Embryos in Deep Time: The Rock Record of Biological Development
Marcelo Sánchez
Abstract
How can we bring together the study of genes, embryos, and fossils? This is a critical synthesis of the study of individual development in fossils. It brings together an up-to-date review of concepts from comparative anatomy, ecology, and developmental genetics, and examples of different kinds of animals from diverse geological epochs and geographic areas. Can fossil embryos demonstrate evolutionary changes in reproductive modes? How have changes in ocean chemistry in the past affected the development of marine organisms? What can the microstructure of fossil bone and teeth reveal about matura ... More
How can we bring together the study of genes, embryos, and fossils? This is a critical synthesis of the study of individual development in fossils. It brings together an up-to-date review of concepts from comparative anatomy, ecology, and developmental genetics, and examples of different kinds of animals from diverse geological epochs and geographic areas. Can fossil embryos demonstrate evolutionary changes in reproductive modes? How have changes in ocean chemistry in the past affected the development of marine organisms? What can the microstructure of fossil bone and teeth reveal about maturation time, longevity, and changes in growth phases? This book addresses these and other issues, and documents with numerous examples and illustrations how fossils provide evidence not only of adult anatomy, but also of the life history of individuals at different growth stages. The central topic of biology today—the transformations occurring during the life of an organism and the mechanisms behind them—is addressed in an integrative manner for extinct animals.
Keywords:
ontogeny,
palaeontology,
evo-devo,
evolution,
development,
growth,
fossils,
mammal,
human,
geology
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2012 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780520271937 |
| Published to California Scholarship Online: September 2012 |
DOI:10.1525/california/9780520271937.001.0001 |
