Evolutionary Biogeography of the Andean Region

Evolutionary Biogeography of the Andean Region
Author: Juan J. Morrone
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2018-07-11
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0429941900

Key features: The first reference book to provide a comprehensive treatment of the biogreography of the Andean region Includes lists of the synonyms for each area and examples of the plant and animal taxa characterizing them. An extensive reference section serves as an entry point for more in-depth research on individual subjects Discusses the relationships between the areas, formulating hypotheses explaining the relationships of different biotas, based on track and cladistic biogeographic analyses Identifies cenocrons that were assembled in the different biotas Contains maps that illustrate the distribution of particular taxa, area cladograms and vegetation profiles This book presents a regionalization of the Andean region, based on an evolutionary biogeographic approach. Aimed at anyone wishing to understand biogeographic patterns of distribution of Andean plants and animals, the book provides a comprehensive treatment of three subregions, one transition zone, and 16 provinces. Lists of the synonyms and examples of taxa characterizing each area are given, and the relationships between the areas discussed, alongside hypotheses explaining the assembly of different biotas. Several maps illustrate the distribution of particular taxa, as well as area cladograms, diagrams and full-color vegetation profiles.

Evolutionary Biogeography

Evolutionary Biogeography
Author: Juan Morrone
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2009
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0231143788

"Rather than favoring only one approach, Juan J. Morrone proposes a comprehensive treatment of the developments and theories of evolutionary biogeography. Evolutionary biogeography uses distributional, phylogenetic, molecular, and fossil data to assess the historical changes that have produced current biotic patterns. Panbiogeography, parsimony analysis of endemicity, cladistic biogeography, and phylogeography are the four recent and most common approaches. Many conceive of these methods as representing different "schools," but Morrone shows how each addresses different questions in the various steps of an evolutionary biogeographical analysis. Panbiogeography and parsimony analysis of endemicity are useful for identifying biotic components or areas of endemism. Cladistic biogeography uses phylogenetic data to determine the relationships between these biotic components. Further information on fossils, phylogeographic patterns, and molecular clocks can be incorporated to identify different cenocrons. Finally, available geological knowledge can help construct a geobiotic scenario that may explain how analyzed areas were put into contact and how the biotic components and cenocrons inhabiting them evolved. Morrone compares these methods and employs case studies to make it clear which is best for the question at hand. Set problems, discussion sections, and glossaries further enhance classroom use."--Publisher's description.

Neotropical Biogeography

Neotropical Biogeography
Author: Juan J. Morrone
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 331
Release: 2017-04-07
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1315390647

Neotropical Biogeography: Regionalization and Evolution presents the most comprehensive single-source treatment of the Neotropical region derived from evolutionary biogeographic studies. The book provides a biogeographic regionalization based on distributional patterns of plant and animal taxa, discusses biotic relationships drawn from track and cladistic biogeographic analyses, and identifies cenocrons (subsets of taxa within biotas identified by their common origin and evolutionary history). It includes maps, area cladograms and vegetation profiles. The aim of this reference is to provide a biogeographic regionalization that can be used by graduate students, researchers and other professionals concerned with understanding and describing distributional patterns of plants and animals in the Neotropical region. It covers the 53 biogeographic provinces of the Neotropical region that are classified into the Antillean, Brazilian and Chacoan subregions, and the Mexican and South American transition zones.

Historical Biogeography of Neotropical Freshwater Fishes

Historical Biogeography of Neotropical Freshwater Fishes
Author: James S. Albert
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 406
Release: 2011-03-08
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0520268687

“Full of the details we ichthyologists love, this book will clearly be a standard reference on South American fishes for decades to come. The amazingly detailed glossary alone may well be worth the price of the book!” --Peter B. Moyle, author of Inland Fishes of California “A major contribution to our understanding of multiple aspects of the Neotropical freshwater fish fauna. The book will be of interest not only to ichthyologists, but also to a broader audience of researchers working on freshwater organisms and general biogeographic patterns.”--Richard P. Vari, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution “An up-to-date summary of our knowledge of a major continental biodiversity area, that should attract a wide variety of readers."--William Fink, University of Michigan “Successfully brings together disparate information and introduces new data and analyses, giving a vast overview of neotropical freshwater fishes.” --Brian Crother, Southeastern Louisiana University

Neotropical Diversification: Patterns and Processes

Neotropical Diversification: Patterns and Processes
Author: Valentí Rull
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 816
Release: 2020-03-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030311678

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the patterns of biodiversity in various neotropical ecosystems, as well as a discussion on their historical biogeographies and underlying diversification processes. All chapters were written by prominent researchers in the fields of tropical biology, molecular ecology, climatology, paleoecology, and geography, producing an outstanding collection of essays, synthetic analyses, and novel investigations that describe and improve our understanding of the biodiversity of this unique region. With chapters on the Amazon and Caribbean forests, the Atlantic rainforests, the Andes, the Cerrado savannahs, the Caatinga drylands, the Chaco, and Mesoamerica – along with broad taxonomic coverage – this book summarizes a wide range of hypotheses, views, and methods concerning the processes and mechanisms of neotropical diversification. The range of perspectives presented makes the book a truly comprehensive, state-of-the-art publication on the topic, which will fascinate both scientists and general readers alike.

