The evolution of vertebrate hearing is of considerable interest in the hearing community. However, there has never been a volume that has focused on the paleontological evidence for the evolution of hearing and the ear, especially from the perspective of some of the leading paleontologists and evolutionary biologists in the world. Thus, this volume is totally unique, and takes a perspective that has never been taken before. It brings to the fore some of the most recent discoveries among fossil taxa, which have demonstrated the sort of detailed information that can be derived from the fossil record, illuminating the evolutionary pathways this sensory system has taken and the diversity it had achieved.

The function of vertebrate hearing is served by a surprising variety of sensory structures in the different groups of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. This book discusses the origin, specialization, and functional properties of sensory hair cells, beginning with environmental constraints on acoustic systems and addressing in detail the evolutionary history behind modern structure and function in the vertebrate ear. Taking a comparative approach, chapters are devoted to each of the vertebrate groups, outlining the transition to land existence and the further parallel and independent adaptations of amniotic groups living in air. The volume explores in depth the specific properties of hair cells that allowed them to become sensitive to sound and capable of analyzing sounds into their respective frequency components. Evolution of the Vertebrate Auditory System is directed to a broad audience of biologists and clinicians, from the level of advanced undergraduate students to professionals interested in learning more about the evolution, structure, and function of the ear.

The Guimarota coal mine in central Portugal is the most important fossil locality in the world for Late Jurassic mammals and other small vertebrates. From 1973 to 1982 the mine was worked exclusively for paleontological purposes all year round, which represents one of the most ambitious enterprises in the history of paleontology. Tens of thousands of skulls, jaws, bones, and teeth of terrestrial and aquatic vertebrates and countless invertebrate and plant remains were collected. A great international sensation was created by the discovery of the first complete skeleton of an ancestor of modern mammals.Twenty specialists from geo- and biosciences summarize in 21 chapters the latest findings of more than 30 years of interdisciplinary research on the Guimarota locality. The book deals with the history of discovery, excavations, geology, stratigraphy, paleobiology, and paleoecology of the fossil locality. It is illustrated with many large size colour prints and provides an exciting insight into a Late Jurassic ecosystem at the eastern shore of the Proto-North Atlantic, at a time when giant dinosaurs ruled the world and tiny mammals had just begun their careers.The book will be of interest not only to paleontologists and geologists, but also to students and scholars of the bio- and geosciences. It should also be welcomed by a more general public interested in palaeontology, geology, and evolution.

World-class palaeontologists and biologists summarise the state-of-the-art on fish evolution and development.

A valuable resource for the latest research on rodents, highlighting links across palaeontology, developmental biology, functional morphology, phylogenetics and biomechanics.