From Clone to Bone: The Synergy of Morphological and Molecular Tools in Palaeobiology

Pp. x, 387; numerous black-and-white photos, line-drawings, graphs and maps, 16-page color section of photos and diagrams at center of book (p. 182).  Pictorial color laminated boards (hardcover), lg 8vo.  This is the hardcover first edition.  Since the 1980s, a renewed understanding of molecular development has afforded an unprecedented level of knowledge of the mechanisms by which phenotype in animals and plants has evolved.  In this volume, top scientists in these fields provide perspectives on how molecular data in biology help to elucidate key questions in estimating paleontological divergence and in understanding the mechanisms behind phenotypic evolution.  Paleobiological questions such as genome size, digit homologies, genetic control cascades behind phenotype, estimates of vertebrate divergence dates, and rates of morphological evolution are addressed, with a special emphasis on how molecular biology can inform paleontology, directly and indirectly, to better understand life's past.  Highlighting a significant shift towards interdisciplinary collaboration, this is a valuable resource for students and researchers interested in the integration of organismal and molecular biology.  Here is one review of this volume: 'Fundamental questions in biology, such as the origin of form and the tree of life, were major concerns for the leading biologists of the nineteenth century, but those researchers lacked the research tools to test their ideas.  This book highlights the remarkable synergies between molecular biologists, developmental biologists, and paleobiologists in providing new understanding.  Asher and Müller have assembled an excellent set of chapters on these themes, and these provide incisive introductions to an important interdisciplinary field' (Michael J. Benton - University of Bristol) (from the back cover).  No ownership marks.