This is a review of the adequacy of the fossil record and its utility, providing an examination of the role and use of evidence in palaeontology. The text assesses the strengths and weaknesses of fossil evidence and provide essays on the research methodologies of palaeontologists.

This is an up-to-date review of the adequacy of the fossil record and its utility, providing an examination of the role and use of evidence in palaeontology. Leading authorities contribute review chapters on specific topics, assess the strengths and weaknesses of fossil evidence and provide essays on the research methodologies of research palaeontologists and their scientific results. The first eight chapters are concerned largely with broader issues of theory and interpretation. The next five chapters discuss particular fossil groups which are chosen to illustrate how the concepts of completeness and adequacy are influenced by variations in skeletal form. This is a volume on the fundamental structure of a major research discipline, offering systematic discussions of the fundamental basis of paleontology. The topic should be of interest not only in palaeontology, but also in evolutionary studies, biology, and comparative anatomy.

Introduction - adequacy versus incompleteness, Stephen K. Donovan and Christopher R.C. Paul
adequacy, completeness and the fossil record, Christopher R.C. Paul
determining stratugraphics ranges, Charles R. Marshall
resolution of the fossil record - the fidelity of preservation, David M. Martill
the completeness of the Pleistocene fossil record - implications for stratigraphic adequacy, Benjamin J. Greenstein et al
an overview of the completeness of the fossil record, Christopher R.C. Paul and Stephen K. Donovan
fossil solids and completeness of the rock and fossil records, Gregory J. Retallack
phylogenetic analyses and the quality of the fossil record, Peter J. Wagner
"taxonomic barriers" and other distortions within the fossil record, Carl F. Koch
patterns of occurrence of benthic Foraminifera in time and space, Stephen J. Culver and Martin A. Buzas
the fossil record of cheilostome bryozoa in the Neogene and Quaternay of tropical America - adequacy for phylogenetic and evolutionary studies, Alan H. Cheetham and Jeremy B.C. Jackson
the fossil record of bivalue molluscs, Elizabeth M. Harper
the quality of the fossil record of the vertebrates, Michael J. Benton.