Geobiology is an exciting and rapidly developing research discipline that opens new perspectives in understanding Earth as a system. To determine and to exploit its possibilities, this promising scientific field will benefit from a discussion of its definition as a research discipline, its objectives, and its methodological approaches. Such a spirited discussion is the goal of the book "Geobiology: Objectives, Concepts, Perspectives". Geobiology touches various subdisciplines of geology and biology in many ways. The book will serve biogeochemists, paleontologists, biomineralogists, microbiologists and many others as a forum to determine future directions of geobiological research. The book includes a section on the concept of geobiological studies, which combines the parent disciplines biology and geology. Several case studies describe geobiological investigations that serve to understand Earth in the present and past. The case studies give an overview of the general understanding of geobiology and lead the reader towards the current hot topics in this rising scientific discipline.* New definition of the rising scientific discipline "geobiology"* Overview into the broad spectrum of geobiological topics* Insight into hot topics of current geobiological research

Since 1972, scientists from all over the world working on fundamental questions of echinoderm biology and palaeontology have conferred every three years to exchange current views and results. The 11th International Echinoderm Conference held at the University of Munich, Germany, from 6-10 October 2003,continued this tradition. This volume

The dominant faunal elements in shallow Paleozoic oceans, echinoderms are important to understanding these marine ecosystems. Echinoderms (which include such animals as sea stars, crinoids or sea lilies, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers) have left a rich and, for science, extremely useful fossil record. For various reasons, they provide the ideal source for answers to the questions that will help us develop a more complete understanding of global environmental and biodiversity changes. This volume highlights the modern study of fossil echinoderms and is organized into five parts: echinoderm paleoecology, functional morphology, and paleoecology; evolutionary paleoecology; morphology for refined phylogenetic studies; innovative applications of data encoded in echinoderms; and information on new crinoid data sets.

The Echinodermata is a phylum of marine invertebrates with a fossil record reaching back to the Precambrian. Major elements of the benthic macrofauna, they play a significant role in the dynamics of the ecosystems and are choice biological models in the life sciences, from ecology to genomics. This title offers 50 papers presented at the sixth European Conferences on Echinoderms (ECE), covering population biology, biodiversity, anatomy and functional morphology, physiology and behavior, biological cycles, and resource potential. This book reflects the great diversity of its contributors, offering an opportunity to cover a broad range of important questions in a single, authoritative reference.

Echinoderms, including feather stars, seastars, brittle stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers, are some of the most beautiful and interesting animals in the sea. They play an important ecological role and several species of sea urchins and sea cucumbers form the basis of important fisheries. Over 1000 species live in Australian waters, from the shoreline to the depths of the abyssal plain and the tropics to Antarctic waters. Australian Echinoderms is an authoritative account of Australia’s 110 families of echinoderms. It brings together in a single volume comprehensive information on the identification, biology, evolution, ecology and management of these animals for the first time. Richly illustrated with beautiful photographs and written in an accessible style, Australian Echinoderms suits the needs of marine enthusiasts, academics and fisheries managers both in Australia and other geographical areas where echinoderms are studied.

Echinoderms have evolved diverse and disparate morphologies throughout the Phanerozoic. Among them, blastozoans, an extinct group of echinoderms that were an important component of Paleozoic marine ecosystems, are primarily subdivided into groups based on the morphology of respiratory structures. However, systematic and phylogenetic research from the past few decades have shown that respiratory structures in blastozoans are not group-defining and they have re-evolved throughout echinoderm evolution. This Element provides a review of the research involving blastozoan respiratory structures, along with research concerning the morphology, paleoecology, and ontogeny of each of the major groupings of blastozoans as it relates to their corresponding respiratory structures. Areas of future research in these groups are also highlighted.

The extraxial-axial theory (EAT) and universal elemental homology (UEH) are often portrayed as mutually exclusive hypotheses of homology within pentaradiate Echinodermata. EAT describes homology upon the echinoderm bauplan, interpreted through early post-metamorphic growth and growth zones, dividing it into axial regions generally associated with elements of the ambulacral system and extraxial regions that are not. UEH describes the detailed construction of the axial skeleton, dividing it into homologous plates and plate series based on symmetry, early growth, and function. These hypotheses are not in conflict; the latter is rooted in refinement of the former. Some interpretive differences arise because many of the morphologies described from eleutherozoan development are difficult to reconcile with Paleozoic forms. Conversely, many elements described for Paleozoic taxa by UEH, such as the peristomial border plates, are absent in eleutherozoans. This Element recommends these two hypotheses be used together to generate a better understanding of homology across Echinodermata.

This study is part of a series dedicated to the publication of reviews by experts of important topics in all areas of echinoderm studies, from molecular biology to ecology, palaeontology, biology and taxonomy. It addresses a range of topics in depth. The reviews seek to provide access to the field and to give direction to further study and research.

This book compiles for the first time the development of echinoderm research in Latin America. The book contains 17 chapters, one introductory, 15 country chapters, and a final biogeographic analysis. It compiles all the investigations published in international and local journals, reports, theses and other gray literature. Each chapter is composed of 7 sections: introduction describes the marine environments, and main oceanographic characteristics, followed by a history of research account divided by specific subjects. The next section addresses patterns of distribution and diversity. A specific section would explain fishery or aquaculture activities. The next sections deal with environmental and anthropogenic threats that are affecting echinoderm, and any conservation or management action. Finally, a section with conclusions, needs and new lines of research. The book will include two appendixes with species lists of all echinoderms with bathimetric data, habitat and distribution.