Title: Extinction and phylogeny /
Authors: Novacek, Michael J.; Wheeler, Quentin D., 1954-; Wheeler, Quentin D., 1954-
Publisher: Columbia University Press,
Year: 1992
Subjects: Extinction (Biology); Phylogeny.
Abstract: "More than 99 percent of all life that has ever existed on this planet is extinct. Moreover, human acceleration of the extinction of species has created a crisis in biodiversity. How can the history of past life be retrieved? How does this history bear on our understanding of the organization and evolution of present-day species? These questions are addressed in Extinction and Phylogeny." "This book offers new and original research by leading authorities on evolutionary and systematic biology, who rank among the best of the dynamic investigators of botany, zoology, and paleontology. This exciting book includes chapters about the recovery of information from living biota, taking into account the limitations of sampling and the steady rate of contemporary extinction of taxa. Complementary discussions elucidate problems involving the analysis of data sets of variable completeness--for example, partially preserved fossils or patchy samples of extant taxa." "Extinction and Phylogeny balances empirical issues with the theoretical and applies cladistic methodology. This detailed text will prove to be a leading-edge book for professional and student biologists alike and for those in related disciplines. The relationship between extinction and phylogenetic theory must be understood if we are to explain existing biological diversity and effectively assess the declining biodiversity of our planet in the decades to come."--Jacket.
Contents: Introduction: Extinct Taxa: Accounting for 99.999 ... % of thc Earth's Biota / Michael J. Novacek and Quentin D. Wheeler -- 1. Interpreting Extinctions from the Fossil Record: Methods, Assumptions, and Case Examples Using Horses (Family Equidae) / Bruce J. Macfadden -- 2. Fossils as Critical Data for Phylogeny / Michael J. Novacek -- 3. Taxic Origin and Temporal Diversity: The Effect of Phylogeny / Mark A. Norell -- 4. Extinction and the Origin of Species / Kevin C. Nixon and Quentin D. Wheeler -- 5. Trilobite Phylogeny and the Cambrian-Ordovician "Event": Cladistic Reappraisal / Gregory D. Edgecombe -- 6. Vicariance Biogeography, Geographic Extinctions, and the North American Oligocene Tsetse Flies / David A. Grimaldi -- 7. Extinction, Sampling, and Molecular Phylogenetics / Ward C. Wheeler -- 8. Measures of Phylogenetic Diversity / Kevin C. Nixon and Quentin D. Wheeler.