Digital Encyclopedia of Ancient Life

Overview

The Digital Encyclopedia of Ancient Life is an open access "textbook" about fossils and the history of life on Earth. Chapters will be added as they are written.

Contents

Nature of the Fossil Record

• 1. Body fossils and trace fossils
• 2. The process of fossilization
• 3. Types of fossil preservation
• 4. Completeness of the fossil record

Geological Time

• 1. Relative age dating
• 2. Absolute age dating
• 3. Geological time scale
• 4. Geological maps

Evolution and the Fossil Record

• 1. Natural selection
• 2. Species and species concepts
• 3. Speciation
• 4. Punctuated equilibria and stasis
• 5. Macroevolution
  • 5.1 Hierarchies
  • 5.2 Species selection
  • 5.3 Abiotic vs. biotic causes of macroevolution
  • 5.4 Evolutionary radiations

Systematics

• 1. Taxonomy
• 2. Phylogenetics
  • 2.1 Reading trees
  • 2.2 Building trees
  • 2.3 Character mapping
  • 2.4 Phylogenetic trees and classification

Animal Phylogeny

Phylum Cnidaria

• 1. Class Anthozoa
  • Scleractinia
  • Rugosa
  • Tabulata
  • Octocorallia (coming soon)
• 2. Class Hydrozoa (coming soon)
• 3. Class Cubozoa (coming soon)
• 4. Class Scyphozoa (coming soon)

Phylum Mollusca

1. Class Gastropoda (Revised Edition)
2. Class Cephalopoda
3. Class Bivalvia

Land Plants (Embryophytes)

• Embryophtyes (land plants)
  1. Origin of land plants 
  2. The land plant life cycle
  3. Greek & Latin in botanical terminology
• Introduction to vascular plant structure
  1. Leaf structure & evolution
  2. Branching
• Angiosperms (flowering plants)
  1. Flowers
  2. Life cycle
  3. Pollination
  4. Fruits
  5. Fruit & seed dispersal
  6. Leaf architecture
  7. Overview of angiosperm phylogeny

Paleontological Methods and Techniques

1. Photogrammetry.