In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs Early Mesozoic Tetrapods [Paperback]

This book on the small vertebrates of the early Mesozoic features contributions by internationally renowned experts.The early Mesozoic was a critical period in the evolution of life on land when most of today's major groups of terrestrial vertebrates arose and dinosaurs and pterosaurs rose to prominence. This book collates all the information on the small vertebrates and features contributions by internationally renowned experts.The early Mesozoic was a critical period in the evolution of life on land when most of today's major groups of terrestrial vertebrates arose and dinosaurs and pterosaurs rose to prominence. This book collates all the information on the small vertebrates and features contributions by internationally renowned experts.This book is the first attempt to collate all the information known to date on the small vertebrates, e.g. mammals, crocodiles, turtles, lizards, frogs, salamanders, etc., and features contributions by experts with international reputations in their fields. There are chapters on the taxonomy and phylogeny of the key vertebrate groups followed by a section dealing with the most significant fossiliferous assemblages worldwide. The final section looks at how faunal turnover at this time is measured and examines the possibility of mass extinctions.Acknowledgments; List of contributors; Introduction Nicholas C. Fraser and Hans-Dieter Sues; Part I. Phylogeny: Introduction; 1. Late Triassic and Jurassic amphibians: fossil record and phylogeny Andrew Milner; 2. The Lepidosauromorpha: an overview with special emphasis on the Squamata Olivier Rieppel; 3. Late Triassic-Early Jurassic sphenodontians from China and the phylogeny of the Sphenodontia Xiao-chun Wu; 4. Marine members of the Sphenodontia Robert L. Carroll and Rupert Wild; 5. Patterns of evolution in Mesozoic Crocodyliformes James M. Clark; 6. Sister-group relationships of mammals and transformations of diagnostic mammalian characters Zhexi Luo; Part II. Faunal Assemblages: 7. A revlÓ^