When the Invasion of Land Failed: The Legacy of the Devonian ExtinctionsColumbia University Press, 12 nov 2013 - 360 páginas The invasion of land by ocean-dwelling plants and animals was one of the most revolutionary events in the evolution of life on Earth, yet the animal invasion almost failed—twice—because of the twin mass extinctions of the Late Devonian Epoch. Some 359 to 375 million years ago, these catastrophic events dealt our ancestors a blow that almost drove them back into the sea. If those extinctions had been just a bit more severe, spiders and insects might have become the ecologically dominant forms of animal life on land. This book examines the profound evolutionary consequences of the Late Devonian extinctions, which shaped the composition of the modern terrestrial ecosystem. Only one group of four-limbed vertebrates now live on Earth while other tetrapod-like fishes are extinct. This gap is why the idea of “fish with feet” seems so peculiar yet these animals were once a vital part of our world. |
Índice
The evolution of Life on Land | 1 |
The Plants establish a beachhead | 27 |
The First animal Invasion | 53 |
The First Catastrophe and retreat | 99 |
The second animal Invasion | 159 |
The second Catastrophe and retreat | 179 |
victory at Last | 213 |
The Legacy of the devonian extinctions | 263 |
notes | 277 |
295 | |
313 | |
Otras ediciones - Ver todo
When the Invasion of Land Failed: The Legacy of the Devonian Extinctions George R. McGhee Jr. Vista previa restringida - 2013 |
When the Invasion of Land Failed: The Legacy of the Devonian Extinctions George R. McGhee, Jr. Vista previa restringida - 2013 |
Términos y frases comunes
Acanthostega gunnari amniote animals Archaeopteris arthropods basal black shales Bottleneck carbon dioxide chapter color plate conodont conodont zone derived discussion in Clack discussion in McGhee diversity Early Carboniferous Earth Earth’s atmosphere ecosystem Eifelian Elginerpeton Elginerpeton pancheni elpistostegalian end-Frasnian extinction eutrophication evidence evolution evolutionary evolved Famennian Gap Famennian tetrapod Family incertae sedis feet fossil record Frasnian Frasnian tetrapod geologic ghost lineage glaciation global cooling Gondwana Guyader Ichthyostega incertae sedis insects interval isotope kill mechanism known Lagerstätte land plants Late Carboniferous Late Devonian late Famennian late Frasnian Laurussia Lecointre limbs living major marine meters millimeters million years ago millipedes numbers Obruchevichthys occurred oceans Ordovician oxygen percent placoderm plesiomorphic pulse reptiliomorphs sarcopterygian sauropsid sea-level shallow seas Silurian spore zone strata synapsid temperature terrestrial tetrapod tetrapod species tetrapodomorph timescale Tournaisian trackways trees triggered unnamed clade Upper Kellwasser Horizon Ventastega Ventastega curonica vertebrates Visean Zone Early Zone late