Re: New book Vertebrate Integument: Origin and Evolution

[Jura <pristichampsus@yahoo.com>]

I was able to download the entire book. There are only slight mentions of the 
dinosaur bird connection, and relationships to feathers (e.g., Lingham-Soliar 
stated that his 2011 work invalidated the melanosome interpretations for 
Sinosauropteryx). Apparently all of the dino-feather kerfuffle is being being 
held for volume 2. 

Barring the oversimplification of the paleobiology and some potential biases in 
phylogenetic interpretations (also some not-so-hot illustrations in the 
dinosaur section), the book seems to contain loads of useful information on 
integument itself (e.g., history, distribution, interaction, and surveys of 
taxa that preserve it).

Jason



----- Original Message -----
> From: Ben Creisler <bcreisler@gmail.com>
> To: dinosaur@usc.edu; VRTPALEO@usc.edu
> Cc: 
> Sent: Thursday, 20 February 2014 12:36 PM
> Subject: New book Vertebrate Integument: Origin and Evolution
> 
> From: Ben Creisler
> bcreisler@gmail.com
> 
> A new book scheduled for publication at the end of March, 2014.
> Individual chapters have abstracts and short previews at first link
> below, with one chapter on agnathans available as a free pdf at the
> link at the bottom.
> 
> Theagarten Lingham-Soliar (2014)
> The Vertebrate Integument Volume 1: Origin and Evolution
> Springer.
> ISBN: 978-3-642-53747-9 (Print) 978-3-642-53748-6 (Online)
> http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-53748-6
> 
> ==
> Also from the publisher's description of the book:
> 
> http://www.springer.com/life+sciences/animal+sciences/book/978-3-642-53747-9
> 
> [NOTE third item highlighted by me below. With only the previews to go
> on, I don't know what the book actually says about the origin of
> birds. Lingham-Soliar has opposed the identification of "feathers" or
> "protofeathers" on dinosaurs in earlier papers.]
> 
> 400 million years in the structural and mechanical history of the
> largest organ of the body the skin
> 
> Many parts of the book are largely based on the authors own research
> in both neontology and paleontology
> 
>>> Eliminates a 
controversial debate on the 
> origin of birds
> 
> The vertebrate integument arose about 450 million years ago as an
> 'armour' of dermal bony plates in small, jawless fish-like creatures,
> informally known as the ostracoderms. This book reviews the major
> changes that have occurred in the vertebrate integument from its
> beginnings to the present day. Critical questions concerning the
> origin, structure and functional biology of the bony integument are
> discussed and intrinsically linked to major steps in vertebrate
> evolution and phylogeny--the origin of jaws and the origin of teeth.
> The discussions include the origins of mineralization of major
> vertebrate skeletal components such as the dermatocranium, branchial
> arches and vertebral column. The advances that led to the origin of
> modern fishes and their phylogenetic development are reviewed and
> include the evolution of fins and replacement of the bony plates with
> several types of dermal scales. The evolution of reptiles saw a major
> transformation of the integument, with the epidermis becoming the
> protective outermost layer, from which the scales arose, while the
> dermis lay below it.  The biological significance of the newly-evolved
> β-keratin in reptilian scales, among the toughest natural materials
> known, is discussed in the context of its major contribution to the
> great success of reptiles and to the evolution of feathers and avian
> flight. The dermis in many vertebrates is strengthened by layers of
> oppositely oriented cross-fibres, now firmly entrenched as a design
> principle of biomechanics. Throughout the book conventional ideas are
> discussed and a number of new hypotheses are presented in light of the
> latest developments. The long evolutionary history of vertebrates
> indicates that the significance of the Darwinian concept of "survival
> of the fittest" may be overstated, including in our own mammalian
> origins, and that chance often plays a major role in evolutionary
> patterns. Extensive illustrations are include

> Chapter 2 on Agnathans can be downloaded for free from this link:
> 
> http://www.springer.com/cda/content/document/cda_downloaddocument/9783642537479-c2.pdf?SGWID=0-0-45-1443917-p176452299
>