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Evolution of Cenozoic Land Mammal Faunas and Ecosystems

25 Years of the NOW Database of Fossil Mammals

  • Book
  • © 2023

Overview

Editors:
  1. Isaac Casanovas-Vilar

    1. Institut Català de Paleontologia, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

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  2. Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende

    1. Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

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  3. Christine M. Janis

    1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

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  4. Juha Saarinen

    1. Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

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  • Presents case studies sourced from the NOW (New and Old Worlds) database of fossil mammals
  • Provides first-hand accounts of the logic and functioning of paleobiological databases
  • Covers many aspects of multiple mammal groups from different regions

Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology (VERT)

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvii
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  2. Introduction: Then, NOW and Beyond

    • Isaac Casanovas-Vilar, Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende, Christine M. Janis, Juha Saarinen
    Pages 1-6

  3. The Origin and Early History of NOW as It Happened

    • Mikael Fortelius, Jordi Agustí, Raymond L. Bernor, Hans de Bruijn, Jan A. van Dam, John Damuth et al.
    Pages 7-32Open Access

  4. The NOW Database of Fossil Mammals

    • Indrė Žliobaitė, Mikael Fortelius, Raymond L. Bernor, Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende, Christine M. Janis, Kari Lintulaakso et al.
    Pages 33-42Open Access

  5. Siwalik Rodent Assemblages for NOW: Biostratigraphic Resolution in the Neogene of South Asia

    • Lawrence J. Flynn, Michèle E. Morgan, John C. Barry, S. Mahmood Raza, Iqbal Umer Cheema, David Pilbeam
    Pages 43-58

  6. Comparing the Evolution of the Extinct, Endemic Carnivorous Mammals of South America and Africa (Sparassodonts and Hyaenodonts)

    • Anthony R. Friscia, Matthew R. Borths, Darin A. Croft
    Pages 59-77

  7. Environmental Change and Body Size Evolution in Neogene Large Mammals

    • Shan Huang, Alison Eyres, Susanne A. Fritz, Jussi T. Eronen, Juha Saarinen
    Pages 79-93

  8. Continent-Wide Patterns in Mammal Community Structure: Diet, Locomotion, and Body Mass

    • Kari Lintulaakso, Kris Kovarovic
    Pages 95-110

  9. Live Long and Prosper? Assessing Longevity of Small Mammal Taxa Using the NOW Database

    • Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende, Melike Bilgin, Yanell Braumuller, Florentin Cailleux, Panagiotis Skandalos
    Pages 111-129

  10. Patterns of Competitive Exclusion in the Mammalian Fossil Record

    • Esther Galbrun, Jo Skeie Hermansen, Indrė Žliobaitė
    Pages 131-141

  11. Asymmetry of Evolutionary Patterns Between New World and Old World Equids and Among New World Equine Tribes

    • Christine M. Janis
    Pages 143-164

  12. Musk Deer on the Run – Dispersal of Miocene Moschidae in the Context of Environmental Changes

    • Manuela Aiglstorfer, Israel M. Sánchez, Shi-Qi Wang, Jorge Morales, Chunxiao Li, Serdar Mayda et al.
    Pages 165-187

  13. A Reassessment of Some Giraffidae Specimens from the Late Miocene Faunas of Eurasia

    • Nikos Solounias, Advait M. Jukar
    Pages 189-200

  14. Regional Topography and Climate Influence the Nature and Timing of Changes in the Structure of Rodent and Lagomorph Faunas Through the Cenozoic of North America

    • Joshua X. Samuels, Julia A. Schap
    Pages 201-217

  15. Back Matter

    Pages 219-231
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Keywords

About this book

This volume presents an array of different case studies which take as primary material data sourced from the NOW (‘New and Old Worlds’) database of fossil mammals. The NOW database was one of the very first large paleobiological databases, and since 1996 it has been expanded from including mainly Neogene European land mammals to cover the entire Cenozoic at a global scale. In the last two decades the number of works that are based in the use of huge databases to explore ecological and evolutionary questions has increased exponentially, and even though the importance of big data in paleobiological research has been outlined in selected chapters of general works, no volume has appeared before this one which solely focuses on the databases as a primary source in reconstructing the past. The purpose of this book is to provide an illustrative volume showing the importance of big data in paleobiological research, and presenting a broad array of unpublished examples and case studies. The book is mainly aimed to professional palaeobiologists working with Cenozoic land mammals, but the scope of the book is broad enough to fit the interest for evolutionary biologists, paleoclimatologists and paleoecologists.

The volume is divided in four parts. The first part includes two chapters on the development of large paleobiological databases, providing a first-hand account on the logic and the functioning of these databases. This is a much-needed perspective which is ignored by most researchers and users of such databases and, even if centered in the NOW database, the lessons that can be learned from this part can be extended to other examples. After this introductory part, the body of the book follows and is divided into three parts: patterns in regional faunas; large scale patterns and processes; and ecological, biogeographical and evolutionary patterns of key taxa. Each chapter is written by well-known specialists in the field, withsome participation of members of the NOW advisory board. The array of selected mammal taxa ranges from carnivores, equids, ruminants and rodents to the genus Homo. The topics studied also include the diversification and radiation of major clades, large-scale paleobiogeographical patterns, the evolution of ecomorphological patterns and paleobiological problems such as evolution of body size or species longevity. In most cases the results are discussed in relation to protracted environmental or paleogeographic changes.


Editors and Affiliations

  • Institut Català de Paleontologia, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Isaac Casanovas-Vilar

  • Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende

  • Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    Christine M. Janis

  • Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Juha Saarinen

About the editors

Dr. Isaac Casanovas-Vilar is Head of the Paleoecology & Biochronology Research Group in the Miquel Crusafont Catalan Institute of Paleontology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. 

Dr. Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende is a Researcher for the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden.


Dr. Christine M. Janis is a Professor of Paleontology in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol.


Dr. Juha Saarinen is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Division of Geosciences and Geography at the University of Helsinki. 

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Evolution of Cenozoic Land Mammal Faunas and Ecosystems

  • Book Subtitle: 25 Years of the NOW Database of Fossil Mammals

  • Editors: Isaac Casanovas-Vilar, Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende, Christine M. Janis, Juha Saarinen

  • Series Title: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17491-9

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental Science, Earth and Environmental Science (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-17490-2Published: 09 August 2023

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-17493-3Due: 09 September 2023

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-17491-9Published: 08 August 2023

  • Series ISSN: 1877-9077

  • Series E-ISSN: 1877-9085

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVII, 231

  • Number of Illustrations: 15 b/w illustrations, 52 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Paleontology, Paleoecology, Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography, Biogeosciences

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