SPECTACULAR，MYSTERIOUS，ELEGANT AND DISTURBING-the compelling beauty of vertebrate skeletons is revealed as never before in this astonishing collection of photographs, which provides a fascinating illustration of the mechanics of evolution.By observing these bones we come to understand the evolutionary reLationship between animals and also retrace our own history.

The animals that inhabit the Earth today carry within them the imprint of an evolutionary process that has lasted several billion years. Their structure has been shapedby the dual. limitations of their genetic inheritance and an all-powerful environment.

Spectacul.ar，mysterious，elegant or grotesque，the skeletons of vertebrates provide a particularly fascinating sight. The bones arrange themselves into almost graphic forms which appear easy to decipher，and encourage one to understand their history. Shaped by evolution，they underline the agile，ungainly，powerful or fragile qualities of today's species and testify to their distant past.

This book is a result of this dual approach，both scientific and aesthetic. Despite its rigorous subject-matter，the aim is accessibility and it reties on numerous examples of contemporary animals to interpret-and visualize-the principal，mechanisms of evolution.A substantial part of the volume is devoted to the pictorial，by virtue of its educational，qualities and the formal，beauty of the subject.The resul.ting photographic cotllection produces a unique iconography of unparalleled abundance and quality. An unfailing determination to confer 'readability' to the skelletons is therefore underscored by an aesthetic bias harking back to a tong tradition of naturalist drawing.

The approach and nature of its subject-matter，the number and diversity of the species selected and the scope and quality of the photographs make this an unprecedented and completelyoriginal project.

EDITOR'S NOTE 7

PREFACE

by Jeon Pierre Gosc 9

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

byJean-Baptiste de Panafieu 10

Ⅰ/ARCHITECTURE

 1.THE ART OF REPETITION 16

 2.A DEEP UNITY 20

 3.BONY ARMOR 28

 4.FIVE FINGERS 34

 5.THE PROBLEMS OF GIANTS 38

 6.SMALL ANIMALS,AND LARGE 42

 7.THE FALSE FISHES 46

 8.THE EXPLOSION OF THE FIVE CLASSES 56

 9.ANIMAL STRUCTURES 62

Ⅱ/THE BIRTH OF SPECIES

 10.ATHENE NOCTUA 70

 11.ALL DIFFERENT 74

 12.HYBRIDIZATION 76

 13.THE THREE BEARS 82

 14.THE SEKGULL RING 86

 15.OF MICE AND MEN 88

 16.THE SPARROW'S BEAK 90

 17.AWELCOMING NEST 92

 18.THE RUNNING APE 94

Ⅲ/SEDUCTION AND SELECTION

 19.THE RED QUEEN 100

 20.ARMAMENTS AND ORNAMENTS 104

 21.THE MOST FAMOUS NECKS 116

 22.COMPETING FANGS 120

 23.LOVE BEFORE DEATH 124

 24.THE NUMBER OF HORNS 128

 25.THE GENDER OF BONES 132

Ⅳ/EVOLUTIONARY TINKERING

 26.THE UNICORN'S TOOTH 136

 27.TEETH OF HORN 158

 28.PAWS, WINGS, AND FINS 164

 29.THE LAST DIGITS 176

 30.THETWO PANDAS 182

 31.THE MUTANTS OF THE DEEP 186

 32.ADULTS STILL INFANTS 190

Ⅴ/THE POWER OF THE ENVIRONMENT

 33.SKY CONQUERORS 196

 34.SEA COWS 204

 35.THETRIUMPH OFTHE RUMINANTS 218

 36.LOST LEGS 224

 37.EATING ANTS 230

 38.MIRROR CONTINENTS 240

 39.BIG SKULLS 254

Ⅵ/EVOLUTION AND TIME

 40.A BRIEF MOMENT FOR THE IBIS 260

 41.FIGURES FROM THE PAST 264

 42.A HIGHLY EVOLVED PUZZLE 266

 43.MONITORED EVOLUTION 268

 44.MAN'S TIME 274

APPENDICES

 CLASSIFICATION 280

 THE PHYLOGENETIC TREE OF THE VERTEBRATES 281

 GLOSSARY 282

 BIBLIOGRAPHY 283

 GENERAL INDEX 284

 ZOOLOGICAL INDEX 285

 SOURCE OF SPECIMENS 286

 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 287