During the last few years, the number of contributions to the Paleontology of Mexico has increased considerably. Paleontological work in Mexico has been focused on providing important information for petroleum exploration and specific studies dealing with pollen, foraminifera, radiolaria, dinoflagellates, rudists, and ammonites. Often these reports were published only in local or regional journals and therefore not available to the scientific community at large. The purpose of this book is to offer an updated review of the fossil groups from Mexico, providing their significance to the stratigraphy, tectonics, sedimentology, evolution and paleontology of Mexico whose study has proved to be relevant in stratigraphy, tectonics, sedimentology, and evolution. The fossil record of Mexico ranges from Precambrian to Pleistocene. Almost every Mexican State has reported fossil localities with ongoing studies and potential for the discovery of new localities. Even those localities that have been studied since the eighteen-century, such as the early Cretaceous San Juan Raya, have recently reported new fossil groups. Unfortunately, much of the fossil reports from Mexico have been published in Spanish from local journals, which represent a language barrier to the international community. There is little doubt that the paleontological history of Mexico deserves to be known in other countries. By making this book available to the international scientific community we hope that interest in the fossil record of Mexico will grow.

Dr. Francisco J. Vega was Head of the Geology Department, Instituto de Geología, UNAM, and Secretary of the Paleontological Society (South Central Section). His contributions deal with biostratigraphy and systematics of Cretaceous and Tertiary Crustacea and Mollusca.

Torrey Nyborg received his MS degree from Kent State University. He works with decapod crustaceans and fossil mammal and bird tracks. Torrey is currently working towards his PhD from Loma Linda University.

Dr. María del Carmen Perrilliat is a prominent specialist on Cretaceous and Tertiary Mollusca. She is

currently the Elected President of the Mexican Paleontological Society (SOMEXPAL).

Dr. Marisol Montellano-Ballesteros got her PhD from The University of California at Berkeley, and has

been a key piece for the Mexican Vertebrate Paleontological Society. Her field of interest is Late

Mesozoic and Late Cenozoic mammals.

Dr. Sergio R. S. Cevallos-Ferriz received his MS and PhD from the University of Alberta, and was Head

of the Department of Paleontology, Instituto de Geología, UNAM. Dr. Cevallos-Ferriz is a well known

specialist on Mesozoic and Cenozoic paleobotany.

Dr. Sara A. Quiroz-Barroso got her MS and PhD from the UNAM and she has been Secretary of the

Mexican Paleontological Society. She works with Paleozoic Mollusca from Mexico.

Geological setting and phytodiversity in Mexico.- Tertiary Palynofloristic correlations between Mexican Formations with emphasis in dating the Balsas Group.- Mesozoic Corals of Mexico.- Rudists of Mexico: Historical Aspects and Selected Areas of Research.- Mesozoic and Tertiary Decapod Crustacea from Mexico.- Cretaceous Echinoids of Mexico.- Fossil Ophiuroids of Mexico.- Fossil record of Upper Paleozoic Marine Invertebrates from Mexico.- Mesozoic Osteichthyans of Mexico.- Research on Fossil amphibians and reptiles in Mexico, from 1869 to early 2004 (including marine forms but excluding pterosaurs, dinosaurs, and obviously, birds).- A Review of the Dinosaurian Record from Mexico.- Mexican Fossil Mammals, Who, Where and When?.- Revision of Recent Investigations in the Tlayúa Quarry.