Overview
The modern coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae, is the product of 360 million years of evolution and since its discovery in 1938 has been popularly acclaimed as a living fossil and a ""missing link"" between fishes and tetrapods. Inherent in this reputation are the assumptions that the coelacanth has changed little from its Devonian relatives and that it can reveal the natural history of the tetrapod ancestor. This reputation is based on outdated classification and systematic methods, anecdotal evidence and scant regard for immediate fossil relatives, most of which were described long before Latimeria was discovered. This book evaluates the reputation of the coelacanth, presenting up-to-date accounts of the structure of fossil coelacanths, and suggests a family history to show that there have been subtle but significant changes in coelacanth history. The coelacanth lineage must now be regarded as more distantly related to tetrapods than was originally thought its importance lying in another direction, as an example of the most primitive lobe-finned fish. This book should be of interest to specialists, museum researchers, university lecturers in palaeontology, zoology and aquatic sciences.
Full Product Details
Author: Peter Forey
Publisher: Chapman and Hall
Imprint: Chapman and Hall
Edition: 1997 ed.
Dimensions:
Width: 17.80cm
, Height: 2.30cm
, Length: 25.40cm
Weight: 2.300kg
ISBN: 9780412784804
ISBN 10: 0412784807
Pages: 420
Publication Date: 30 November 1997
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
'Collaboration between Chapman & Hall and the Natural History Museum has produced this rich and erudite volume...are to be congratulated on their commitment. ...elegantly written and easy enough to assimilate. Most palaeoichthyologists will have it on their wish-list.' Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 13:8 (1998)
Collaboration between Chapman & Hall and the Natural History Museum has produced this rich and erudite volume...are to be congratulated on their commitment. ...elegantly written and easy enough to assimilate. Most palaeoichthyologists will have it on their wish-list.' Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 13: 8 (1998)
'Collaboration between Chapman & Hall and the Natural History Museum has produced this rich and erudite volume...are to be congratulated on their commitment. ...elegantly written and easy enough to assimilate. Most palaeoichthyologists will have it on their wish-list.' Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 13:8 (1998)
