Exceptional Fossil Preservation: A Unique View on the Evolution of Marine Life

by David Bottjer, Walter Etter, Jimmy Suazo, Lisa Pappas

Overview

Typically the process of fossilization produces significant information loss on the anatomy of ancient organisms. However, occasionally fossilization results in truly extraordinary preservation. Such fossil deposits, known as "Lagerstätten," were commonly treated as scientific curiosities. This photographically rich volume provides a synthetic overview of a wide sample of Lagerstätten from marine environments reaching back in time to the Precambrian, more than 500 million years ago. These occurrences of exceptional fossil preservation are providing scientists with a new source of evidence to understand how life has evolved in the Earth's oceans.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231102544
Publisher:	Perseus (for Columbia University Press)
Publication date:	08/20/2002
Series:	Critical Moments and Perspectives in Earth History and Paleobiology Series
Pages:	420
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.94(d)
Lexile:	1320L (what's this?)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

David J. Bottjer is a professor at the University of Southern California, Walter Etter is a curator at the Natural History Museum in Basel, Switzerland; James W. Hagadorn is a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology; and Carol M. Tang is in the Department of Education, California Academy of Sciences

Table of Contents

Fossil-Lagerstätten: Jewels of the Fossil Record; David J. Bottjer, Walter Etter, James W. Hagadorn, and Carol M. Tang
Enigmatic Ediacara Fossils: Ancestors or Aliens?; David J. Bottjer
Chengjiang: Early Record of the Cambrian Explosion; James W. Hagadorn
The Burgess Shale: Cambrian Explosion in Full Bloom; James W. Hagadorn
Burgess Shale-Type Localities: The Global Picture; James W. Hagadorn
Orsten Deposits: Phosphatized Late Cambrian Meiofauna; Carol M. Tang
Beecher's Trilobite Bed: Ordovician Pyritization for the Other Half of the Trilobite; Walter Etter
The Hunsrück Slate: Widespread Pyritization of a Devonian Fauna; Walter Etter
Bear Gulch: Exceptional Fish in a Late Paleozoic Plattenkalk; James W. Hagadorn
Mazon Creek: Preservation in Late Paleozoic Deltaic Environments; Stephen A. Schellenberg
Gres a Voltzia: Preservation in Early Mesozoic Deltaic and Marginal Marine Environments; Walter Etter
Monte San Giorgio: Remarkable Triassic Marine Vertebrates; Walter Etter
Berlin-Ichthyosaur: Preserving Some of the Earth's Largest Marine Vertebrates; David J. Bottjer
Osteno Deposits: Jurassic Preservation to the Cellular Level; Carol M. Tang
Posidonia Shale: Germany's Jurassic Marine Park; Walter Etter and Carol M. Tang
La Voulte-Sur-Rhône: Exquisite Cephalopod Preservation; Walter Etter
The Oxford Clay: England's Jurassic Marine Park; Carol M. Tang
Solenhofen: Plattenkalk Preservation with Archaeopteryx; Walter Etter
Smoky Hill Chalk: Spectacular Cretaceous Marine Fauna; David J. Bottjer
Monte Bolca:An Eocene Fishbowl; Carol M. Tang
Echinoderm Lagerstätten: Stars of the Stratigraphic Record; James W. Hagadorn

Editorial Reviews

Reading Exceptional Fossil Preservations is like a refreshing slap in the face...I found myself paging through this book, thinking, 'Wow. What other cool stuff is in here?'

— David Kendrick

American Paleontologist

An inordinate amount of what we know about the fossil record comes from a handful of spectacular fossil sites... Each of these deposits has a unique story to tell, and this volume is here to tell them... Recommend[ed] to any serious student of paleontology who wishes to know more about a dozen and a half of the most spectacular fossil sites worldwide.

— Lynne M. Clos

Fossil News

Exceptional Fossil Preservation provides the reader with the opportunity to see and read about exceptional fossils that normally appear only in professional journals.

Jack's Stacks

Will do much to encourage more fieldwork by scientists and amateur fossil hunters. Exceptionally well-referenced to the technical literature. An essential reading and browsing book for all who have an interest in this fascinating subject. An exceptionally fine book.

Northeastern Naturalist

Reading Exceptional Fossil Preservations is like a refreshing slap in the face...I found myself paging through this book, thinking, 'Wow. What other cool stuff is in here?'

American Paleontologist - David Kendrick

An inordinate amount of what we know about the fossil record comes from a handful of spectacular fossil sites... Each of these deposits has a unique story to tell, and this volume is here to tell them... Recommend[ed] to any serious student of paleontology who wishes to know more about a dozen and a half of the most spectacular fossil sites worldwide.

Fossil News - Lynne M. Clos