Palaeontologist Thomas Davidson (1817–85) was born in Edinburgh and began his studies at the city's University. Encouraged by German palaeontologist Leopold von Buch, he began to study brachiopod fossils at the age of twenty, and he quickly became the undisputed authority. He was elected fellow of the Geological Society of London in 1852, receiving the Wollaston medal in 1865. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1857. Published between 1850 and 1886, this six-volume Monograph of British Fossil Brachiopoda became the definitive reference on the subject. Contributors to the set include distinguished scientists Richard Owen and W. B. Carpenter. It includes more than two hundred hand-drawn plates and a comprehensive bibliography. The later volumes contain a detailed catalogue and index of British brachiopod species, as well as supplements to the earlier volumes.
Contents
Volume 1: Preface; Introduction: 1. On the anatomy of the Terebratula Prof. Owen; 2. On the intimate structure of the shells of Brachiopoda Prof. Carpenter; 3. On the classification of the Brachiopoda; Part I. The Tertiary Brachiopoda; Part II. The Cretaceous Brachiopoda; Part III. The Oolitic and Liasic Brachiopoda; Appendix; Supplementary additions to the appendix; Index. Volume 2: Part IV. The Permian Brachiopoda: Preliminary remarks; British Permian Brachiopoda; Part V. The Carboniferous Brachiopoda: Preliminary remarks; British Carboniferous Brachiopoda; Appendix and conclusion; Index. Volume 3: Part VI. The Devonian Brachiopoda: Preliminary remarks; British Devonian Brachiopoda; Conclusion; Index; Part VII. The Silurian Brachiopoda: Preliminary observations; British Silurian Brachiopoda; Conclusion; Index to volumes I, II, and III. Volume 4: Supplement to the British recent and Tertiary Brachiopoda; Supplement to the British Post-Tertiary Brachiopoda; Supplement to the British Tertiary Brachiopoda; Supplement to the British Cretaceous Brachiopoda; Supplement to the British Jurassic and Triassic Brachiopoda; Supplement to the British Permian Brachiopoda; Supplement to the British Carboniferous Brachipoda; On the Devonian and Silurian Brachiopoda that occur in the Triassic pebble-bed of Budleigh-Salterton, near Exmouth, in Devonshire; Index; Plates. Volume 5: Supplement to the British Devonian Brachiopoda; Supplement to the British Silurian Brachiopoda; Appendix to the supplements to the British Fossil Brachiopoda; General summary to the British Fossil Brachiopoda; Catalogue of British Fossil Brachiopoda; Index; Plates. Volume 6: Preface; Bibliography of the British Fossil Brachiopoda.
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