Birds are one of the most recognizable and diverse groups of modern vertebrates. Over the
past two decades, a wealth of new fossil discoveries and phylogenetic and …

We suggest that human culture exhibits key Darwinian evolutionary properties, and argue
that the structure of a science of cultural evolution should share fundamental features with …

Dating the tree of life is a core endeavor in evolutionary biology. Rates of evolution are
fundamental to nearly every evolutionary model and process. Rates need dates. There is …

Vertebrate palaeontology is a lively field, with new discoveries reported every week... and
not only dinosaurs! This new edition reflects the international scope of vertebrate …

The role of fossils in dating the tree of life has been misunderstood. Fossils can provide
good “minimum” age estimates for branches in the tree, but “maximum” constraints on those …

Plants first colonized the land over 430 million years ago, having evolved from some of the
most primitive forms of life. Since then, plants have played a major role in supplying the …

Mammals are the dominant large animals of today, occurring in virtually every environment.
This book is an account of the remarkable 320 million year long fossil record that documents …

Evolution of the earliest mammals shows successive episodes of diversification. Lineage-
splitting in Mesozoic mammals is coupled with many independent evolutionary experiments …

Cretaceous strata are widely distributed across China and record a variety of depositional
settings. The sedimentary facies consist primarily of terrestrial, marine and interbedded …

The Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota is a terrestrial lagerstätte that contains exceptionally well-
preserved fossils indicating the origin and early evolution of Mesozoic life, such as birds …