Fossil Ecosystems of North America: A Guide to the Sites and their Extraordinary Biotas

Description

Fossil–Lagerstätten provide us with windows on the history of life on earth and this book focuses on 14 outstanding Fossil–Lagerstätten located in North America.

Most major recent advances in understanding the history of life on earth have been through the study of exceptionally well preserved biotas (Fossil-Lagerstätten). These are windows on the history of life on earth and can provide a fairly complete picture of the evolution of ecosystems through time. This book follows the success of Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems by the same authors which covered Fossil-Lagerstätten around the world

Following an introduction to Fossil-Lagerstätten, each chapter deals with a single fossil locality. Each chapter contains a brief introduction placing the Lagerstätte in an evolutionary context; there then follows a history of study of the locality; the background sedimentology, stratigraphy and palaeoenvironment; a description of the biota; discussion of the palaeoecology, and a comparison with other Lagerstätten of a similar age and/or environment. At the end of the book is an Appendix listing museums in which to see exhibitions of fossils from each locality and suggestions for visiting the sites.