Evolution and Environment in Tropical America

About this book

The twenty-four contributors use current work in palaeontology, geology, oceanography, anthropology, ecology, and evolution to paint this challenging portrait of rapid environmental and evolutionary change. The conclusions argue for a revision of existing interpretations of the fossil record and the processes - including invading Eurasian peoples - that have produced it.

Contents

Preface 1: Evolution and Environment: Introduction and Overview Jeremy B. C. Jackson, Ann F. Budd. 2: The Geologic Evolution of the Central American Isthmus Anthony G. Coates, Jorge A. Obando. 3: Graphic Correlation of Marine Deposits from the Central American Isthmus: Implications for Late Neogene Paleoceanography Harry J. Dowsett, Mathew A. Cotton. 4: Biotic and Oceanographic Response to the Pliocene Closing of the Central American Isthmus Thomas M. Cronin, Harry J. Dowsett. 5: The Oxygen Isotopic Record of Seasonality in Neogene Bivalves from the Central American Isthmus Jane L. Teranes, Dana H. Geary, Brian E. Bemis. 6: Environmental Changes in Caribbean Shallow Waters Relative to the Closing Tropical American Seaway Laurel S. Collins 7: Plio-Pleistocene Turnover and Extinctions in the Caribbean Reef-Coral Fauna Ann F. Budd, Kenneth G. Johnson, Thomas A. Stemann. 8: Speciation, Extinction, and the Decline of Arborescent Growth in Neogene and Quaternary Cheilostome Bryozoa of Tropical America Alan H. Cheetham, Jeremy B. C. Jackson. 9: Paciphilia Revisited: Transisthmian Evolution of the Strombina Group (Gastropoda: Columbellidae) Jeremy B. C. Jackson, