THE DIVERSITY OF FISH OTOLITHS, PAST AND PRESENT by Dirk Nolf
The text includes:
1 – An introductory section, with a historical and nomenclatural overview, and with special emphasis on the great impact of otoliths for evaluating the fossil record of teleostean fishes.
2 – A systematic overview (with iconography) of the 1391 fossil species considered to be valid, and of all Recent species for which otoliths have been found as fossil. For every species, the stratigraphic and geographic origin of the type material is given, and where available, also the collection numbers and depository of the holotype. Fossil species based on skeletons with otoliths in situ, but which do not have exclusively otolith-based primary types, are also included.
3 – An alphabetic list of all the 1797 nominal otolith-based fossil fish species, with an evaluation of their validity and their actualized nomenclature.
The 395 plates show otoliths of over 2000 fossil and Recent fishes, often with growth or variability series. More than 50% of the species are illustrated by newly made drawings, with many of the fossil ones directly drawn from the holotypes. For many of the Recent families, the otoliths are illustrated here for the first time.
The book is not only of interest for otolith paleontologists and archeozoologists, but also for all those interested in the fossil record and first appearances of fish taxa, the interrelationships of fishes, and the study of feeding behaviour of predators, like marine mammals and birds, through analysis of their stomach content and rejection pellets.
This book will become available by the end of September 2013 and can be purchased until then at the reduced presubscription prizce of 120 € (20% less than catalogue price), plus postage, by posting a purchase announcement onto the e-mail address of Adriano Vandersypen, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) (adriano.vandersypen@naturalsciences.be), and throughafter depositing the exact sum intoon the account number IBAN of the RBINS, using IBAN BE72 6790 0916 8116 and BIC: PCHQBEBB, with mentioning of reference “1GPAL5-Nolf-First Name-Second Name”. Checks will not be accepted. The book will be sent only after receipt of payment. As postage depends on the weight and destination, clients are urged to contact Mr Vandersypen for more information.
Example plates:
