The vertebrate fossil record extends back more than 500 million years, and bonebeds - localized concentrations of the skeletal remains of vertebrate animals - help unlock the secrets of this long history. Often spectacularly preserved, bonebeds - both modern and ancient - can reveal more about life histories, ecological associations, and preservation patterns than any single skeleton or bone. For this reason, bonebeds are frequently studied by paleobiologists, geologists, and archaeologists seeking to piece together the vertebrate record. Thirteen respected researchers combine their experiences in "Bonebeds", providing readers with workable definitions, theoretical frameworks, and modern techniques in bonebed data collection and analysis. By addressing the historical, theoretical, and practical aspects of bonebed research, this edited volume - the first of its kind - provides the background and methods that students and professionals need to explore and understand these fantastic records of ancient life and death.

Raymond R. Rogers is professor in and chair of the geology department at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. David A. Eberth is a senior research scientist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. Tony R. Fiorillo is a faculty member in the Department of Geological Sciences at Southern Methodist University and curator of paleontology at the Dallas Museum of Natural History, Dallas, Texas.