Synopses & Reviews
The first English translation of Johannes Weigelt's 1927 classic makes available
the seminal work in taphonomy, the study of how organisms die, decay, become entombed in sediments, and fossilize over time. Weigelt emphasized the importance of empirical work and made extensive observations of modern carcasses on the Texas Gulf Coast. He applied the results to evidence from the fossil record and demonstrated that an understanding of the postmortem fate of modern animals is crucial to making sound inferences about fossil vertebrate assemblages and their ecological communities.
Weigelt spent sixteen months on the Gulf Coast in the mid-1920s, gathering evidence from the carcasses of cattle and other animals in the early stages of preservation. This book reports his observations. He discusses death and decomposition; classifies various modes of death (drowning, cold, dehydration, fire, mud, quicksand, oil slicks, etc.); documents and analyzes the positions of carcasses; presents detailed data on carcass assemblages at the Smither's Lake site in Texas; and, in a final chapter, makes comparisons to carcass assemblages from the geologic past. He raises questions about whether much of the fossil record is a product of unusual events and, if so, what the implications are for paleoecological studies.
The English edition of Recent Vertebrate Carcasses includes a foreword and a translator's note that comment on Weigelt's life and the significance of his work. The original bibliography has been brought up to date, and, where necessary, updated scientific and place names have been added to the text in brackets. An index of names, places, and subjects is included, and Weigelt's own photographs of carcasses and drawings of skeletons illustrate the text.
Synopsis
With a Foreword by Anna K. Behrensmeyer and Catherine Badgley
Table of Contents
Foreword by Anna K. Behrensmeyer and Catherine Badgley
Translator's NotePublisher's NotePreface
Introduction
Chapter 1: Death and Its Aftermath1. Death2. Decomposition3. Preservation4. The Role of Insects5. What Happens to Carcasses Lying on the Surface of the Ground6. The Embedding Media
Chapter 2: Modes of Death1. Death Due to Volcanic Activity2. Death Due to Gases3. Death Due to Grass, Prairie, and Forest Fires4. Death by Drowning5. Bogging Down in Mud6. Stomach Contents7. Death in Quicksand8. Becoming Mired in Tidal Slits9. Death in Crude Oil and Asphalt10. Death Due to Flooding11. Death Due to Fluctuations in Salinity12. Death When Bodies of Water Dry Up
13. Overcrowding of Animals during Drought14. Death Due to Hunting15. Death Due to Cold16. Death on Ice Chapter 3: Laws Governing Positions of Recent and Fossil Vertebrate Carcasses1. Burial of Land Vertebrates in Marine Strata2. The Law of the Lower Jaw3. The Passive Position of "Water Carcasses"4. Displacement of Carcasses5. Feeding Grounds6. Partial Burial7. Carcasses on Facies Boundary Lines8. The Formation of Faceted Remains by Flowing Water9. The Law of the Ribs10. Desiccation of the Carcass11. Hooked, Bent, and Curved Carcasses
Chapter 4: The Carcass Assemblage at Smithers Lake and Its Origin1. The Significance of the Climate2. The Landscape at Smithers Lake3. Laws Governing Formation of Strandlines4. Ganois Fishes at Smithers Lake5. Turtle Carcasses at Smithers Lake6. Alligator Carcasses at Smithers Lake Chapter 5: Carcass Assemblages and Concentrations in the Geologic Past
ConclusionFigures and PlatesReferences
Index