1st Edition
Palaeobiogeography of Marine Fossil Invertebrates Concepts and Methods
Sitting squarely at the interface between earth and life sciences, palaeobiogeographic information is scattered throughout many publications. Until now. Palaeobiogeography of Marine Fossil Invertebrates covers important theoretical concepts relating to palaeobiogeography together with descriptions of analytical methods.
Fabrizio Cecca discusses general biogeographical concepts and the factors influencing distributional patterns and provides case histories that illustrate the concepts covered. Cecca uses the palaeobiogeography of fossil organisms to generate hypotheses on continental drifting, past migration routes, palaeobiodiversity gradients, geographic barriers, palaeoclimatic and paleooceanographic conditions. He explores the biogeographical dimension of biodiversity through the analysis of existing latitudinal and longitudinal gradients of biodiversity and discusses the biodiversity/area relationship with particular reference to sea-level variations.
Much of the material in the book has been drawn from the author's personal research and experience in ammonites and the Mesozoic pelagic biotas. To avoid lack of balance, he includes carefully selected case histories based on other fossil groups and geologic periods. The book is primarily for students and researchers of geology and palaeontology who whish to gain an understanding of palaeobiogeography, but will also be of interest to marine biologists concerned with the biogeographic aspects of palaeontology and evolution.
Processes of Speciation and Biogeography
Biogeography: Neo-and Palaeobiography
The Aims of Palaeobiography
The Different Biogeographies
GENERAL BIOGEOGRAPHICAL CONCEPTS
The Main Distributional Patterns
The Three Main Categories of Biogeographical Processes
CLASSICAL THEORETICAL MODELS: DISPERSAL AND VARIANCE
Barriers and Filters
The Dispersal Model and the "Centre of Origin"
Panbiogeography
The Variance Model
Centres of Origin in Palaeobiogeography
BIOGEOGRAPHIC ANALYSES AND BIOGEOGRAPHICAL CLASSIFICATION
Rationales
Limits and Constraints of Paleobiogeography
Definition of Biogeographic Units: Qualitative Criteria
Quantitative Criteria (Phenetics)
Are Biotic Provinces Objective?
ANALYTICAL METHODS OF HISTORICAL PALAEOBIOGEOGRAPHY
The Method of Cladistics Biogeography
Brook's Parsimony Analysis (BPA)
Parsimony Analysis of Endemicity (PAE)
Retrovicariance Biogeography
LARVAL BIOGEOGRAPHY
Types of Larval Development
Larval Development in Some Groups of Marine Invertebrates
Rates of Dispersion
Palaeocurrents
Larval Development and Evolutionary Implications
PALAEOBIODIVERSITY AND PALAEOBIOGEOGRAPHY
Biodiversity in Palaeontology
Communities and Guilds
Biogeographical Patterns of Biodiversity
Equilibrium Theory and Species-Area Relationships
Are Extinctions Related to Sea-Level Falls? The Biogeography of Mass Extinctions
Disturbance Events and Deviations from Specie-Area Predictions
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY AND PALAEOGEOGRAPHIC RECONSTRUCTIONS
Geological Assemblages
Marine Corridors and Routes
The Problem of the Terranes
Longitudinal Patterns: Newton's Model of Pantropical Faunas
Index
Biography
Fabrizio Cecca