Techniques for Virtual Palaeontology

Techniques for Virtual Palaeontology

Author: Mark Sutton

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-10-23

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 1118591259

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Virtual palaeontology, the use of interactive three-dimensional digital models as a supplement or alternative to physical specimens for scientific study and communication, is rapidly becoming important to advanced students and researchers. Using non-invasive techniques, the method allows the capture of large quantities of useful data without damaging the fossils being studied Techniques for Virtual Palaeontology guides palaeontologists through the decisions involved in designing a virtual palaeontology workflow and gives a comprehensive overview, providing discussions of underlying theory, applications, historical development, details of practical methodologies, and case studies. Techniques covered include physical-optical tomography (serial sectioning), focused ion beam tomography, all forms of X-ray CT, neutron tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, optical tomography, laser scanning, and photogrammetry. Visualization techniques and data/file formats are also discussed in detail. Readership: All palaeontologists and students interested in three-dimensional visualization and analysis. New Analytical Methods in Earth and Environmental Science Because of the plethora of analytical techniques now available, and the acceleration of technological advance, many earth scientists find it difficult to know where to turn for reliable information on the latest tools at their disposal, and may lack the expertise to assess the relative strengths or limitations of a particular technique. This new series will address these difficulties by providing accessible introductions to important new techniques, lab and field protocols, suggestions for data handling and interpretation, and useful case studies. The series represents an invaluable and trusted source of information for researchers, advanced students and applied earth scientists wishing to familiarise themselves with emerging techniques in their field. All titles in this series are available in a variety of full-colour, searchable eBook formats. Titles are also available in an enhanced eBook edition which may include additional features such as DOI linking, high resolution graphics and video.


Techniques for Virtual Palaeontology, Enhanced Edition

Techniques for Virtual Palaeontology, Enhanced Edition

Author: Mark Sutton

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2014-02-05

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 1118786688

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Virtual palaeontology, the use of interactive three-dimensional digital models as a supplement or alternative to physical specimens for scientific study and communication, is rapidly becoming important to scientists and researchers in the field. Using non-invasive techniques, the method allows the capture of large quantities of useful data without damaging the fossils being studied Techniques for Virtual Palaeontology guides palaeontologists through the decisions involved in designing a virtual palaeontology workflow and gives a comprehensive overview, providing discussions of underlying theory, applications, historical development, details of practical methodologies, and case studies. Techniques covered include physical-optical tomography (serial sectioning), focused ion beam tomography, all forms of X-ray CT, neutron tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, optical tomography, laser scanning, and photogrammetry. Visualization techniques and data/file formats are also discussed in detail. Readership: All palaeontologists and students interested in three-dimensional visualization and analysis. New Analytical Methods in Earth and Environmental Science Because of the plethora of analytical techniques now available, and the acceleration of technological advance, many earth scientists find it difficult to know where to turn for reliable information on the latest tools at their disposal, and may lack the expertise to assess the relative strengths or limitations of a particular technique. This new series will address these difficulties by providing accessible introductions to important new techniques, lab and field protocols, suggestions for data handling and interpretation, and useful case studies. The series represents an invaluable and trusted source of information for researchers, advanced students and applied earth scientists wishing to familiarise themselves with emerging techniques in their field. This enhanced e-book offers the following features: Full colour and high quality graphics Full searchability Internal links to glossaries, cross-references, figures and tables and other pedagogy External links to websites, including DOI linking for references and further reading


Evolving Virtual and Computational Paleontology

Evolving Virtual and Computational Paleontology

Author: Luca Pandolfi

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Published: 2020-12-23

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 2889662586

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This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact.


