This volume presents state-of-the-art papers on important topics and methods in the analysis of vertebrate microfossil assemblages. The minute remains of animals and plants have proven very useful to paleontologists as tools for dating large fossils, describing the environments which existed at the time the fossils were deposited, and identifying and mapping the extent of local floras and faunas, among other things. Due to the large sample sizes that can be obtained, the chance to recover rare taxa is much higher than it is during a search for skeletal remains. Analysis of the data produced from microvertebrate localities can address a wide range of questions as these papers clearly demonstrate.
Julia T. Sankey is Associate Professor of Geology in the Department of Physics and Geology at California State University in Stanislaus.Sven Baszio is a paleontologist at the University of Bonn, Germany.
Table of Contents
ContentsPreface. Sven BaszioPart 1. Importance of Microvertebrate Sites, Sampling, Statistical Methods, and Taphonomy1. Information from Microvertebrate Localities: Potentials and LimitsSven Baszio2. How Much Is Enough? A Repeatable, Efficient, and Controlled Sampling Protocol for Assessing Taxonomic Diversity and Abundance in Vertebrate Microfossil AssemblagesHeather A. Jamniczky, Donald B. Brinkman, and Anthony P. Russell3. Taphonomic Issues Relating to Concentrations of Pedogenic Nodules and Vertebrates in the Paleocene and Miocene Gulf Coastal Plain: Examples from Texas and Louisiana, USAJudith A. Schiebout, Paul D. White, and Grant S. BoardmanPart 2. Guild Analysis, Ecological and Faunal Analyses, Biodiversity, and Paleobiogeography4. The Structure of Late Cretaceous (Late Campanian) Nonmarine Aquatic Communities: A Guild Analysis of Two Vertebrate Microfossil Localities in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, CanadaDonald Brinkman5. Vertebrate Paleoecology from Microsites, Talley Mountain, Upper Aguja Formation (Late Cretaceous), Big Bend National Park, Texas, USAJulia T. Sankey6. Terrestrial and Aquatic Vertebrate Paleocommunities of the Mesaverde Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Campanian) of the Wind River and Bighorn Basins, Wyoming, USADavid G. DeMar Jr. and Brent H. Breithaupt7. Lack of Variability in Feeding Patterns of the Sauropod Dinosaurs Diplodocus and Camarasaurus (Late Jurassic, Western USA) with Respect to Climate as Indicated by Tooth Wear FeaturesAnthony R. Fiorillo8. Diversity of Latest Cretaceous (Late Maastrichtian) Small Theropods and Birds: Teeth from the Lance and Hell Creek Formations, USAJulia T. Sankey9. Small Theropod Teeth from the Lance Formation of Wyoming, USANick Longrich10. The First Serrated Bird ToothPhilip J. Currie and Clive Coy11. First Dinosaur Eggshells from Texas, USA: Aguja Formation (Late Campanian), Big Bend National Park Ed Welsh and Julia T. Sankey12. Review of the Albanerpetontidae (Lissamphibia), with Comments on the Paleoecological Preferences of European Tertiary AlbanerpetontidsJames D. Gardner and Madelaine Böhme13. New Information on Frogs (Lissamphibia: Anura) from the Lance Formation (Late Maastrichtian) and Bug Creek Anthills (Late Maastrichtian and Early Paleocene), Hell Creek Formation, USAJames D. GardnerList of ContributorsIndex
For several decades the study of vertebrate microfaunas has contributed greatly to our understanding of the evolution and paleobiology of fossil vertebrates. Despite the importance of such studies, the discipline has perhaps been viewed as slightly out of the mainstream. This is the first time that microfaunal studies have coalesced into a single volume. Hopefully it is a harbinger of an intellectual maturation, the coming-of-age of a discipline.
University of Pennsylvania - Peter Dodson
"For several decades the study of vertebrate microfaunas has contributed greatly to our understanding of the evolution and paleobiology of fossil vertebrates. Despite the importance of such studies, the discipline has perhaps been viewed as slightly out of the mainstream. This is the first time that microfaunal studies have coalesced into a single volume. Hopefully it is a harbinger of an intellectual maturation, the coming-of-age of a discipline."