A possible Late Cambrian vertebrate from Australia
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Fossil Record
Armour
Tetrapod (structure)
Vertebrate paleontology
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The fossil record of exceptionally preserved soft tissues in Konservat-Lagersta ¨tten provides rare yet significant insight into past behaviours and ecologies.Such deposits are known to occur in bursts rather than evenly through time, but reasons for this pattern and implications for the origins of novel structures remain unclear.Previous assessments of these records focused on marine environments preserving chemically heterogeneous tissues from across animals.Here, we investigate the preservation of skin and keratinous integumentary structures in land-dwelling vertebrates (tetrapods) through time, and in distinct terrestrial and marine depositional environments.We also evaluate previously proposed biotic and abiotic controls on the distribution of 143 tetrapod Konservat-Lagersta ¨tten from the Permian to the Pleistocene in a multivariate framework.Gap analyses taking into account sampling intensity and distribution indicate that feathers probably evolved close to their first appearance in the fossil record.By contrast, hair and archosaur filaments are weakly sampled (five times less common than feathers), and their origins may significantly pre-date earliest known occurrences in the fossil record.This work suggests that among-integument variation in preservation can bias the reconstructed first origins of integumentary novelties and has implications for predicting where, and in what depositional environments, to expect further discoveries of exquisitely preserved tetrapod integument.
Tetrapod (structure)
Integument
Fossil Record
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The fossil record of vertebrates provides abundant evidence for both the fact and the theory of evolution (Carroll, 1997; Prothero and Schoch, 1994). In support of the fact that evolution has indeed occurred, the vertebrate fossil record clearly documents evolutionary change along lineages , that is, along direct lines of ancestors and descendents. The fossil record also shows step-wise evolutionary changes resulting in the emergence of new kinds of vertebrates from pre-existing kinds—for example, the origin of mammals from the “mammal-like” reptiles. In support of the theory that natural selection, in particular, has been largely responsible for evolutionary change, the fossil record shows that the numerous “transitional” forms that lived in the past—far from being nonviable “monsters”—were functionally integrated organisms that were well adapted to their ecological roles. Finally, the vertebrate fossil record preserves certain large-scale phenomena, such as radiations and trends, which show that evolutionary forces can act over very large time scales.
Fossil Record
Mammal
Vertebrate paleontology
Evolutionary Theory
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Tetrapod (structure)
Fossil Record
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Six compilations of fossil tetrapod families, spanning 100 years, each contain a broadly similar diversity pattern since the Upper Devonian. Comparison of four recent data bases, one of which is derived from a strict cladistic treatment, reveals widespread taxonomic and stratigraphic inaccuracies in three earlier data bases. Improvement of our interpretation of the tetrapod fossil record will come through continued taxonomic and stratigraphic revision as well as discovery of new fossils.
Tetrapod (structure)
Fossil Record
Devonian
Completeness (order theory)
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Fossil Record
Taphonomy
Vertebrate paleontology
Geologic record
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Armour
Tetrapod (structure)
Breakwater
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The vastness of the vertebrate fossil record and its literature makes any effort to review it in entirety a difficult task; ‘a review’ is understood to be a work that discusses the evolution and diversity of a group, drawing in knowledge on taxonomy, morphology, ecology and distribution, with representative illustrations. Existing reviews of the entire vertebrate record have mostly been designed with teaching in mind and have focused on groups, trends and processes deemed of interest to students. As goes more specific reviews, some groups (Mesozoic dinosaurs in particular) are frequently reviewed; others are afflicted by their association with idiosyncratic authors, others have only been given partial treatment, and others are woefully under-represented. Biographical information on vertebrate palaeontologists themselves is scattered. An additional issue is that several excellent volumes (notably the Handbook volumes) are prohibitively expensive, rare or otherwise hard to obtain. Cenozoic fishes – in particular actinopterygians, the largest and richest vertebrate radiation – remain essentially untouched and it might not be obvious to non-specialists just how rich the fish record is. Indeed, an enormous number of lineages scarcely known to experts on modern fishes are present in the fossil record. The result of this skewed coverage is that both popular and technical perceptio n of the vertebrate fossil record is biased. Not only are there a huge number of groups that fail to attract students, a large number of research questions relevant to these groups remain un- or under-investigated because so few researchers are aware of their existence.
Fossil Record
Vertebrate paleontology
Taxonomic rank
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Tetrapod (structure)
Fossil Record
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Tetrapod (structure)
Fossil Record
Integument
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The fossil record of vertebrates provides abundant evidence for both the fact and the theory of evolution (Carroll, 1997; Prothero and Schoch, 1994). In support of the fact that evolution has indeed occurred, the vertebrate fossil record clearly documents evolutionary change along lineages , that is, along direct lines of ancestors and descendents. The fossil record also shows step-wise evolutionary changes resulting in the emergence of new kinds of vertebrates from pre-existing kinds, for example, the origin of mammals from the “mammal-like” reptiles. In support of the theory that natural selection, in particular, has been largely responsible for evolutionary change, the fossil record shows that the numerous “transitional” forms that lived in the past — far from being nonviable “monsters” — were functionally integrated organisms that were well adapted to their ecological roles. Finally, the vertebrate fossil record preserves certain large-scale phenomena, such as radiations and trends, which show that evolutionary forces can act over very large time scales.
Fossil Record
Mammal
Vertebrate paleontology
Evolutionary Theory
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