Virtual Paleobiology – Advances in X-Ray Computed Microtomography and 3D Visualization of Fossils

Virtual Paleobiology – Advances in X-Ray Computed Microtomography and 3D Visualization of Fossils

Author: Stergios D. Zarkogiannis

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Published: 2024-02-23

Total Pages: 171

ISBN-13: 2832543901

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Emerging technologies are opening new avenues for the study of past and present ecosystems. Computer-aided visualization and analysis of fossil specimens through X-ray tomography has revolutionized the study of organisms. X-ray tomography, or X-ray computed tomography, is a characterization technique for generating 3D information from 2-dimensional X-ray image slices. X-ray imaging is based on the differential absorption or scattering of an X-ray source to reveal internal attributes of biological specimens. High-resolution tomography can retrieve compositional and structural information of small objects or the macrostructure of larger objects non-destructively, allowing fossils to be characterized in three dimensions and in unprecedented detail. This has enabled paleontologists to gain important insights into the anatomy, development, and preservation of specimens. The resulting digital 3D reconstructions can be used in functional analyses to test hypotheses regarding the paleobiology of extinct organisms that could transform our understanding of long-studied fossil groups, and the narratives of organismal and ecological evolution. Furthermore, this proliferation of digital datasets should make the widespread sharing and dissemination of 3D data possible, providing access to rare fossil material worldwide.


Vertebrate Palaeontology

Vertebrate Palaeontology

Author: Michael J. Benton

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2024-07-15

Total Pages: 692

ISBN-13: 1394195095

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All-new edition of the world’s leading vertebrate palaeontology textbook, now addressing key evolutionary transitions and ecological drivers for vertebrate evolution Richly illustrated with colour illustrations of the key species and cladograms of all major vertebrate taxa, Vertebrate Palaeontology provides a complete account of the evolution of vertebrates, including macroevolutionary trends and drivers that have shaped their organs and body plans, key transitions such as terrestrialization, endothermy, flight and impacts of mass extinctions on biodiversity and ecological drivers behind the origin of chordates and vertebrates, their limbs, jaws, feathers, and hairs. This revised and updated fifth edition features numerous recent examples of breakthrough discoveries in line with the current macroevolutionary approach in palaeontology research, such as the evolutionary drivers that have shaped vertebrate development. Didactical features have been enhanced and include new functional and developmental feature spreads, key questions, and extensive references to useful websites. Written by a leading academic in the field, Vertebrate Palaeontology discusses topics such as: Palaeozoic fishes, including Cambrian vertebrates, placoderms (‘armour-plated monsters’), Pan-Chondrichthyes such as sharks and rays, and Osteichthyes (‘bony fishes’) The first tetrapods, covering problems of life on land, diversity of Carboniferous tetrapods and temnospondyls and reptiliomorphs following the Carboniferous Mesozoic reptiles, such as Testudinata (turtles), Crocodylomorpha, Pterosauria, Dinosauria, great sea dragons and Lepidosauria (lizards and snakes) Mammals of the southern and northern hemispheres, covering Xenarthra (sloths, anteaters), Afrotheria (African mammals), Laurasiatheria (bats, ungulates, carnivores), and Euarchontoglires (rodents, primates) A highly comprehensive and completely up-to-date reference on vertebrate evolution, Vertebrate Palaeontology is an ideal learning aid for palaeontology courses in biology and geology departments. The text is also highly valuable to enthusiasts who want to experience the flavour of how modern research in the field is conducted.


Bryozoan Studies 2022

Bryozoan Studies 2022

Author: Marcus M. Key

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2023-12-15

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 1003811655

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Bryozoan Studies 2022 contains nineteen papers presented at the 19th International Conference of the International Bryozoology Association held at Trinity College Dublin in August 2022. Bryozoans are complex and fascinating colonial organisms that range from Cambrian to the present day and which are found in marine and freshwater environments from pole to pole and subtidal to abyssal. Recent tomographic techniques have revolutionised the study of modern and fossil taxa where internal structures are revealed through non-destructive methodologies. Here the internal structure of some Ordovician and Eocene taxa is illustrated through these methods. Phylogenetic studies of bryozoans question the classic classification of the group; here the phylogeny of species from California and Japan is described. Other topics covered are assessments of Recent faunas from Haiti and fossil assemblages from Mexico and the United States. Distributional patterns from the Arctic and New Zealand and the dispersal patterns of bryozoans on rafted pumice and on slipper lobsters are characterised. Further contributions provide descriptions of a rare Permian taxon, clarification of species assigned to the Upper Palaeozoic genus Stenopora, avicularia in Wilbertopora, enigmatic structures in a fenestrate bryozoan, repair structures in trepostomes, and an assessment of skeletonisation in the families of Palaeozoic orders.


