When did the first vertebrates emerge, and how did they differ from their invertebrate ancestors? When did vertebrates evolve jaws, paired fins, pattern vision, or a neocortex? How have evolutionary innovations such as these impacted vertebrate behavior and success? Georg Striedter and Glenn Northcutt answer these fundamental questions about all major vertebrate lineages. Highlighting the key innovations of each major taxonomic group, they review how evolutionary changes in vertebrate genetics, anatomy, and physiology are reflected in the nervous system. This highly accessible book allows readers to explore a vast expanse of scientific knowledge, ranging from paleoecology to comparative molecular biology, sensory biology to neural circuit evolution, and fossil anatomy to animal behavior.Brains Through Time examines how vertebrate nervous systems evolved in conjunction with other organ systems and the planet's ecology. Surveying an enormous range of information on genes and proteins, sensory and motor systems, central neural circuits, physiology, and animal behavior, the authors reconstruct the major changes that occurred as vertebrates emerged and then diversified. In the process, readers are transported back in time to key stages of vertebrate evolution, notably the origin of vertebrates, the evolution of paired fins and jaws, the transition to life on land, and the origins of warm-blooded mammals and birds.

Chapter 1 - Reconstructing History: Aims and Methodology1.1 - Comparative Approaches Outside of Biology1.2 - The Comparative Method in Biology1.3 - Comparative Approaches in Neurobiology1.4 - The Importance of Natural HistoryChapter 2 - The origin of vertebrates: invertebrate chordates and cyclostomes2.1 - The Origins of Neurons and Nervous Systems2.2 - Basal Vertebrates and their Closest Invertebrate Relatives2.3 - The Paleoecology of Early Chordates2.4 - The Major Sense Organs of Early Vertebrates2.5 - Movements and Motor Control2.6 - Early Vertebrate Brains2.7 - Developmental Mechanisms for Evolving a "New Head"2.8 - The Question of Novelty in EvolutionChapter 3 - The origin of jaws and paired fins: the age of fishes3.1 - Extant Jawed Fishes and Their Brains3.2 - The Paleoecology of Early Gnathostomes3.3 - The Sense Organs of Early Gnathostomes3.4 - Gnathostome Movements and Motor Control3.5 - The Brains of Early Jawed Fishes3.6 - Evolutionary Changes in Telencephalic Connections3.7 - Functional SynthesisChapter 4 - The Invasion of Land: Lobe-finned Fishes and Amphibians4.1 - The Lobe-finned Vertebrates4.2 - Challenges and Opportunities on Land4.3 - Sense Organs for Use on Land4.4 - Movement On Land4.5 - The Brains of Early Tetrapods4.6 - Functional Organization of Early Tetrapod BrainsChapter 5 - The Conquest of Land: Amniote Origins and the Age of Reptiles5.1 - Early Amniotes and Extant Sauropsids5.2 - Ecological Challenges for Early Amniotes5.3 - Enhanced Sense Organs5.4 - Changes in Motor Patterns and Control5.5 - Changes in the Brains of Sauropsids5.6 - Novel Forebrain Circuits and FunctionsChapter 6 - The rise of endothermy: Mammals, but also birds6.1 - Extant Mammals6.2 - Stem Mammals6.3 - Synapsid Brain-body Scaling6.4 - Paleoecology, Physiology, and Behavior6.5 - Modified Sensory Abilities6.6 - Breathing, Chewing and Moving Around6.7 - Brain Enlargement and ReorganizationChapter 7 - Synthesis: Patterns and Principles7.1 - Major Transitions in Vertebrate Phylogeny7.2 - General Patterns of Evolutionary Change7.3 - Trends in the Evolution of Brain Size7.4 - The Evolution of Brain Region Size7.5 - Changes in the Basic Plan of Vertebrate Brains7.6 - Conclusion: Natural History through TimeAppendixIndex