Resources

General Books on the Fossil Record and Evolution

  • Allmon, W. D. 2009. Evolution & Creationism: A Very Short Guide. Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, NY, 128 pp.
  • Benton, M. J. 2008. The History of Life: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 170 pp.
  • Fenton, C. L., & M. A. Fenton. 1958. The Fossil Book: A Record of Prehistoric Life. Doubleday, Garden City, NY, 482 pp. (A well-illustrated classic.)
  • Fortey, R. A. 1998. Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 346 pp.
  • Knoll, A. H. 2003. Life On a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 277 pp.
  • Switek, B. 2010. Written In Stone: Evolution, the Fossil Record, and Our Place In Nature. Bellevue Literary Press, New York, 320 pp.
  • Thomson, K. S. 2005. Fossils: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 147 pp.

Guides to Collecting and Identifying Fossils

  • Arduini, P., G. Teruzzi, & S. S. Horenstein. 1986. Simon & Schuster’s Guide to Fossils. Simon and Schuster, New York, 317 pp.
  • Garcia, F. A., & D. S. Miller. 1998. Discovering Fossils: How To Find and Identify Remains of the Prehistoric Past. Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 212 pp.
  • Lichter, G. 1993. Fossil Collector’s Handbook: Finding, Identifying, Preparing, Displaying. Sterling Publishing Company, New York, 160 pp.
  • Macdonald, J. R. 1983. The Fossil Collector’s Handbook: A Paleontology Field Guide. Prentice- Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 193 pp.
  • Murray, M. 1967. Hunting for Fossils: A Guide to Finding and Collecting Fossils in All Fifty States. Macmillan Company, Toronto, Canada, 348 pp.
  • Nudds, J. R., & P. A. Selden. 2008. Fossil Ecosystems of North America: A Guide to the Sites and their Extraordinary Biotas. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 288 pp.
  • Parker, S. 1990. The Practical Paleontologist. A Step-By-Step Guide To Finding, Studying, and Interpreting Fossils. Simon and Schuster, New York, 159 pp.
  • Parker, S. 2007. Fossil Hunting: An Expert Guide to Finding and Identifying Fossils and Creating a Collection. Southwater, London, 96 pp.
  • Ransom, J. E. 1964. Fossils In America: Their Nature, Origin, Identification and Classification and a Range Guide To Collecting Sites. Harper and Row, New York, 402 pp.
  • Thompson, I. 1982. The Audubon Society Field Guide To North American Fossils. Knopf, New York, 846 pp.
  • Walker, C., D. Ward, & C. Keates. 2009. Fossils. Dorling Kindersley (Smithsonian Handbooks), New York, 320 pp.

Books and Articles on Fossils of Specific Areas

  • Akers, R. E., & T. J. Akers. 1997. Texas Cretaceous gastropods. Paleontology Section, Houston Gem and Mineral Society, Texas Paleontology Series, Publication 6, 340 pp.
  • Akers, R. E., & T. J. Akers. 2002. Texas Cretaceous bivalves 2. Paleontology Section, Houston Gem and Mineral Society, Texas Paleontology Series, Publication 7, 516 pp.
  • Bottjer, D. J. 2002. Smoky Hill Chalk: spectacular Cretaceous marine fauna. pp. 352 - 364, in: Exceptional Fossil Preservation. A Unique View on the Evolution of Marine Life, D. J. Bottjer, W. Etter, J. W. Hagadorn, & C. M. Tang (eds.), Columbia University Press, New York.
  • Brosius, L. 2006. Windows to the Past—A Guidebook to Common Invertebrate Fossils of Kansas. Kansas Geological Survey, Educational Series 16, 56 pp.
  • Everhart, M. J. 2005. Oceans of Kansas: A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 344 pp.
  • Finsley, C. 1999. Field Guide to Fossils of Texas. Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, TX, 188 pp.
  • Gentile, R. J. 2015. Rocks and Fossils of the Central United States, with Special Emphasis on the Greater Kansas City Area, 2nd edition. University of Kansas, Department of Geology & Paleontological Institute, Special Publication 8, 221 p.
  • Jacobs, L. 1995. Lone Star Dinosaurs. Texas A&M University Press, College Station, 160 pp.
  • Mckinzie, M., & J. McLeod. 2012. Pennsylvanian fossils of North Texas. Occasional Papers of the Dallas Paleontological Society, 6: 145 p.
  • Mehl, M. G. 1962. Missouri’s Ice Age Animals. State of Missouri, Division of Geological Survey and Water Resources, Educational Series 1: 104 pp.
  • Unklesbay, A. G. 1955. The Common Fossils of Missouri. University of Missouri Press, Columbia, 98 pp.
  • Williams, R. B. 1975. Ancient Life Found in Kansas Rocks: An Introduction to Common Kansas Fossils. Kansas Geological Survey, Educational Series 1, 44 pp.

Websites on Fossils of Specific States

Kansas

Louisiana

Missouri

  • Missouri Fossils, B. L. Stinchcomb, 1997, originally published in Rocks & Minerals, 72(6).

Oklahoma

Texas