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![]( "Buchcover ISBN 9781444313901")
„From a review of the manuscript: “[The book] has the potential to become the standard reference on the subject - required reading for all palaentologists. Indeed I can envisage a state of affairs where no-one will dare use taxonomic data from the fossil record to address evolutionary questions without first checking Smith to ensure that their methods are legal". D E G Briggs, University of Bristol
This new text sets out to establish the key role played bysystematics in deciphering patterns of evolution from the fossilrecord. It begins by considering the nature of the species in thefossil record and then outlines recent advances in the methodologyused to establish phylogenetics relationships, stressing why fossilevidence can be crucial. The way species are grouped into highertaxa, and how this affects their utility in evolutionary studies isalso discussed. Because the fossil record abounds with sampling andpreservational biases, the book emphasizes that observed patternscan rarely be taken at face value. It is argued that evolutionarytrees, constructed from combining phylogenetic and biostratigraphicdata, provide the best approach for investigating patterns ofevolution through geologic time.
* The only integrated text covering the study of evolutionarypatterns from a phylogenetic stance.
