter then describes methodological approaches that are best suited to extrinsic data, but which also apply to the optimization of heritable traits that were not part of an analysis. The rationale is based on the desire to provide an independent test of theories about the evolution or association of attributes within individual lineages when there is no straightforward way to produce a hierarchic scheme for those attributes.Less
This chapter discusses how the methods for testing theories of cospeciation are not well suited to test coevolutionary theories of ecological association, adaptation, and more loosely constrained patterns of host association. It is, nonetheless, desirable to evaluate such theories in a rigorous historical context. Indeed, the ability to use the results of cladistic analyses to evaluate ecological and adaptational theories represents a truly powerful application of the method. This area of inquiry has become a standard approach in contemporary phylogenetic research, to the extent that one's chances of publishing a study in a high-profile journal may be diminished if the tree is not couched as a test of such a hypothesis. Within the cladistic framework, two interrelated approaches to evaluating adaptational hypotheses have been proposed: mapping and optimization. The chapter then describes methodological approaches that are best suited to extrinsic data, but which also apply to the optimization of heritable traits that were not part of an analysis. The rationale is based on the desire to provide an independent test of theories about the evolution or association of attributes within individual lineages when there is no straightforward way to produce a hierarchic scheme for those attributes.
