Page 173 - Introduction to Paleobiology and The Fossil Record

160 INTRODUCTION TO PALEOBIOLOGY AND THE FOSSIL RECORD

2 Make a study of allometry in humans. Gould, S.J. 1974. The origin and function of “bizarre”
Select a real baby, several children and an structures: antler size and skull size in the “Irish
adult (all male or all female), and measure Elk,” Megaloceros giganteus. Evolution 28,
total body length (top of head to base of 191–220.
foot) as a baseline measurement, and then Kodric-Brown, A., Sibly, R.M. & Brown, J.H. 2006.
height of head (top of crown to base of The allometry of ornaments and weapons. Proceed-
ings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 103,
chin), length of chin (bottom of lower lip 8733–8.
to bottom of chin), arm length (tip of Rayfield, E.J. 2007. Finite element analysis and under-

longest finger to armpit) and hand length standing the biomechanics and evolution of living

(tip of longest finger to the line of hinging and fossil organisms. Annual Review of Earth and
at the wrist). Which of these show isomet- Planetary Sciences 35, 541–76.
ric growth, and which are allometric? Are Ridley, M. 2004. Evolution, 3rd edn. Blackwell, Oxford,
they positively or negatively allometric? If UK.
you do not have access to real people of Shubin, N. 2008. Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the
different sizes, use images from books or 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body. Pan-
the web. theon, New York.
3 Read around some recent papers on Hox
genes, and fi nd out how many are involved References
in determining the development of the ver-

tebrate hindlimb. What does each gene Barrett, P.M. & Rayfield, E.J. 2006. Ecological and
evolutionary implications of dinosaur feeding behav-
do? iour. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21, 217–24.
4 You want to understand how some fossil Benton, M.J. & Kirkpatrick, R. 1989. Heterochrony in
organisms moved and fed. What would be a fossil reptile: juveniles of the rhynchosaur Scaph-
good modern analogs for trilobites, ich- onyx fi scheri from the late Triassic of Brazil. Palae-
thyosaurs and crinoids? Compare images ontology 32, 335–53.
and descriptions of the fossil and modern Coates, M.I., Jeffery, J.E. & Ruta, M. 2002. Fins to
groups, and indicate how confi dent you limbs: what the fossils say. Evolution and Develop-
would be in using each of the modern ment 4, 390–401.
analogs. Collinson, M.E. & Hooker, J.J. 2000. Gnaw marks on
5 Find an image of the skull of the dinosaur Eocene seeds: evidence for early rodent behaviour.
Plateosaurus. Why is the jaw joint lower Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
157, 127–49.
than the tooth row? Think of modern Gould, S.J. 1974. The origin and function of “bizarre”
analogs, perhaps among common domes- structures: antler size and skull size in the “Irish
tic items, and think how the dropped jaw Elk,” Megaloceros giganteus. Evolution 28, 191–
joint might affect the lever performance of 220.
the jaw. Hagdorn, H., Wang, X.F. & Wang, C.S. 2007. Palaeo-
ecology of the pseudoplanktonic crinoid Traumato-
crinus from southwest China. Palaeogeography,
Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 247, 181–96.
Further reading
Hutchinson, J.R. & Gatesy, S.M. 2006. Dinosaur loco-
Barrett, P.M. & Rayfield, E.J. 2006. Ecological and motion: beyond the bones. Nature 440, 292–4.

evolutionary implications of dinosaur feeding behav- McNamara, K.J. 1976. The earliest Tegulorhynchia
iour. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21, 217–24. (Brachiopoda: Rhynchonellida) and its evolution-
Briggs, D.E.G. & Crowther, P.R. 2000. Palaeobiology, ary signifi cance. Journal of Paleontology 57, 461–
A Synthesis, 2nd edn. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, 73.
UK. Molyneux T. 1697. A discourse concerning the large
Carroll, S.B., Grenier, J. & Weatherbee, S. 2004. From horns frequently found under ground in Ireland, con-
DNA to Diversity, 2nd edn. Blackwell Publishing, cluding from them that the great American deer,
Oxford, UK. call’d a moose, was formerly common in that island:
Carroll, S.B. 2005. Endless Forms Most Beautiful: with remarks on some other things natural to the
The New Science of Evo devo and the Making of country. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
the Animal Kingdom. W.W. Norton & Co., New Society 19, 489–512.
York. Rayfield E.J. 2004. Cranial mechanics and feeding in

Futuyma, D. 1998. Evolutionary Biology, 3rd edn. Tyrannosaurus rex. Proceedings of the Royal Society
Sinauer, Sunderland, MA. of London B 271, 1451–9.