This book presents a collection of paleontological perspectives on the origin and evolution of herbivory in various major taxa of terrestrial vertebrates. The complex interactions between plants and their animal consumers have long been the subject of much interest to evolutionary biologists. At the same time, most studies exploring coevolutionary relationships have focused on extant organisms, and generally little attention has been paid to the historical development of plant–animal interactions through time documented by the fossil record.

Most contributors to this volume review the nature and acquisition of structural features of the skull and dentition suitable for feeding on high fiber plant material in various major lineages of herbivorous tetrapods. In some instances, they also discuss other lines of evidence (such as isotopic data) bearing on this issue as well as the possible impact of herbivory on the evolutionary diversification of that group. Traditionally, paleobiological studies have assumed a direct relationship between form and function, but current research on the functional morphology of extinct organisms is much more mindful of the inherent theoretical and practical difficulties in reconstructing the habits of ancient organisms. The present volume cannot and does not provide a comprehensive account of herbivory in extinct vertebrates. Rather, it is intended as a review of current research on some of the key issues for advanced students of evolutionary biology, historical ecology, and paleobiology and, it is to be hoped, as a stimulus for further work.

Most chapters are based on contributions presented at a symposium on the evolution of herbivory in insects and terrestrial vertebrates held during the Sixth North American Paleontological Convention (NAPC-96) at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. in June 1996.