This volume presents the latest science on all significant geological and paleontological aspects of the Earth during the Late Triassic Period. Rather than presenting a collection of narrowly focused research papers, the volume consists of a series of peer-reviewed chapters on specific aspects of the Late Triassic world (e.g., tectonics, magmatism, paleobotany, climate, etc.), all authored by experts in the subject of their respective chapters. Each chapter reviews and summarizes the latest findings in these fields and also includes a review of the pertinent literature. The author list is very broadly international and forms a veritable who’s who of expertise in these fields. The book is loosely organized to present the physical aspects of Earth during the Late Triassic at the outset, followed by the paleontological aspects. The latter section is further organized to present the record of the marine environment first before moving onto land, with fauna followed by flora. The volume closes with a review of the end-Triassic extinctions.

The Mesozoic Era begins with the approximately 50-million-year-long Triassic Period, a major juncture in Earth history when the vast Pangaean supercontinent completed its assembly and began its fragmentation, and the global biota diversified and modern-ized after the end-Permian mass extinction, the most extensive biotic decimation of the Phanerozoic. The temporal ordering of geological and biotic events during Triassic time thus is critical to the interpretation of some unique and pivotal events in Earth his-tory. This temporal ordering is mostly based on the Triassic time-scale, which has been developed and refined for nearly two centu-ries. This book reviews the state of the art of the Triassic timescale and includes comprehensive analyses of Triassic radio-isotopic ages, magnetostratigraphy, isotope-based and cyclostratigraphic correlations and timescale -relevant marine and non-marine bio-stratigraphy.

The Triassic period is generally viewed as the beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs. For paleontologists, however, it also marks the rise of the world's first modern land ecosystems. Over the past three decades, extensive, worldwide fieldwork has led to the discovery of many new species of Triassic animals and plants, suggesting that faunal and floral changes already began in the Middle Triassic and were more protracted than previously thought. The Late Triassic is a pivotal time in the evolution of life on land, with many of the major groups of present-day vertebrates and insects first appearing in the fossil record. This book provides the first detailed overview of life on land during the Triassic period for advanced students and researchers. Noted vertebrate paleontologists Hans-Dieter Sues and Nicholas C. Fraser also review the biotic changes of this period and their possible causes.

The existence of rapid and even catastrophic turnovers within the Phanerozoic ecosystems has been discussed controversially for more than 170 years. Since 1980 this discussion has become even more intensive after the hypothesis of Alvarez, explaining the end-Cretaceous mass extinction as the result of a huge asteroid impact on the Earth. This theory stimulated several thousand papers and is still controversial. The international research programme on "Global Biological Events in Earth History" attempts to bring the discussion back to the facts by using multidisciplinary investigations of the major Phanerozoic events. The results of an international group of experts are presented giving a wealth of information and a thorough discussion of the causes of the various global events.

Around 210 million years ago, life on Earth experienced sweeping changes. Many archaic reptiles and mammalian predecessors became extinct and were replaced by dinosaurs, pterosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, mammals, and essentially all of the major modern vertebrate groups except the birds. This period of change, which took place over a period of approximately five to ten million years, ushered in the beginning of the 'Age of Dinosaurs,' a period that lasted 160 million years to the end of the Cretaceous 65 million years ago. In the past decade, paleontologists have come to know a great deal more about this crucial interval of time. New discoveries, ideas, and insights from scientists in many related- disciplines have created new paradigms about the beginning of the 'Age of Dinosaurs.' What were the animals that preceded the dinosaurs like? How did the dinosaurs originate, and what do we know of their early history? Was their ascent tied to evolutionary innovations, global climatic and ecological changes, or just chance factors? How do paleontologists decide about the evidence preserved in the fossil record, and what areas now require major thought and reevaluation? In this book, 31 specialists in the paleontology of this era consider these and other questions related to Late Triassic and Early Jurassic times - the beginning of the 'Age of Dinosaurs,' its fauna, flora, climate, stratigraphic relationships, and major evolutionary changes. The book is divided into sections on background, Late Triassic taxa and faunas, changes across the boundary, Early Jurassic taxa and faunas, and major macroevolutionary patterns. This comprehensive volume is richly illustrated and is intended for students and professionals in the areas of paleontology, evolutionary biology, geology, and vertebrate zoology. Introductory and summary chapters are provided to acquaint the non-specialist with the issues and the setting of this interval of time in which the ancestral components of the modem fauna, as well as the Dinosauria, first appeared to rule the Earth.

This volume addresses major evolutionary changes that took place during the Mesozoic and the Cenozoic. These include discussions on major evolutionary radiations and ecological innovations on land and at sea, such as the Mesozoic marine revolution, the Mesozoic radiation of vertebrates, the Mesozoic lacustrine revolution, the Cenozoic radiation of mammals, the evolution of paleosol biotas, and the evolution of hominins. The roles of mass extinctions at the end of the Triassic and at the end of the Cretaceous are assessed. This volume set provides innovative reviews of the major evolutionary events in the history of life from an ichnologic perspective. Because the long temporal range of trace fossils has been commonly emphasized, biogenic structures have been traditionally overlooked in macroevolution. However, comparisons of ichnofaunas through geologic time do reveal the changing ecology of organism-substrate interactions. The use of trace fossils in evolutionary paleoecology represents a new trend that is opening a window for our understanding of major evolutionary radiations and mass extinctions. Trace fossils provide crucial evidence for the recognition of spatial and temporal patterns and processes associated with paleoecologic breakthroughs.

This look at the field of ichnology is “an excellent compendium and a timely piece on a rapidly expanding and changing area of research” (Quarterly Review of Biology). The latest advances in dinosaur ichnology are showcased in this comprehensive and timely volume, in which leading researchers and research groups cover the most essential topics in the study of dinosaur tracks. Some assess and demonstrate state-of-the-art approaches and techniques, such as experimental ichnology, photogrammetry, biplanar X-rays, and a numerical scale for quantifying the quality of track preservation. The high diversity of these up-to-date studies underlines that dinosaur ichnological research is a vibrant field, that important discoveries are continuously made, and that new methods are being developed, applied, and refined. This indispensable volume unequivocally demonstrates that ichnology has an important contribution to make toward a better understanding of dinosaur paleobiology. Tracks and trackways are one of the best sources of evidence to understand and reconstruct the daily life of dinosaurs. They are windows on past lives, dynamic structures produced by living, breathing, moving animals now long extinct, and they are every bit as exciting and captivating as the skeletons of their makers. Includes photos and illustrations