The Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs: Faunal Change across the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary

by Kevin Padian (Editor)

Overview

Thirty-one specialists in the paleontology of the Age of Dinosaurs address a variety of issues: animals that preceded dinosaurs, the origin and early history of dinosaurs, and the relationship of the ascent of dinosaurs to new evolutionary innovations and to global, climatic, ecological, and even chance factors. This study is the first to examine how the period of dinosaur domination began.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521367790
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/30/1988
Series:	Faunal Changes Across the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	404
Product dimensions:	6.97(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.06(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; Introduction; Part I. The Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs: The Time and the Setting: 1. Historical aspects of the Triassic-Jurassic boundary problem Edwin H. Colbert; 2. Fossil plants and the Triassic-Jurassic boundary Sidney Ash; Part II. Late Triassic Vertebrate Taxa and Faunas: 3. Thoughts on the origin of the Theropoda Samuel P. Welles; 4. Structure and function of the tarsus in the phytosaurs (Reptilia: Archosauria) J. Michael Parrish; 5. On the type material of Coelophysis Cope (Saurischis: Theropoda), and a new specimen from the Petrified Forest of Arizona (Late Triassic: Chinle Formation) Kevin Padian; 6. The ichnogenus Atreipus and its significance for Triassic biostratigraphy Paul E. Olsen and Donald Baird; 7. The limb posture of kannemeyeriid dicynodonts: functional and ecological considerations Laurie R. Walter; 8. A new family of mammals from the lower part of the French Rhaetic Denise Sigogneau-Russell, R. M. Frank and J. Hemmerlé; 9. Vertebrate paleontology of the Dockum Group, western Texas and eastern New Mexico Phillip A. Murry; 10. The Late Triassic Dockum vertebrates: their stratigraphic and paleobiogeographic significance Sankar Chatterjee; 11. A new vertenrate fauna from the Dockum Formation (Late Triasssic) of eastern New Mexico J. Michael Parrish and Kenneth Carpenter; 12. Vertebrate biostratigraphy of the Late Triassic Chinle Formation, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona: preliminary results R. A. Long and Kevin Padian; Part III. Taxa and Trends Across the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary: 13. Triassic and Jurassic fishes: patterns of diversity Amy R. McCune and Bobb Schaeffer; 14. Triassic and Early Jurassic turtles Eugene S. Gaffney; 15. Archosaur footprints at the terrestrial Triassic-Jurassic transition Hartmut Haubold; 16. Herbivorous adaptations of Late Triassic and Early Jurassic dinosaurs Pater M. Galton; 17. Masticatory apparatus of the larger herbivores during Late Triassic and early Jurassic times A. W. Crompton and J. Attridge; 18. On Triassic and Jurassic mammals William A. Clemens; Part IV. Early Jurassic Vertebrate Taxa and Faunas: 19. The early radiation and phylogenetic relationships of the Jurassic sauropod dinosaurs, based on vertebral anatomy José F. Bonaparte; 20. Earliest records of Batrachopus from the southwestern United States, and a revision of some early Mesozoic crocodylomorph ichnogenera Paul E. Olsen and Kevin Padian; 21. A brief introduction to the Lower Lufeng saurischian fauna (Lower Jurassic: Lufeng, Yunnan, People's Republic of China) A. L. Sun and K. H. Cui; 22. Relationships and biostratigraphic significance of the Tritylodontidae (Synapsida) from the Kayenta Formation of northeastern Arizona Hans Dieter Sues; 23. Vertebrate biostrarigraphy of the Glen canyon Group in northern Arizona James M. Clark and David E. Fastovsky; Part V. Macroevolutionary Patterns of the Triassic-Jurassic Transition: 24. The Late Triassic tetrapod extinction events Michael J. Benton; 25. Correlation of continental Late Triassic and Early Jurassic sediments, and patterns of the Triassic-Jurassic tetrapod transition Paul E. Olsen and Hans-Dieter Sues; 26. Terrestrial vertebrate faunal succession during the Triassic J. M. Zawiskie; Summary and prospectus; Taxonomic index; Ichnotaxonomic index.

Editorial Reviews

"[Padian's] book is an important assemblage of current and recent research on a critical ‘moment' in the history of terrestrial vertebrate life. It will be an important reference for years to come for everyone interested in the Triassic-Jurassic faunal transition." American Scientist

"...it will undoubtedly serve as a source book for students of Mesozoic vertebrate evolution in years to come." Historical Biology

"...I found the book very stimulating and valuable..." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

"This volume offers a very useful overview of many of these current problems, and it will undoubtedly serve as a source book for students of Mesozoic vertebrate evolution for years to come." Historical Biology

"As always, Taquet provides lucid evidence for ongoing debate. ...this excellently translated book shoul intrigue anyone." David Perlman, San Francisco, CA Examiner & Chronicle

From the Publisher

Papers from the Symposium on Faunal Changes across the Triassic- Jurassic Boundary held Oct. 1984, in conjunction with the 44th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology at Berkeley, CA. Cloth edition not seen. No index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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