Four-hundred-million years of vertebrate evolution are chronicled and described in this internationally acclaimed work which was first published in 1955 and has since come to be known as a classic in the field. Written as a general exposition of the subject, rather than as a compendium of data, it presents the evolution of the backboned animals from two perspectives: through time, and through the separate evolutionary histories of the great classes and lesser divisions of the vertebrates. This latest edition is the result of important advances in the field in the form of valuable new interpretations of vertebrate evolution and significant new discoveries of fossils throughout the world. Included is a discussion of past continental relationships according to the modern theory of Plate Tectonics and the bearing of such relationships on the evolution and distribution of tetrapods. Many new illustrations have been added and some of the originals have been revised to help make Evolution of the Vertebrates and up-to-the-minute, comprehensive, and authoritative reference for professionals, students, readers alike.