Vertebrate palaeontology is a lively field, with new discoveriesreported every week and not only dinosaurs! This new editionreflects the international scope of vertebrate palaeontology, witha special focus on exciting new finds from China. A key aim is to explain the science. Gone are the days ofguesswork. Young researchers use impressive new numerical andimaging methods to explore the tree of life, macroevolution, globalchange, and functional morphology. The fourth edition is completely revised. The cladisticframework is strengthened, and new functional and developmentalspreads are added. Study aids include: key questions, research tobe done, and recommendations of further reading and web sites. The book is designed for palaeontology courses in biology andgeology departments. It is also aimed at enthusiasts who want toexperience the flavour of how the research is done. The book isstrongly phylogenetic, and this makes it a source of current dataon vertebrate evolution.