Evolution and the fossil record /

Although this collection was designed as an advanced undergraduate or graduate text in the evolutionary aspects of paleontology, its ten essays/chapters do not review the evolutionary history of discrete groups of organisms, as most paleontology texts do (e.g., Robert L. Carroll's Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, CH, Jan'88, or even R. Cowen's History of Life, CH, Jan'91). Instead, the view is broader: there are chapters on patterns of evolution in vascular plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates. The predecessors of the Metazoa (multicelled organisms) and the early history of that group are treated in two further chapters, as are the invasion of two major environments: the land and the air (the latter for vertebrates only). Extinctions are the focus of another chapter, following the introductory essay on the astronomical background to life in the solar system. A final chapter discusses aspects of creationism on education in science. The chapters are generally well written and well illustrated, but they remain unrelated essays. Although this design reflects the diversity and excitement of the field today, it may not succeed as the framework for a course, but the book could serve as a source for additional readings. (It is also surprising that, although both editors are paleobiologists, neither has seen fit to contribute a chapter on his own specialty.) E. Delson Herbert H. Lehman College, CUNY