Available:*
Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000010118976 | QE749.A1 S78 2006 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
During the last few years, the number of contributions to the Paleontology of Mexico has increased considerably. Paleontological work in Mexico has been focused on providing important information for petroleum exploration and specific studies dealing with pollen, foraminifera, radiolaria, dinoflagellates, rudists, and ammonites. Often these reports were published only in local or regional journals and therefore not available to the scientific community at large. The purpose of this book is to offer an updated review of the fossil groups from Mexico, providing their significance to the stratigraphy, tectonics, sedimentology, evolution and paleontology of Mexico whose study has proved to be relevant in stratigraphy, tectonics, sedimentology, and evolution. The fossil record of Mexico ranges from Precambrian to Pleistocene. Almost every Mexican State has reported fossil localities with ongoing studies and potential for the discovery of new localities. Even those localities that have been studied since the eighteen-century, such as the early Cretaceous San Juan Raya, have recently reported new fossil groups. Unfortunately, much of the fossil reports from Mexico have been published in Spanish from local journals, which represent a language barrier to the international community. There is little doubt that the paleontological history of Mexico deserves to be known in other countries. By making this book available to the international scientific community we hope that interest in the fossil record of Mexico will grow.
Author Notes
Dr. Francisco J. Vega was Head of the Geology Department, Instituto de Geología, UNAM, and Secretary of the Paleontological Society (South Central Section). His contributions deal with biostratigraphy and systematics of Cretaceous and Tertiary Crustacea and Mollusca.
Torrey Nyborg received his MS degree from Kent State University. He works with decapod crustaceans and fossil mammal and bird tracks. Torrey is currently working towards his PhD from Loma Linda University.
Dr. María del Carmen Perrilliat is a prominent specialist on Cretaceous and Tertiary Mollusca. She is
currently the Elected President of the Mexican Paleontological Society (SOMEXPAL).
Dr. Marisol Montellano-Ballesteros got her PhD from The University of California at Berkeley, and has
been a key piece for the Mexican Vertebrate Paleontological Society. Her field of interest is Late
Mesozoic and Late Cenozoic mammals.
Dr. Sergio R. S. Cevallos-Ferriz received his MS and PhD from the University of Alberta, and was Head
of the Department of Paleontology, Instituto de Geología, UNAM. Dr. Cevallos-Ferriz is a well known
specialist on Mesozoic and Cenozoic paleobotany.
Dr. Sara A. Quiroz-Barroso got her MS and PhD from the UNAM and she has been Secretary of the
Mexican Paleontological Society. She works with Paleozoic Mollusca from Mexico.
Reviews 1
Choice Review
This 24th volume in Springer's "Topics in Geobiology" series was edited by a team of six paleontologists, five of whom are based at the Universidad Nacional Autonomia de Mexico. The 26 contributors to this important work represent the major paleontological research groups active in Mexico today. They summarize the current state of Mexican paleontology on a wide range of fossil groups and time periods. The review of the research provided by this volume is important to an international audience because most previous accounts of Mexican paleontology have been published only in local journals in the Spanish language. Mexico has widespread fossil localities representing an extensive stratigraphic record. The richest record is of the Cretaceous Period, when Mexico was a peninsula subject to vastly fluctuating sea levels. The Cretaceous Period is well represented in the volume, including a chapter on the richest Mexican fossil site of all, the Cretaceous Tlayua Quarry in Puebla, known for its stunning variety of well-preserved fish. Drawbacks of the volume include some poorly reproduced black-and-white figures and some typographical errors. For university libraries with undergraduate and graduate programs in paleobiology. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals. W. L. Cressler III West Chester University of Pennsylvania
