Advances in Quaternary Entomology

Advances in Quaternary Entomology addresses the science of fossil insects by demonstrating their immense contribution to our knowledge of the paleoenvironmental and climatological record of the past 2.6 million years. In this comprehensive survey of the field, Scott A. Elias recounts development of scholarship, reviews the fossil insect record from Quaternary deposits throughout the world, and points to rewarding areas for future research. The study of Quaternary entomology is becoming an important tool in understanding past environmental changes. Most insects are quite specific as to habitat requirements, and those in non-island environments have undergone almost no evolutionary change in the Quaternary period. We therefore can use their modern ecological requirements as a basis for interpreting what past environments must have been like.

Describes and identifies principal characteristics of fossil insect groups of the Quaternary periodTies Quaternary insect studies to the larger field of paleoecologyOffers global coverage of the subject with specific regional examplesIllustrates specific methods and procedures for conducting research in Quaternary EntomologyOffers unique insight into overlying trends and broader implications of Quaternary climate change based on insect life of the period

1. The History of Quaternary Insect Studies
2. Methods
3. Important fossil insect groups and their identification
4. The Value of Insects in Paleoecology
5. Paleoclimatic Studies Using Insects
6. Insect Zoogeography in the Quaternary
7. The Use of Insect Fossils in Archeology
8. European Studies 
9. Siberian Studies
10. Eastern Beringian Studies
11. Other Studies in the New World
12. Japanese Studies
13. Studies in Australia and New Zealand
14. Beetle Chitin Isotope Studies
15. Ancient DNA Studies
16. Conclusions and Prospectus