Description - The Paleobiology of Trace Fossils by Stephen K. Donovan
Ichnology - the study of trace fossils such as tracks, burrows and eggs - presents the scientist with a "jigsaw puzzle with a difference", writes Stephen Donovan. While body fossils of organisms are generally recognizable as belonging to a particular organic group, he explains, trace fossils are usually anonymous. Except in rare cases in which the animal dies at the end of its trace, or the trace has an especially distinctive morphology - such as the dinosaur trackway - identifying trace fossils is almost always a matter of some speculation. Nonetheless, lessons learned from the study of trace fossils have proven invaluable in fields ranging from petroleum exploration to paleobiology. In this volume Donovan brings together a group of the world's leading experts to focus on the paleobiological and evolutionary aspects of ichnology in both marine and non-marine environments. Rather than emphasizing the importance of trace fossil data to geologists in reconstructing the Earth's history, this book presents new information on the biology of the organisms that produced the trackways and the ancient environments in which they flourished.
Buy The Paleobiology of Trace Fossils by Stephen K. Donovan from Australia's Online Independent Bookstore, BooksDirect.
A Preview for this title is currently not available.
Checking availability...