What Your Fossils Can Tell You

Book excerpt: A practical and fun identification manual for amateurs and professionals alike "Provides the beginning fossil vertebrate enthusiast with some valuable information about the fossils they are collecting."--Guy "Harley" Means, Florida Geological Survey "Illustrates how the dynamic story of ancient life and death and post-mortem utilization is accessible from the study of bone shapes. It is this very thing that made me want to be a paleontologist in the first place."--Pennilyn Higgins, University of Rochester Written primarily for the avid amateur and beginning paleontologist, What Your Fossils Can Tell You offers both experienced and novice fossil hunters and collectors the information needed to correctly identify and interpret the significance of their discoveries. Professionals in the field may also use this book as a pictorial resource to assist them in bridging the fields of pathology and archaeology as they relate to paleontology. Amateur fossil hunters are presented with the tools they need to recognize significant finds and knowledge of how to collect vertebrate fossils responsibly and legally. Robert Sinibaldi, in informal collaboration with a number of fossil experts, has compiled materials with a wide appeal. He explains many of the complex bumps, grooves, markings, and other anomalies that occur on fossil bones and teeth. A wealth of photographs helps readers visually identify these features and apply related concepts to their personal collections. Along with many common specimens, scores of unique fossil items appear here in print for the first time.