Provides a synthetic overview of a wide sample of fossil deposits (Lagerstatten) from marine environments reaching back in time to the Precambrian, more than 500 million years ago.
Foreword, by Alfred G. FischerFossil-Lagerstatten: Jewels of the Fossil Record, by David Je. Bottjer, Walter Etter, James W. Hagadorn, and Carol M. TangEnigmatic Ediacara Fossils: Ancestors or Aliens?, by David J. BottjerChengjiang: Early Record of the Cambrian Explosion, by James W. HagadornThe Burgess Shale: Cambrian Explosion in Full Bloom, by James W. HagadornBurgess Shale-Type Localities: The Global Picture, by James W. HagadornOrsten Deposits from Sweden: Miniature Late Cambrian Arthropods, by Carol M. TangBeecher's Trilobite Bed: Ordovician Pyritization for the Other Half of the Trilobite, by Walter EtterThe Hunsruck Slate: Widespread Pyritization of a Devonian Fauna, by Walter EtterBear Gulch: An Exceptional Upper Carboniferous Plattenkalk, by James W. HagadornMazon Creek: Preservation in Late Paleozoic Deltaic Environments, by Stephen A. SchellenbergGres a Voltzia: Preservation in Early Mesozoic Deltaic and Marginal Marine Environments, by Walter EtterMonte San Giorgio: Remarkable Triassic Marine Vertebrates, by Walter EtterBerlin-Ichthyosaur: Preserving Some of the Earth's Largest Marine Vertebrates, by David J. BottjerOsteno: Jurassic Preservation to the Cellular Level, by Carol M. TangPosidonia Shale: Germany's Jurassic Marine Park, by Walter Etter and Carol M. TangLa Voulte-Sur-Rhone: Exquisite Cephalopod Preservation, by Walter EtterOxford Clay: England's Jurassic Marine Park, by Carol M. TangSolnhofen: Plattenkalk Preservation with Archaeopteryx, by Walter EtterSmoky Hill Chalk: Spectacular Cretaceous Marine Fauna, by David J. BottjerMonte Bolca: An Eocene Fishbowl, by Carol M. TangIndex
David J. Bottjer is a professor at the University of Southern California, Walter Etter is a curator at the Natural History Museum in Basel, Switzerland; James W. Hagadorn is a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology; and Carol M. Tang is in the Department of Education, California Academy of Sciences
Reading Exceptional Fossil Preservations is like a refreshing slap in the face...I found myself paging through this book, thinking, 'Wow. What other cool stuff is in here?' -- David Kendrick American Paleontologist An inordinate amount of what we know about the fossil record comes from a handful of spectacular fossil sites... Each of these deposits has a unique story to tell, and this volume is here to tell them... Recommend[ed] to any serious student of paleontology who wishes to know more about a dozen and a half of the most spectacular fossil sites worldwide. -- Lynne M. Clos Fossil News Exceptional Fossil Preservation provides the reader with the opportunity to see and read about exceptional fossils that normally appear only in professional journals. Jack's Stacks Will do much to encourage more fieldwork by scientists and amateur fossil hunters. Exceptionally well-referenced to the technical literature. An essential reading and browsing book for all who have an interest in this fascinating subject. An exceptionally fine book. Northeastern Naturalist