Atlas of Taphonomic Identifications: 1001+ Images of Fossil and Recent Mammal Bone Modification: 0 (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology) - Hardcover

Fernandez-Jalvo, Yolanda; Andrews, Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9401774307 ISBN 13: 9789401774307

Publisher: Springer, 2016

Synopsis

The aim of the atlas is to provide images of taphonomic modifications, making it as comprehensive as possible with evidence presently available. This volume is intended both as a field guide for identifying taphonomic modifications in the field, and for use in the laboratory when collections of fossils are being analyzed. Images in the book are a combination of scanning electron micrographs, regular photographs, cross-sections of bones and line drawings and graphs. By providing good quality illustrations of taphonomic modifications, with links between similar types of modification, the atlas provides a reference source for identifying the agents responsible for the modifications, the processes by which they were formed, and the potential bias introduced by the processes.

The authors also aim to emphasize on the directions they consider taphonomic studies should be headed.  Firstly, we should seek to quantify the degree of bias introduced into a fossil fauna and to take account of this bias before interpreting the palaeoecology of the fossil site. Secondly, we should recognize that taphonomic modifications increase the information encoded in fossils by identifying perimortem and postmortem context

s. This provides a more dynamic and realistic view of the past.

About this title

From the Back Cover

The aim of the atlas is to provide images of taphonomic modifications, making it as comprehensive as possible with evidence presently available. This volume is intended both as a field guide for identifying taphonomic modifications in the field, and for use in the laboratory when collections of fossils are being analyzed. Images in the book are a combination of scanning electron micrographs, regular photographs, cross-sections of bones and line drawings and graphs. By providing good quality illustrations of taphonomic modifications, with links between similar types of modification, the atlas provides a reference source for identifying the agents responsible for the modifications, the processes by which they were formed, and the potential bias introduced by the processes.

The authors also aim to emphasize on the directions they consider taphonomic studies should be headed. Firstly, we should seek to quantify the degree of bias introduced into a fossil fauna and to take account of this bias before interpreting the palaeoecology of the fossil site. Secondly, we should recognize that taphonomic modifications increase the information encoded in fossils by identifying perimortem and postmortem contexts. T

his provides a more dynamic and realistic view of the past.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9401774307
• ISBN 13: 9789401774307
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368