Biogeology

Biogeology
Author: Bernard Michaux
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2019-07-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0429624840

This detailed exposition gives background and context to how modern biogeography has got to where it is now. For biogeographers and other researchers interested in biodiversity and the evolution of life on islands, Biogeology: Evolution in a Changing Landscape provides an overview of a large swathe of the globe encompassing Wallacea and the western Pacific. The book contains the full text of the original article explored in each chapter, presented as it appeared on publication. Key features: Holistic treatment, collecting together a series of important biogeographical papers into a single volume Authored by an expert who has spent nearly three decades actively involved in biogeography Describes and interprets a region of exceptional biodiversity and extreme endemism The only book to provide an integrated treatment of Wallacea, Melanesia, New Zealand, the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands and Antarctica Offers a critique of fashionable neo-dispersalist arguments, showing how these still suffer from the same weaknesses of the original Darwinian formulation. The chapters also include analysis of many major theoretical and philosophical issues of modern biogeographic theory, so that those interested in a more philosophical approach will find the book stimulating and thought-provoking.

American and Australasian Marsupials

American and Australasian Marsupials
Author: Nilton C. Cáceres
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 1648
Release: 2023-06-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3031084195

This book focuses on the evolution, biogeography, systematics, taxonomy, and ecology of New World and Australasian marsupials, greatly expanding the current knowledge base. There are roughly 140 species of New World marsupials, of which the opossum is the best known. Thanks to recent research, there is now an increasing amount of understanding about their evolution, biogeography, systematics, ecology, and conservation in the Americas, especially in South America. There are also some 270 marsupial species in the Australasian region, many of which have been subject to research only in recent years. Based on this information and the authors’ extensive research, this book provides comprehensive insights into the world's marsupials. It will appeal to academics and specialized researchers, students of zoology, paleontology, evolutionary biology, ecology, physiology and conservation as well as interested non-experts.

Biogeography of Australasia

Biogeography of Australasia
Author: Michael Heads
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 507
Release: 2014
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1107041023

A fascinating analysis of the main patterns of distribution and evolution of the Australasian biota.

Lizards in an Evolutionary Tree

Lizards in an Evolutionary Tree
Author: Jonathan B. Losos
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 528
Release: 2011-02-09
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0520269845

"In a book both beautifully illustrated and deeply informative, Jonathan Losos, a leader in evolutionary ecology, celebrates and analyzes the diversity of the natural world that the fascinating anoline lizards epitomize. Readers who are drawn to nature by its beauty or its intellectual challenges—or both—will find his book rewarding."—Douglas J. Futuyma, State University of New York, Stony Brook "This book is destined to become a classic. It is scholarly, informative, stimulating, and highly readable, and will inspire a generation of students."—Peter R. Grant, author of How and Why Species Multiply: The Radiation of Darwin's Finches "Anoline lizards experienced a spectacular adaptive radiation in the dynamic landscape of the Caribbean islands. The radiation has extended over a long period of time and has featured separate radiations on the larger islands. Losos, the leading active student of these lizards, presents an integrated and synthetic overview, summarizing the enormous and multidimensional research literature. This engaging book makes a wonderful example of an adaptive radiation accessible to all, and the lavish illustrations, especially the photographs, make the anoles come alive in one's mind."—David Wake, University of California, Berkeley "This magnificent book is a celebration and synthesis of one of the most eventful adaptive radiations known. With disarming prose and personal narrative Jonathan Losos shows how an obsession, beginning at age ten, became a methodology and a research plan that, together with studies by colleagues and predecessors, culminated in many of the principles we now regard as true about the origins and maintenance of biodiversity. This work combines rigorous analysis and glorious natural history in a unique volume that stands with books by the Grants on Darwin's finches among the most informed and engaging accounts ever written on the evolution of a group of organisms in nature."—Dolph Schluter, author of The Ecology of Adaptive Radiation

Zoogeography of Arachnida

Zoogeography of Arachnida
Author: Petar Beron
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 995
Release: 2018-07-27
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319744186

This volume merges all geographical and paleogeographical data on all groups of the arachnofauna. The book features topics such as the ecological factors, climate and other barriers that influence the distribution of arachnida. It also elaborates on the characteristics of the distribution such as arachnida at high altitude (e.g. Himalaya), in caves, in polar regions and highlights differences between the arachnofauna of e.g. Mediterranean regions vs Central Europe, West African vs Indomalayan and more. Furthermore, amongst other topics the volume also includes chapters on the systems of arachnida, fossil orders, dispersal and dispersion, endemics and relicts, regional arachnogeography, cave and high altitude arachnida.