The 'incompleteness of the fossil record' is an excuse used by some scientists to reject any fossil evidence that runs counter to current preconceptions. Adequacy and completeness are difficult concepts that should not be confused. The fossil record may be incomplete, but it is entirely adequate for many and most requirements of palaeontology, as well as answering wider questions in geology and biology. The Adequacy of the Fossil Record is intended to be an up-to-date review that seeks to debunk these and other objections.

Why and How: Some Problems and Methods in Historical Biology discusses an overall approach to the study of fossils combined with paleontology. This book is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 consists of a few examples of studies of the fossil record, focusing on its adequacy, and ways of looking at and representing some of its aspects. The most basic aspects of study of the fossil record such as the examination, description, and illustration of the morphology of fossils are described in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 focuses on paleoecology and faunal analysis, while Chapter 4 emphasizes some of the aspects of phylogenetic principles and eclectic taxonomic theory. The essential apparatus for zoological studies that include biometrical statistics both in concepts and in measures are deliberated in Chapter 5. The last chapter deliberates the geographic distribution of organisms. This publication is a good source for paleontologists and biologists interested in historical biology.

The past decade has witnessed a major revival in attempts to separate biodiversity signals from biases imposed by sampling and the architecture of the rock record. How large a problem this poses to our understanding of biodiversity patterns remains debatable, and new approaches are being developed to investigate this question. Here palaeobiologists with widely differing approaches and interests explore the problems of extracting reliable information on biodiversity change from an imperfect geological record. Topics covered range from the application of information-theoretic approaches that identify directional causal relationships to an in-depth study of how geological biases could influence our understanding of dinosaur evolution.

Cladistics--the science of comparison--is transforming the way paleontologists view evolution. In Search of Deep Time strips away conventional assumptions about the evolution of life to reveal a world that may be far stranger and more humbling than had been previously imagined. The concept of deep time was first used by John McPhee to describe intervals of time incomprehensibly greater than our daily experience. Henry Gee explains the rise of cladistics as the best technique for making sense of the organic changes that unfold within deep time.

Patterns of evolution, as illustrated by the fossil record

Rereading the Fossil Record presents the first-ever historical account of the origin, rise, and importance of paleobiology, from the mid-nineteenth century to the late 1980s. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, David Sepkoski shows how the movement was conceived and promoted by a small but influential group of paleontologists and examines the intellectual, disciplinary, and political dynamics involved in the ascendency of paleobiology. By tracing the role of computer technology, large databases, and quantitative analytical methods in the emergence of paleobiology, this book also offers insight into the growing prominence and centrality of data-driven approaches in recent science.