Table of Contents
Preface xi
1 How Can We Reconstruct Evolutionary History? 1
Classification and Biological Nomenclature 2
Modern Phylogenetics 16
Homology and Analogy: Lungs, Swim Bladders, and Gills 37
Geological Time Scale and the Chronology of a Few Key Events 39
A Few Relevant Paleontological Localities 40
2 Conquest of Land: Data From Extant Vertebrates 45
Are Animals Still Conquering the Land Today? 45
The Coelacanth, a Living Fossil? 47
Dipnoans: Our Closest Extant Finned Cousins 49
Reproduction among Tetrapods: Amphibians Are Not All Amphibious! 51
3 Paleontological Context 55
The Conquest of Land in Various Taxa 55
The History of Our Ideas about the Conquest of Land by Vertebrates 63
The Lateral-Line Organ and the Lifestyle of Paleozoic Stegocephalians 68
4 Vertebrate Limb Evolution 73
The Vertebrate Skeleton 73
Hox Genes and the Origin of Digits 75
Sarcopterygian Fins and the Origin of Digits 79
Fragmentary Fossils, Phylogeny, and the First Digits 82
The Gills of Acanthostega and the Original Function of the Tetrapod Limb 88
Bone Microanatomy and Lifestyle 89
5 Diversity of Paleozoic Stegocephalians 99
Temnospondyls 99
Embolomeres 106
Seymouriamorphs 109
Amphibians 116
Diadectomorphs 121
Amniotes 125
Stegocephalian Phylogeny 127
6 Adaptations to Life on Land 135
Limbs and Girdles 136
Vertebral Centrum and Axial Skeleton 140
Breathing 142
The Skin and Water Exchange 147
Sensory Organs 150
7 Synthesis and Conclusion 161
Conquest of Land and the First Returns to the Aquatic Environment 161
Why Come onto Land? 163
Modern Paleontology and the "Indiana Jones" Stereotype 166
Glossary 169
Bibliography 175
Index 187
