Palaeozoic Fishes

I have revised Moy-Thomas's widely used book on Palaeozoic fishes in an attempt to incorporate some of the considerable advances that have been made in this field over the last 30 years, which have in some respects made the first edition seriously out-of-date. The book is now inevitably longer, but its scope remains the same and the original approach has been main tained as far as possible. I have, however, undertaken a certain amount ofre arrangement of the contents, consonant with our changing views of fish evolution, and have tried to reflect some of the current preoccupations of students of fish evolution in expanded sections on mode of life and relation ships. The illustrations have been completely replaced, and in selecting the figures I have been faced with an embarrassing richness of source material. In an attempt to keep the figures down to a reasonable number, I have decided that it is better to have a few species illustrated with clear drawings than give thumb-nail sketches of all the forms mentioned in the text, and as far as possible to restrict the illustrations to Palaeozoic species. All the illustrations have been redrawn to a common style, and in some cases they have been specially prepared or modified for this book. Authors' names are now included in the text and a list of references is given at the end of each chapter.

Klappentext

I have revised Moy-Thomas's widely used book on Palaeozoic fishes in an attempt to incorporate some of the considerable advances that have been made in this field over the last 30 years, which have in some respects made the first edition seriously out-of-date. The book is now inevitably longer, but its scope remains the same and the original approach has been main­ tained as far as possible. I have, however, undertaken a certain amount ofre­ arrangement of the contents, consonant with our changing views of fish evolution, and have tried to reflect some of the current preoccupations of students of fish evolution in expanded sections on mode of life and relation­ ships. The illustrations have been completely replaced, and in selecting the figures I have been faced with an embarrassing richness of source material. In an attempt to keep the figures down to a reasonable number, I have decided that it is better to have a few species illustrated with clear drawings than give thumb-nail sketches of all the forms mentioned in the text, and as far as possible to restrict the illustrations to Palaeozoic species. All the illustrations have been redrawn to a common style, and in some cases they have been specially prepared or modified for this book. Authors' names are now included in the text and a list of references is given at the end of each chapter.

