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This chapter explains how the view of stratigraphic paleobiology and its core elements originated. Once the stratigraphic framework was in place, the samples were collected for counts within the time-environment framework of depositional environments and sequences. Sampling within a time-environment framework makes the hierarchical sampling of additive diversity partitioning easy. A comprehensive understanding of diversity and global diversity trends must come from a reconciliation of global and regional patterns. Global studies have been much facilitated by the Paleobiology Database, but tests of these patterns at regional scales have not kept pace. Because species have ecological limits and because depositional environments and sedimentation rates change predictably within depositional sequences, the occurrence of fossils must necessarily be altered by sequence stratigraphic architecture. Stratigraphic paleobiology offers an approach for constructing well-designed tests of these questions.

This book investigates the sauropod systematics and paleobiology. It hopes to explain how their body plan was constructed, to explore its variations, and to dispel the myth that it led to evolutionary stagnation and eventual replacement by more “advanced” herbivorous dinosaurs. The sauropod fossil record has in part led the monolithic depiction of sauropods. It then attempts to gain new understanding of “nature's grandest extravagances.” Finally, an overview of the chapters included in this book is presented. This book documents what is currently known about sauropod evolutionary history, and also highlights deficiencies in the understanding. In that sense, it is hoped that this volume will spark interest, provoke questions, and provide fresh ground for continued research on sauropod dinosaurs.

This chapter examines the physiology, metabolism, and behavior of dinosaurs. It discusses the evolution of endothermy and examines the typological and transformational approaches to dinosaurian physiology. The chapter also contends that (1) dinosaurs were, in many respects, more like living large birds and mammals than they were like living reptiles; (2) more physiological advances occurred at or near the origin of dinosaurs than at the origin of birds; (3) not all dinosaurs were alike in these physiological respects, any more than living mammals or birds are all alike; and (4) comparative biology is a better guide to evolutionary paleobiology than typology is.

This chapter presents the results of a study which compares the paleodiets of ungulates between the late Miocene of China, and Pikermi and Samos in Greece. The paleobotanical record of the late Miocene indicates the persistence of forests and woodlands along with the spreading of grasslands. This means that habitats during this time interval formed a widespread grassland/savanna/woodland continuum over much of the northern continents. The ecological changes that occurred during the late Miocene and the complex ecological relationships that ungulates had with these evolving habitats, make the study of ungulate paleobiology both challenging and interesting. The present study used tooth mesowear analysis to compare the paleodietary patterns of the classic late Miocene faunas of Pikermi and Samos from Greece to those of China. Specifically, it analyzes similarity in mesowear and in hypsodonty between Pikermi, Samos, and late Miocene of China, which record key samples of species of the Pikermian Biome. It tests the integrity of the Pikermian Biome and how it compares to the African savanna.

This chapter examines the emergence of taxic paleobiology during the early 1980s, which was advocated by its proponents as a solution to the problem of independent levels of selection within the evolutionary process. It describes how the development of taxic paleobiology affected the paleobiology/neontology interface during the 1980s and explains the principal differences between neontology and paleobiology. The analysis reveals that though taxic methods quickly became influential among paleontologists, they had little impact in evolutionary studies and that the rise of taxic methods did not seem to promote closer collaboration across disciplines.

This chapter examines the social and political meaning of dinosaur paleontology in popular culture. It considers three case studies: the paleobiology of the large theropod T. rex, the discovery of dinosaur maternity, nests, eggs, and embryos, and the dinosaur extinction. The analysis reveals that important discoveries about the biology, behavior, and extinction of dinosaurs were influenced not just by empirical developments, but also by the social climate of the times in which they were produced.

This chapter describes Australian paleontologist Reginald Sprigg's discovery of the famous Ediacaran fauna in 1946. It argues that Sprigg's discovery helped pave the way for Precambrian paleobiology and that his case illustrates the sometimes tortuous path of ideas to scientific acceptance. This chapter explains that the findings of Sprigg were not accepted until their later appropriation by Charles Walcott in his work at Burgess Shale.

This chapter examines the important morphological tradition in German paleontology. It suggests that the pluralistic and biologically oriented German paleontology both predated and anticipated many of the concerns of the paleobiology movement in the United States. This chapter explains that German paleontology developed its own paleobiology independently of both the Anglo-American tradition and the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis. Thus, it can be considered a perfect topic for a cultural history of science that places the development of scientific theories and concepts clearly within the framework of cultural references, values, and transformations.

This chapter investigates the origin and early history of the theory of punctuated equilibrium, from its first articulation in 1971 through subsequent revision and reaction into the early 1980s. It argues that punctuated equilibrium cannot be separated from the broader development of theoretical paleobiology promoted during the mid-1970s by a group of paleontologists dedicated to revising the goals, agenda, and status of paleontology. This chapter also suggests that punctuated equilibrium is part of a larger movement that involved not just Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge, but his colleagues David Raup, Thomas Schopf, Steven Stanley, and others who sought to redefine paleontological evolutionary theory largely without the directional causes central to traditional Darwinian evolution via natural selection.

This chapter focuses on Stephen Jay Gould's attack on George Gaylord Simpson, who was considered in the 1960s as paleontology's principal innovator in macroevolutionary theory. It highlights Gould's efforts to deny Simpson any relevance to contemporary developments and suggests that this “ritual patricide Radical” was central to Gould's efforts at establishing a new disciplinary identity for his favored brand of macroevolutionary paleobiology. This chapter also examines the rhetorical devices used in that campaign.

This chapter discusses the author's personal journey as a paleoecologist and evolutionary paleobiologist from the 1950s through the 1990s. It provides insights into the central developments of the paleobiological revolution during this period and on the important connections between paleoecology and paleobiology. This recollection illuminates some of the human aspects of doing science and helps reveal how some of the change in paleontology came about.

This chapter offers insights into the author's experience as a student of paleobiology during the 1970s. It suggests that the author's relationship with her mentors including David Raup, Tom Schopf, and Stephen Jay Gould highlights the role of pedagogy during the paleobiological revolution. This chapter also discusses how formal and informal instruction shaped the next generation of paleobiologists and provides a glimpse of the field not normally accessible through published research.

This chapter offers the perspective of a paleobiologist trained in the United Kingdom. It describes the development of paleobiological interests among British paleontologists from the 1950s to the 1980s, focusing on punctuated equilibrium and the associated theory of species selection, which played an important role in the author's own research. This chapter also discusses the trends in the fossil record and provides an assessment of the significance of the idea of punctuational speciation for paleobiology generally.

This chapter presents the author's view of the current state of paleontology as one of the leaders of the current generation of paleobiologists. It identifies six major areas for investigation that will define the future of paleobiology and stresses the need for continued efforts to unite paleobiology with the wider community of evolutionary biology. This chapter also provides an important manifesto for students and practitioners of paleobiology.