Building on the success of their Evolution of Fossil Systems, published in 2004, which covered 14 choice fossil-lagerstatten from around the world, John Nudds and Paul Selden have produced a new selection of 14 North American fossil-lagerstatten. Chronologically, these range from the Proterozoic age Gunflint Chert up to the Quaternary age Rancho La Brea tarpit biota. Co-published with the University of Chicago Press in the US, this volume is, like its predecessor, very well illustrated (over 300 pictures) including colour photos of the sites, rocks and fossils plus drawn fossil reconstructions and maps locating the sites and their geology.

For each site, the general context and importance is described along with the history of discovery, stratigraphic setting, palaeontology, palaeoecology, comparison with contemporary sites elsewhere in the world and finally a bibliography. At the end of the book, an appendix lists museums associated with each site and its fossils plus detailed and practical information about visiting the sites, including contacts, telephone numbers, etc. Altogether, Fossil Ecosystems of North America is a mine of information, well researched, and will fulfil several quite different functions.

These range from being a very useful student information resource on some of the world's most important fossil-lagerstatten to being a useful guide to amateur palaeontologists who want a very well informed, accurate and up-to-date introduction to these famous sites, perhaps with a view to visiting them. And the new B5 size for this volume makes it more readily pocketable than the previous Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems. Four of the sites are duplicated between the two volumes but have been updated in the present book. Finally, I would recommend Fossil Ecosystems of North America to all palaeontologists as a very enjoyable and very well illustrated guide to sites that most of us will never be able to visit.