Missing Links provides a compendium of scientific evidence of representative extinct organisms that bridge the evolutionary stepbetween primordial species and modern life. The book introduces newcomers to the field of evolutionary science with an accessible discussion of basic scientific practices, rock and fossil dating techniques, and schools of classification. Readers are then ushered through a fascinating array of examples of evolutionary transitions at all chronological and geographic scales, from the origins of life on Earth to the morphological changes that readers can expect to occur during their lifetimes. Offering a lucid primer on evolutionary science, as well as a series of case studies and fossil histories in support of evolutionary theory, Missing Links serves as an ideal short introduction to evolution for students and general readers.
Robert Martin was born on the outskirts of New York City on February 19, 1944, and grew up on Long Island, graduating from High School in 1961. He holds a B.A. in Biology from Hofstra University (1965), an M.S. in Biology from Tulane University (1967), and Ph. D. in Zoology from the University of Florida (1969). His research during the past 40+ years has focused on using the fossil record of rodents over the past 5 million years to understand the origin and dynamics of biological diversity and the abiotic and biotic forces responsible for community turnover and anatomical change. For the past 20 years he has worked in the Meade Basin of southwestern Kansas and northwestern Oklahoma conducting research supported by a number of funding agencies, most notably the National Geographic Society and the National Science Foundation. He also is a member of a research team working in Pliocene and Pleistocene sediments in southern Spain. In 2011, he was recognized by Murray State University as Distinguished Scholar for his lifetime achievements in research. Bob spends his leisure time gardening, cooking, playing golf and the guitar, and painting portraits and landscapes. He is a widower presently living in Erie, PA.
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