Ebook: Before the Backbone: Views on the origin of the vertebrates

We cannot catechise our stony ichthyolites, as did the necromantic lady of the Arabian Nights did the coloured fishes of the lake which had once been a city, when she touched their dead bodies with her wand, and they straightaway raised their heads and rephed to her queries. We would have many a question to ask them if we could - questions never to be solved. Hugh Miller, The Old Red Sandstone When I started this book in 1991, the subject of vertebrate origins was fusty and unfashionable. Early drafts for this preface read like an extend­ ed complaint at the lot of traditional morphologists, cast aside by the march of modern molecular biology. But no longer - this book should reach you at a time of renewed inter­ est in the origin of the vertebrates, our own particular corner of creation. For although the topic has excited interest for well over a century, molec­ ular biology has only lately achieved the maturity necessary to test its predictions. As a legitimate field of study, it is fashionable again.

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This book provides the first unbiased guide to a field newly invigorated by technical advances in molecular and developmental biology. This book will be essential reading for students and researchers in areas such as developmental biology, vertebrate zoology and palaeontology.

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This book provides the first unbiased guide to a field newly invigorated by technical advances in molecular and developmental biology. This book will be essential reading for students and researchers in areas such as developmental biology, vertebrate zoology and palaeontology.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xx
Introduction....Pages 1-83
The origins of vertebrates....Pages 84-159
Head to head....Pages 160-200
Jefferies’ Calcichordate Theory....Pages 201-286
Conclusions....Pages 287-303
Back Matter....Pages 305-346

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This book provides the first unbiased guide to a field newly invigorated by technical advances in molecular and developmental biology. This book will be essential reading for students and researchers in areas such as developmental biology, vertebrate zoology and palaeontology.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xx
Introduction....Pages 1-83
The origins of vertebrates....Pages 84-159
Head to head....Pages 160-200
Jefferies’ Calcichordate Theory....Pages 201-286
Conclusions....Pages 287-303
Back Matter....Pages 305-346
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