Modern amphibians - the familiar frogs and salamanders of the Northern Hemisphere and the less well-known, elongate, and limbless caecilians of the Southern Hemisphere-appear as relatively minor components of the living fauna, although they actually outnumber the dominant mammals in terms of both numbers of species and individuals. In fact, the three modern amphibian groups are but relicts of a much larger radiation that occurred between 370 and 270 million years ago, when their ancestors dominated terrestrial and shallow water environments throughout the world. Of even greater significance, the early amphibians provided an evolutionary link between archaic fish and the ancestors of all more advanced terrestrial vertebrates: the reptiles, birds, and mammals. That is, they were our own <...>

This book focuses on the first vertebrates to conquer the land, and on their long journey to become fully independent from the water. It will trace the origin of tetrapod features and try to explain how and why they transformed into organs that permit life on land. The classic idea of early land vertebrates is that they were similar to modern amphibians. Right or wrong, the vast majority of early tetrapods are therefore classified as amphibians (or more precisely their stem taxa). Accordingly, this book is centered on early amphibian evolution, a topic that effectively includes all early tetrapods, and it will also analyze facts and opinions on the origins of modern amphibians. The major part of the story covers events that occurred over the past 370 million years, but it is far from restricted to paleontology.

My own motivation to study the amphibian fossil record derives in large part from a fascination with the development, ecology, and evolution of their modern representatives. Therefore I consider many topics that can only be covered by examination of extant animals: features of the soft body, functions of organs that mediate breathing, feeding, hearing, and locomotion, the morphogenesis of body parts, larval development, metamorphosis, and ecology.

В книге описано пять представителей лабириитодонтов — плагиозавров из нижнего и среднего триаса Восточно-Европейской платформы и Приуралья. Впервые описывается строение эндокрания и челюстного аппарата плагиозавров: анализируется последовательность исторических преобразований в строении их черепа и плечевого пояса. Обсуждаются родственные связи плагиозавров с другими ранними батрахоморфными амфибиями.

Для биологов и палеонтологов.

В книге приводится система раннетриасовых амфибий — лабиринтодонтов бентозухид. Описывается краниальная морфология и анализируются эволюционные тенденции группы. Разработано представление об "онтогенетическом архетипе" черепа лабиринтодонтов, отражающем типичную последовательность стадий формирования покровных структур.

Для палеонтологов и зоологов.