Introduction to paleobiology and the fossil record / Введение в палеобиологию и ископаемые останки

The history of life is documented by fossils through the past 3.5 billion years. Paleobiology provides a unique long‐term perspective, which is important for three reasons: ancient life and environments can inform us about global change and the origins of modern biodiversity, and so provide information about how the world might change in the future; extinct plants and animals make up 99% of all species that ever lived, and so we need to know about them to understand the true scope of the tree of life; and extinct organisms did amazing things that no living plant or animal can do, and we need to explore their capabilities to assess the limits of form and function <...>