Inhalt
1 Introduction.- 1.1. Conspectus, 1; 1.2. Evolution of jaws, 2; 1.3. Fossil record, 4; 1.4. Environment, 6; 1.5. Classification, 7; References, 8; Bibliography, 9..- 2 Class Cephalaspidomorphi.- 2.1. Classification, 10; 2.2. Cephalaspidomorph characteristics, 11; 2.3. Infraclass 1, Osteostraci, 12; 2.3.1. Structure, 13; 2.3.2. Growth and life history, 19; 2.3.3. Diversity and tendencies in evolution, 20; 2.4. Infraclass 2, Anaspida, 23; 2.4.1 Structure, 24; 2.4.2. Growth, 26; 2.4.3. Diversity, 27; 2.5. Infraclass 3, Petromyzonida, 27; 2.5.1. Structure, 27; 2.6. Incertae sedis Palaeospondylus, 28; 2.7. Mode of life, 29; References, 31..- 3 Class Pteraspidomorphi.- 3.1. Classification, 35; 3.2. Pteraspidomorph characteristics, 36; 3.3. Subclass 1, Heterostraci, 36; 3.3.1. Structure, 36; 3.3.2. Growth and the evolution of the shield, 41; 3.3.3. Diversity and interrelationships, 45; 3.3.4. Mode of life, 49; 3.4. Incertae sedis Polybranchiaspis, 52; 3.5. Subclass 2, Thelodonti, 53; 3.5.1. Structure, 53; 3.5.2. Diversity and affinities, 55; 3.6. Relationships of agnathans, 56; References, 57..- 4 Subclass Acanthodii.- 4.1. Classification, 61; 4.2. Acanthodian characteristics, 61; 4.2.1. Structure, 63; 4.2.2. Diversity and tendencies in evolution, 71; 4.2.3. Mode of life, 75; References, 76..- 5 Subclass Osteichthyes. Infraclass Actinopterygii.- 5.1. Classification, 79; 5.2. Osteichthyan characteristics, 80; 5.3. Infraclass Actinopterygii, 81; 5.4. Superorder 1, Chondrostei, 86; 5.5. Order 1, Palaeoniscida, 86; 5.5.1. Structure, 87; 5.5.2. Suborder 1, Palaeoniscoidei, 91; 5.5.3. Suborder 2, Platysomidei, 94; 5.6. Order 2, Haplolepidida, 97; 5.7. Order 3, Tarrasiida, 97; 5.8. Order 4, Phanerorhynchida, 98; 5.9. Order 5, Dorypterida, 99; 5.10. Superorder 2, Holostei, 99; 5.11. Order 1, Semionotida, 100; 5.12. Tendencies in evolution, 102; References, 105..- 6 Subclass Osteichthyes. Infraclass Crossopterygii.- 6.1. Classification, 110; 6.2. Crossopterygian characteristics, 111; 6.3. Superorder 1, Rhipidistia, 113; 6.3.1. Structure, 114;6.3.2. Order 1, Holoptychiida, 122; 6.3.3. Order 2, Osteolepidida, 125; 6.3.4. Order 3, Rhizodontida, 126; 6.3.5. Tendencies in evolution, 127; 6.4. Superorder 2, Actinistia, 127; 6.4.1. Structure, 127; 6.4.2. Diversity, 131; 6.5. Incertae sedis Onychodontidae, 131; 6.6. Mode of life, 134; References, 136..- 7 Subclass Osteichthyes. Infraclass Dipnoi.- 7.1. Classification, 141; 7.2. Dipnoan characteristics, 141; 7.3. Structure and diversity, 144; 7.3.1. Structure, 144; 7.3.2. Diversity, 149; 7.4. Evolution and mode of life, 153; 7.5. Growth of cosmoid scales and bones, 154; 7.6. R elationships of teleostomes, 155; References, 158..- 8 Subclass Placodermi.- 8.1. Classification, 161; 8.2. Placoderm characteristics, 162; 8.3. Order 1, Arthrodira, 163; 8.3.1. Structure, 164; 8.3.2. Diversity and tendencies in evolution, 170; 8.4. Order 2, Ptyctodontida, 178; 8.5. Order 3, Phyllolepidida, 180; 8.6. Order 4, Petalichthyida, 181; 8.7. Order 5, Rhenanida, 185; 8.7.1. Suborder 1, Palaeacanthaspidoidei, 185; 8.7.2. Suborder 2, Gemuendinoidei, 188; 8.8. Order 6, Antiarchi, 191; 8.9. Incertae sedis Stensioellidae, 195; 8.10 Evolution and mode of life, 197; References, 200..- 9 Subclass Chondrichthyes. Infraclass Elasmobranchii.- 9.1. Classification, 206; 9.2. Chondrichthyan characteristics, 206; 9.3. Infraclass Elasmobranchii, 209; 9.4. Order 1, Cladoselachida, 210; 9.5. Order 2, Cladodontida, 213; 9.6. Order 3, Selachii, 215; 9.6.1. Suborder 1, Ctenacanthoidei, 215; 9.6.2. Suborder 2, Hybodontoidei, 217; 9.7. Order 4, Xenacanthida, 218; 9.8. Incertae sedis Order 5, Helicopriondia, 220; 9.9. Evolution, 221; 9.10. Mode of life, 222; References, 223..- 10 Subclass Chondrichthyes. Infraclass Holocephali.- 10.1. Classification, 226; 10.2. Holocephalan characteristics, 227; 10.3. Order 1, Chimaerida, 229; 10.3.1. Suborder 1, Helodontoidei, 229; 10.3.2. Suborder 2, Cochliodontoidei, 231; 10.3.3. Suborder 3, Menaspoidei, 231; 10.4. Order 2, Chondrenchelyida, 233; 10.5. Order 3, Edestida, 234; 10.6. Incertae sedis Ornithoprion, 237; 10.7. Order 4, Psammodontida, 238; 10.8. Order 5, Copodontida, 238; 10.9. Incertae sedis Order 6, Petalodontida, 239; 10.10 Evolution and mode of life, 240; 10.11. Relationship of elasmobranchiomorphs, 242;References, 244..- 11 Summary of the early evolution of fishes.