Neogene Mammals: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 44

Fossil Mammals of Asia, edited by and with contributions from world-renowned scholars, is the first major work devoted to the late Cenozoic (Neogene) mammalian biostratigraphy and geochronology of Asia. This volume employs cutting-edge biostratigraphic and geochemical dating methods to map the emergence of mammals across the continent. Written by specialists working in a variety of Asian regions, it uses data from many basins with spectacular fossil records to establish a groundbreaking geochronological framework for the evolution of land mammals. Asia's violent tectonic history has resulted in some of the world's most varied topography, and its high mountain ranges and intense monsoon climates have spawned widely diverse environments over time. These geologic conditions profoundly influenced the evolution of Asian mammals and their migration into Europe, Africa, and North America. Focusing on amazing new fossil finds that have redefined Asia's role in mammalian evolution, this volume synthesizes information from a range of field studies on Asian mammals and biostratigraphy, helping to trace the histories and movements of extinct and extant mammals from various major groups and all northern continents, and providing geologists with a richer understanding of a variety of Asian terrains.

During the last ZO years great progress has been achieved in our understanding of both earth history and vertebrate evolution. The result is that climatic/tectonic events in earth history can now be placed in a more precise and global time frame, that permit their evaluation as abiotic causal factors which might trigger extinction and dispersal events in vertebrate history. Great strides have also been made in genetics and cell biology, providing new insight into phylogenetic relationships among many vertebrates. These new data, along with data on chronologie resolution of earth history, provide tests of previous interpretations regarding ancestral-descendant relationships based solely on the fossil record. It is fitting and proper that a volume on European Neogene mammal chronology is produced at this time, to ensure that new interpretations of vertebrate evolution and chronology are based on the most accurate and current data. Vertebrate paleon tologists believe that the fossil record is the only secure data for measuring the actual course and tempo of vertebrate evolution. Knowledge of the fossil record must keep pace with advances in other areas of science so that inferences on vertebrate evolu tion are accurate and meaningful.

Its constant evolution over the millennia since its inception has made the Earth a dynamic entity, subject to numerous climactic and environmental forces that are forever changing this planet. In its most recent stage, the planet has seen an incredible diversification in plant and animal life, with the most prominent development of the Cenozoic era being the emergence of mammals. This book examines our most immediate ancestors and the geologic, geographic, and environmental factors that helped make their primacy inevitable.

"This book is on the emergence of mammals in Asia, based largely on new fossil finds throughout Asia and cutting-edge biostratigraphic and geochemical methods of dating the fossils and their geological substrate"--Provided by publisher.

The Late Cenozoic Yushe Basin, Shanxi Province, China embodies the bulk of our knowledge on successions of terrestrial vertebrates in the northern part of East Asia. Everything we know about Asian mammals of the last 6 million years has a historical basis in the documentation of the geology of Yushe. This volume introduces the basin in its geological setting, describes the succession of fossiliferous strata, and shows how it is dated. It develops an unsurpassed level of precision for its age control. Geological maps and stratigraphic sections provide the backbone for individual studies to follow on varied fossil groups. The volume explores the history of exploration of the last century in Yushe Basin and places development of paleontology there into the context of the birth of the modern epoch of science in China.