Earth System Evolution and Early Life

Earth System Evolution and Early Life

Author: A.T. Brasier

Publisher: Geological Society of London

Published: 2017-06-09

Total Pages: 429

ISBN-13: 1786202794

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This volume in memory of Professor Martin Brasier, which has many of his unfinished works, summarizes recent progress in some of the hottest topics in palaeobiology including cellular preservation of early microbial life and early evolution of macroscopic animal life, encompassing the Ediacara biota. The papers focus on how to decipher evidence for early life, which requires exceptional preservation, employment of state-of-the-art techniques and also an understanding gleaned from Phanerozoic lagerstätte and modern analogues. The papers also apply Martin’s MOFAOTYOF principle (my oldest fossils are older than your oldest fossils), requiring an integrated approach to understanding fossils. The adoption of the null-hypothesis that all putative traces of life are abiotic until proven otherwise, and the consideration of putative fossils within their spatial context, characterized the work of Martin Brasier, as is well demonstrated by the papers in this volume.


Amino Acids and Proteins in Fossil Biominerals

Amino Acids and Proteins in Fossil Biominerals

Author: Beatrice Demarchi

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2020-09-08

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13: 1119089441

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AMINO ACIDS AND PROTEINS IN FOSSIL BIOMINERALS An essential cross-disciplinary guide to the proteins that form biominerals and that are preserved in the fossil record Amino Acids and Proteins in Fossil Biominerals is an authoritative guide to the patterns of survival and degradation of ancient biomolecules in the fossil record. The author brings together new research in biomineralization and ancient proteins to describe mechanisms of protein diagenesis. The book draws on the author's experiences as well as current information from three research fields: geochemistry, archaeology and Quaternary sciences. The author examines the history of the study of ancient proteins, from the dating of Quaternary biominerals to the present advances in shotgun proteomics, and discusses their applications across archaeology, geology and evolutionary biology. This important guide: Explores the main components of biominerals Describes the breakdown of proteins in fossils Reviews the applications of ancient protein studies Written for students and researchers of biomolecular archaeology and palaeontology, Amino Acids and Proteins in Fossil Biominerals provides a cross-disciplinary guide to the proteins responsible for the formation of biominerals and to the survival of biomolecules in the archaeological and palaeontological record. This book forms one volume of the popular New Analytical Methods in Earth and Environmental Science Series.


Taphonomy

Taphonomy

Author: Ronald E. Martin

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1999-10-28

Total Pages: 526

ISBN-13: 1316582671

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Taphonomy: A Process Approach is the first book to review the entire field of taphonomy, or the science of fossil preservation. It describes the formation of animal and plant fossils in marine and terrestrial settings and how this affects deciphering the ecology and extinction of past lifeforms and the environments in which they lived. The volume emphasises a process approach to taphonomy and reviews the taphonomic behaviour of all important taxa, plant and animal. It will be useful to anyone interested in the preservation of fossils and the formation of fossil assemblages, but it is aimed primarily at advanced students and professionals working in paleontology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, climate modeling and biogeochemistry.


Phosphorus Pollution Control

Phosphorus Pollution Control

Author: Aleksandra Drizo

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2019-12-16

Total Pages: 169

ISBN-13: 111882542X

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Phosphorus Pollution Control – Policies and Strategies Deterioration and decline of water resources due to pollution caused by humans and their activities has become a universal health, environmental, social and economic problem. Excess discharges of nutrients, in particular, phosphorus, has been recognized as the most prevalent water pollution problem globally. Moreover, its perpetual occurrence and expansion creates imminent threats to water and food security. Despite extensive research during the past five decades, many key questions in eutrophication science remain unanswered. This book summarizes the most recent policies and strategies for phosphorus removal and recovery from municipal, residential and agricultural wastewater effluents and runoff into a concise and up-to-date volume. The book will be of interest to environmental and water resources scientists and engineers, consultants, policy makers, and practitioners working in the field.