| Preface | p. XI |
| A Theory of Adaptation | |
| Aptations and Selective Agencies | p. 3 |
| Natural Selection and Adaptation | p. 3 |
| The Recognition of Aptations | p. 7 |
| Effectiveness, Improvement, and Escalation | p. 10 |
| Environmental Challenges and Pathways of Adaptation | p. 15 |
| The Ranking of Selective Agencies | p. 23 |
| Limits to Adaptation | p. 26 |
| The Nature of Limitation | p. 26 |
| Genetic and Developmental Limitation | p. 27 |
| Ecological Limitation | p. 30 |
| The Spatial Dimension | p. 42 |
| Summary of the Theory of Adaptation | p. 46 |
| Hypotheses and Their Evaluation in a Historical Science | p. 49 |
| Predictions from the Theory of Adaptation | p. 49 |
| The Nature of Historical Inquiry | p. 53 |
| Artifacts and Resolution in the Fossil Record | p. 55 |
| Functional Morphology and Ecological Inference in Fossils | p. 61 |
| The Acquisition of Resources | |
| Mechanisms and History of Competition | p. 67 |
| Types of Competition | p. 67 |
| Clones and Colonies | p. 70 |
| Competition in Plants | p. 78 |
| Metabolic Rate and Competition | p. 82 |
| Competition for Mates | p. 95 |
| Summary | p. 99 |
| Safe Places, Anachronistic Aptations, and the Recycling of Resources | p. 102 |
| The Invasion of Safe Places and Its Consequences | p. 102 |
| The Identification of Safe Places | p. 103 |
| Deep Water | p. 104 |
| Caves and Interstitial Environments | p. 107 |
| The Infaunal Environment | p. 108 |
| Bioerosion and the Endolithic Environment | p. 119 |
| Fresh Water and the Dry Land | p. 130 |
| Parasitism and Mutualism | p. 136 |
| Summary | p. 140 |
| The Predators of Armored Animals: Functional Morphology and History | p. 142 |
| Methods of Subjugation | p. 143 |
| The History of Molluscivory | p. 173 |
| Summary and Conclusions | p. 185 |
| The Evolution of Armor and Locomotion | |
| The Functional Morphology and History of Gastropod Armor | p. 191 |
| The Functions of Armor | p. 191 |
| The Characteristics of Gastropod Shell Armor | p. 192 |
| The Effectiveness of Gastropod Armor | p. 205 |
| The History of Gastropod Armor | p. 210 |
| The History of Traces of Predation | p. 227 |
| Summary and Conclusions | p. 237 |
| Opportunistic Armor: The Evolution of the Conchicolous Habit | p. 240 |
| The Conchicolous Habit | p. 240 |
| Benefits and Risks of the Conchicolous Habit | p. 243 |
| The Effects of Shell Supply | p. 246 |
| Improving the Shell Resource | p. 249 |
| The History of the Conchicolous Habit | p. 251 |
| Evolutionary Effects of Conchicoles on Shell-Builders | p. 252 |
| Summary | p. 254 |
| Locomotion and the Evolution of Movement in Gastropods | p. 256 |
| General Features of Locomotion | p. 256 |
| Locomotion in Gastropods | p. 262 |
| The History of Gastropod Burrowing | p. 266 |
| Summary | p. 268 |
| Armor and Locomotion in Cephalopods | p. 271 |
| Adaptational Dilemmas | p. 271 |
| The History of Cephalopod Armor | p. 277 |
| Locomotion in Cephalopods | p. 285 |
| Summary and Conclusions | p. 288 |
| Armor and Locomotion in Bivalved Animals | p. 290 |
| The Bivalve Shell | p. 290 |
| Vivalve Armor | p. 292 |
| Patterns of Armor in Space and Time | p. 301 |
| Traces of Predation | p. 305 |
| Locomotion in Pelecypods | p. 311 |
| Summary | p. 315 |
| Armor and Locomotion in Articulated Animals | p. 317 |
| Functional Possibilities and Limitations | p. 317 |
| Arthropod Molting | p. 319 |
| Conglobation in Arthropods | p. 320 |
| The Carapace Form in Arthropods | p. 326 |
| Size in Land Arthropods | p. 328 |
| Bamacles | p. 329 |
| Echinoderms | p. 332 |
| Armor in Vertebrates | p. 339 |
| Swimming in Vertebrates | p. 347 |
| Running in Land Animals | p. 348 |
| Powered Flight | p. 354 |
| Summary | p. 355 |
| Escalation, Diversification, and Extinction | |
| The Dynamics of Escalation | p. 359 |
| A Review of the Evidence Pertaining to Escalation | p. 359 |
| A Chronology of Phanerozoic Escalation | p. 361 |
| The Role of Extrinsic Events | p. 371 |
| Conditions Favorable to Escalation | p. 376 |
| Marine Transgressions and Productivity | p. 378 |
| Climatic Change and Biotic Interchange | p. 382 |
| Intrinsic Factors: The Importance of Nutrients | p. 386 |
| Summary and Conclusions | p. 387 |
| Extinction | p. 390 |
| A Theory of Extinction | p. 390 |
| Timing, Frequency, and Magnitude of Extinction | p. 396 |
| The Decrease in Extinction Rate | p. 400 |
| Selectivity | p. 401 |
| Population Size and Geographical Range | p. 413 |
| Post-Crisis Conditions | p. 414 |
| Summary | p. 416 |
| Implications, Difficulties, and Future Directions | p. 418 |
| The Domain of Individual Adaptation | p. 418 |
| Evolutionary Progress | p. 419 |
| Objections and Alternative Interpretations | p. 421 |
| Future Research | p. 426 |
| Appendix | p. 431 |
| References | p. 435 |
| Index | p. 521 |
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