Numerical Palaeobiology Computer-based Modelling and Analysis of Fossils and their Distributions

by Harper, David A. T.

• ISBN13: 9780471974055
• ISBN10: 0471974056
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-07-09
• Publisher: WILEY

Summary

Numerical Palaeobiology Computer-Based Modelling and Analysis of Fossils and their Distributions Edited by David A.T. Harper University of Copenhagen, Denmark Microcomputers have become an everyday part of the palaeobiologists tool-kit. Moreover, there is now a wide range of computer software available to handle all sorts of palaeontological data and problems. This book, aimed at final year undergraduates, graduate students and professional palaeontologists, biologists and geologists, brings together the many strands of contemporary palaeontology through the medium of numeracy. It provides a comprehensive review, with applications, of the many computer based techniques available for the analysis and modelling of palaeontological data. The first part of the book covers classical phenetic taxonomy through cladistics and the computer-generated reconstructions of fossils to actual models for fossil growth. This leads onto distribution analysis and modelling of fossils in time and space. Detailed stratigraphical distributions of fossils are described in quantitative terms together with the larger-scale patterns in the history of life itself, while palaeoecology, palynofacies, trace fossils and palaeogeography are all introduced through a spectrum of numerical algorithms. The majority of the studies are linked to specific software packages and many are illustrated with case histories. Although there are a number of books available on computer modelling and data analysis in geology, no study has integrated the two with such a range of palaeontological subject material.

Author Biography

David A.T. Harper is a British palaeontologist, specialising in fossil brachiopods and numerical methods in palaeontology. He is Professor of Palaeontology in Earth Sciences, Principal of Van Mildert College, and Deputy Head of Colleges in Durham University.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	vii
Preface	ix
Quantitative and Morphometric Methods in Taxonomy	1	(40)
David A.T. Harper
Alan W. Owen
Phylogenetic Systematics and Palaeontology	41	(52)
Sandra J. Carlson
Computer-based Serial Section Reconstruction	93	(34)
Malcolm Herbert
Statistical and Imaging Methods Applied to Deformed Fossils	127	(30)
Nigel C. Hughes
Computer Models of Fossil Morphology	157	(24)
Andrew R.H. Swan
Quantitative Biostratigraphy	181	(46)
Howard A. Armstrong
The Quantitative Description of Biotic Change Using Palaeontological Databases	227	(22)
Kenneth G. Johnson
Tim McCormick
The History of Life: Large Databases in Palaeontology	249	(36)
Michael J. Benton
Community Analysis	285	(76)
Walter Etter
Multivariate Techniques in Palynofacies Analysis	361	(34)
Jim Smith
Quantitative Approaches to the Resolution of Taxonomic Problems in Invertebrate Ichnology	395	(38)
Patrick J. Orr
A New Approach to Seriation	433	(18)
Pual D. Ryan
Mark D. C. Ryan
David A.T. Harper
Subject Index	451	(14)
Systematic Index	465