Most features of living organisms reflect genetic inheritance; this fortunate state of affairs permits parents to have some expectations regarding their progeny, and gives taxonomists some claim to be living in a real world. Other features, however, are directly or indirectly a reflection of contact with the environment; these are largely ignored by the taxonomist, but can be of considerable aid to the paleoecologist. Most of these environmentally induced features, such as gastropod borings in individual shells or stunting in an assemblage, are relatively insignificant or infrequent, and thus are of limited use; but one class of such features is common and promises to be of considerable significance. These are growth lines.
Growth lines mark changes in growing shell or skeletons and these changes are usually related to changes in the environment. Individual lines are not readily interpreted, but the pattern of growth lines formed during the lifetime of an organism may provide useful...
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Clark, G.R. (1979). Growth lines . In: Paleontology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31078-9_67
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