Evolution, What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters, second edition by Prothero, Donald R. -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Epigraph Foreword: Why People Do Not Accept Evolution To the Reader: Is Evolution a Threat to Your Religious Beliefs? Prologue: Fossils and Evolution Preface to the Second Edition Acknowledgments Part I. Evolution and the Fossil Record

1. The Nature of Science

What Is Science? Science and Belief Systems Belly Buttons and Testability Natural and Supernatural Science, Pseudoscience, and Baloney Detection Follow the Evidence Wherever It May Lead

2. Science and Creationism

Mything Links The Genesis of Genesis What Is Creationism? Twentieth-Century Creationism “Intelligent Design”—or “Breathtaking Inanity”? The Monkey Business of Creationism

3. The Fossil Record

Lucky Accidents of Fossilization Faunal Succession or “Flood Geology”? The Surreal World of “Flood Geology” The Grand Canyon Through the Looking Glass Ship of Foolishness? Dates with Rocks Punk Eek, Transitional Forms, … and Quote Miners

4. The Evolution of Evolution

Before Darwin The Evolution of Darwin The Neo-Darwinian Evolutionary Synthesis Challenges to Neo-Darwinism

Unfinished Synthesis Lamarck Revisited Neutralism, Junk DNA, and Molecular Clocks

Macroevolution and Evo/Devo The Evidence of Evolution

The Family Tree of Life Homology Vestigial Structures and Other Imperfections Embryology Biogeography

Evolution Happens All the Time!

5. Systematics and Evolution

What Is Systematics? What Is Taxonomy? Ladders, Bushes, Mosaics, and “Missing Links” The Cladistic Revolution Ancestor Worship The Molecular Third Dimension The Branching Tree of Life

Part II. Evolution? The Fossils Say YES!

6. Life’s Origins

To the Blazing Hot North Pole Recipe for Primordial Soup Mosh Pits, Fool’s Gold, Kitty Litter, Black Smokers, and Mud Communal Living Builds Complex Cells Probability and the Origin of Life

7. Cambrian “Explosion”—Or “Slow Fuse”?

The Creationists’ Favorite Myth Step 1: Planet of the Scum Step 2: The Garden of Ediacara Step 3: The Little Shellies Step 4: In with a Whimper, Not a Bang

8. Spineless Wonders of Evolution

Invertebrate Transitions The Incredible World of Microfossils The Story in the Seashells What About Macroevolution?

9. Fish Tales

Show Some Backbone! It’s a Long Way from Amphioxus Jaws: The Evolutionary Story

10. Fish Out of Water

The Great Leap Upward Lobe Fins Lead the Way Four on the Floor The “Frogamander”

11. Onto the Land and Back to the Sea: The Amniotes

Innovative Eggs Evolution of the Great Sea Dragons Snakes with Legs and Hopping Crocodiles

12. Dinosaurs Evolve—and Fly

Dinosaur Transitions Lifestyles of the Huge and Ancient Dinosaurs Are Alive!

13. Mammalian Explosion

From Amniote to Synapsid to Mammals Furballs in the Age of Dinosaurs Radiation in the Aftermath Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

14. Bossies and Blowholes

Thundering Hooves Tiny Horses, Hornless Rhinoceroses, and Thunder Beasts Kingdom of Cloven Hooves Walking Whales Dumbo and the Mermaid

15. The Ape’s Reflection?

The Only Transition That Really Matters The Truth About Human Fossils The Third Chimpanzee

16. Why Does It Matter?

Deceit in the Name of the Lord Why Should We Care? Choices for the Future

Bibliography Index