The principles of stratigraphic paleobiology can be readily applied to the nonmarine fossil record. Consistent spatial and temporal patterns of accommodation and sedimentation in sedimentary basins are an important control on stratigraphic architecture. Temperature and precipitation covary with elevation, causing significant variation in community composition, and changes in base level cause elevation to undergo predictable changes. These principles lead to eight sets of hypotheses about the nonmarine fossil record. Three relate to long-term and cyclical patterns in the preservation of major fossil groups and their taphonomy, as well as the occurrence of fossil concentrations. The remaining hypotheses relate to the widespread occurrence of elevation-correlated gradients in community composition, long-term and cyclical trends in these communities, and the stratigraphic position of abrupt changes in community composition. Testing of these hypotheses makes the stratigraphic paleobiology of nonmarine systems a promising area of investigation.

Imaging and visualizing fossils in three dimensions with tomography is a powerful approach in paleontology. Here, the authors introduce select destructive and non-destructive tomographic techniques that are routinely applied to fossils and review how this work has improved our understanding of the anatomy, function, taphonomy, and phylogeny of fossil echinoderms. Building on this, this Element discusses how new imaging and computational methods have great promise for addressing long-standing paleobiological questions. Future efforts to improve the accessibility of the data underlying this work will be key for realizing the potential of this virtual world of paleontology.

Principles of Sequence Stratigraphy, Second Edition presents principles to practical workflow that guide applications in a consistent manner that is independent of model, geological setting and the types and resolution of the data available. The book explains the points of agreement and difference between the various approaches to sequence stratigraphy, while also defining the common ground that affords the standard application of the method. This enables the practitioner to avoid nomenclatural and methodological confusions and apply sequence stratigraphy. The text is richly illustrated with hundreds of full-color diagrams and examples of outcrop, borehole and seismic data. The book's balanced approach helps students and professionals acquire a sound understanding of the concepts and methodology. It will appeal to geologists, geophysicists and engineers with interest in basin analysis, stratigraphy and sedimentology, as well as in all economic applications that concern the exploration and production of natural resources, including water, hydrocarbons, coal and sediment-hosted mineral deposits. - Updates the award-winning first edition in all aspects of sequence stratigraphy, from the underlying theory to the practical applications - Presents the standard approach to sequence stratigraphic methodology, nomenclature, and classification; the role of modeling in sequence stratigraphy, and the difference between modeling and methodology - Discusses the roles of scale and stratigraphic resolution in sequence stratigraphy, and the workflow that affords a consistent application of the method irrespective of the types of data available - Describes the three-dimensional nature of the stratigraphic architecture, and the variability of stratigraphic sequences with the tectonic setting, depositional setting, and the climatic regime - Illustrates all concepts with high-quality, full-color diagrams, outcrop photographs, and subsurface well data and seismic images

Recent advances in statistical approaches called phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs) have provided paleontologists with a powerful set of analytical tools for investigating evolutionary tempo and mode in fossil lineages. However, attempts to integrate PCMs with fossil data often present workers with practical challenges or unfamiliar literature. This Element presents guides to the theory behind and the application of PCMs with fossil taxa. Based on an empirical dataset of Paleozoic crinoids, example analyses are presented to illustrate common applications of PCMs to fossil data, including investigating patterns of correlated trait evolution and macroevolutionary models of morphological change. The authors emphasize the importance of accounting for sources of uncertainty and discuss how to evaluate model fit and adequacy. Finally, the authors discuss several promising methods for modeling heterogeneous evolutionary dynamics with fossil phylogenies. Integrating phylogeny-based approaches with the fossil record provides a rigorous, quantitative perspective on understanding key patterns in the history of life.

The study of echinoid evolution, diversity, and ecology has always suffered from the fact that they are represented by taxa showing widely differing architectural designs of their multi-plated skeletons, inhabiting a large range of marine paleoenvironments, which result in highly varying taphonomic biases dictating their presence and recognition. This Element addresses the taphonomy of echinoids and includes: a general introduction to the morphological features of echinoids that play a role in their preservation; a review of processes which play an important role in the differential preservation of both regular and irregular echinoids including predation and transport; a summary of taphonomic pathways included in actualistic studies for recent sea urchins and then reconstructed for fossil taxa; and finally, a case study of the variation of echinoid taphonomy across a shelf gradient using the rich Miocene echinoid fauna of Sardinia.

Macroevolutionary inference has historically been treated as a two-step process, involving the inference of a tree, and then inference of a macroevolutionary model using that tree. Newer models blend the two steps. These methods make more complete use of fossils than the previous generation of Bayesian phylogenetic models. They also involve many more parameters than prior models, including parameters about which empiricists may have little intuition. In this Element, we set forth a framework for fitting complex, hierarchical models. The authors ultimately fit and use a joint tree and diversification model to estimate a dated phylogeny of the Cincta (Echinodermata), a morphologically distinct group of Cambrian echinoderms that lack the fivefold radial symmetry characteristic of extant members of the phylum. Although the phylogeny of cinctans remains poorly supported in places, this Element shows how models of character change and diversification contribute to understanding patterns of phylogenetic relatedness and testing macroevolutionary hypotheses.

The ability for people to connect, learn, and communicate about science has been enhanced through the Internet, specifically through social media platforms. Facebook and Twitter are well-studied, while Instagram is understudied. This Element provides insight into using Instagram as a science education platform by pioneering a set of calculated metrics, using a paleontology-focused account as a case study. Framed by the theory of affinity spaces, the authors conducted year-long analyses of 455 posts and 139 stories that were created as part of an informal science learning project. They found that team activity updates and posts outside of their other categories perform better than their defined categories. For Instagram stories, the data show that fewer slides per story hold viewers' attention longer, and stories using the poll tool garnered the most interaction. This Element provides a baseline to assess the success of Instagram content for science communicators and natural science institutions.

New material attributable to Deltasuchus motherali, a neosuchian from the Cenomanian of Texas, provides sampling across much of the ontogeny of this species. Detailed descriptions provide information about the paleobiology of this species, particularly with regards to how growth and development affected diet. Overall snout shape became progressively wider and more robust with age, suggesting that dietary shifts from juvenile to adult were not only a matter of size change, but of functional performance as well. These newly described elements provide additional characters upon which to base more robust phylogenetic analyses. The authors provide a revised diagnosis of this species, describing the new material and discussing incidents of apparent ontogenetic variation across the sampled population. The results of the ensuing phylogenetic analyses both situate Deltasuchus within an endemic clade of Appalachian crocodyliforms, separate and diagnosable from goniopholidids and pholidosaurs, herein referred to as Paluxysuchidae. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

The Late Pennsylvanian was a time of ice ages and associated climate dynamics. A major reduction in Gondwana ice-volume was followed by a prolonged period of relative global warmth, culminating in the last great ice age of the late Paleozoic. It also was a major turning point in the evolution of life on land, when the coal forests of the Middle Pennsylvanian gave way to new kinds of Late Pennsylvanian wetland vegetation, and new kinds of animals appeared. Changes in the terrestrial biota began during the Middle Pennsylvanian, accelerating and proceeding in a spatially complex manner throughout the Late Pennsylvanian. The Late Pennsylvanian is thus a laboratory for studying environmental changes in a glacial world, and for assessing coeval biotic changes, in part to establish the possible links between the two. No book has been dedicated to this time interval, so this volume fills a gap in our understanding of a dynamic Late Pennsylvanian world that is much like the late Cenozoic world.