The growth history of a brachiopod is entombed in its shell, but research on fossil and living brachiopods has generated unanswered questions about these marine invertebrates. Several contributors to Brachiopods Past and Present comment on their differing structures and morphological detail. They use these as examples of ontogenetic and evolutionar

STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS & SYNTHESIS STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS & SYNTHESIS A LABORATORY COURSE IN STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY Structural Analysis and Synthesis is the best-selling laboratory manual of its kind. Specifically designed to support the laboratory work of undergraduates in structural geology courses, the book helps students analyze the various aspects of geological structures, and to combine their analyses into an overarching synthesis. This book is intended for use in the laboratory portion of a first course in structural geology. As is explicit in the book’s title, it is concerned with both the analysis and synthesis of structural features. In this fourth edition, the has been broadened to include a range of new content and features, including: Video content that demonstrates how to perform some of the more challenging structural geology techniques An acknowledgment of the increasing importance of environmental applications of structural geology – vital to students who may go on to pursue careers in the environmental sphere An increased emphasis on quantitative techniques, complete with descriptions of computer program applications Contingent with this quantitative emphasis, the book also outlines the limitations of such techniques, helping students to appropriately apply the techniques and evaluate their trustworthiness Structural Analysis and Synthesis is a renowned and widely recognized aid to students in grasping and mastering the techniques required in structural geology, and will find a home wherever the principles and practices of structural geology are taught.

This volume focuses on the reconstruction of past ecosystems and provides a comprehensive review of current techniques and their application in exemplar studies. The 18 chapters address a wide variety of topics that span vertebrate paleobiology and paleoecology (body mass, postcranial functional morphology, evolutionary dental morphology, microwear and mesowear, ecomorphology, mammal community structure analysis), contextual paleoenvironmental studies (paleosols and sedimentology, ichnofossils, pollen, phytoliths, plant macrofossils), and special techniques (bone microstructure, biomineral isotopes, inorganic isotopes, 3-D morphometrics, and ecometric modeling). A final chapter discusses how to integrate results of these studies with taphonomic data in order to more accurately characterize an ancient ecosystem. Current investigators, advanced undergraduates, and graduate students interested in the field of paleoecology will find this book immensely useful. The length and structure of the volume also makes it suitable for teaching a college-level course on reconstructing Cenozoic ecosystems.

Atrypida (Brachiopoda, Rhynchonellata) are ancient marine invertebrate fossils that are well preserved, abundant and diverse in the mid-Paleozoic (ecological evolutionary unit (EEU) P3). Atrypides thus serve as useful tools for morphological shape study. While qualitative studies have been performed for solving problems in brachiopod taxonomy, phylogeny, evolution and ecology, quantitative studies have been lacking. After qualitative taxonomic identifications, morphological shape of the Silurian-Devonian Eastern North American atrypids was analyzed using geometric morphometrics, placing the results in evolutionary and ecological perspectives. Landmark analysis was performed on dorsal valves, ventral valves, anterior and posterior regions. These data were used for comparison with morphological distances, calculated as pairwise Procrustes distances. Evolutionary divergence times were determined from atrypide phylogeny and from stratigraphic zonations in the Michigan Traverse Group. Maximum likelihood tests were performed to determine evolutionary rates and modes of morphological divergence within and between genera. Episkeletobionts on hosts were examined to determine how morphological variation affected these assemblages. Morphometric results suggest that morphological distances within each genus was as large as those observed between genera. Thus, referring individuals to a particular genus, based on shell shape alone is challenging. Diversifying selection has been acting on morphological divergence of these generic pairs and morphometric distances are consistent with the prior phylogenetic arrangement. Short term changes observed in individual lineages, that gets averaged out in time when compared to other genera, together with considerable morphological overlap observed between genera in P3 EEU, suggests a pattern consistent with stasis, as expected in EEUs. The Traverse Group atrypid species lineage, which represents a 5 m.y. time span, exhibited lightly constrained morphological evolution, reflecting a stasis-like pattern. Greater encrustation preferences on one of two morphotypes on the dorsal valve and posterior region, suggest greater surface area facilitated by relatively deeper profile hosts in their reclining life orientation. Overall, the integration of various paleontological datasets reveal that the seemingly homogenous group of atrypide brachiopods exhibit subtle but significant evolution in their shell shape that is correlated with several kinds of ecological differences.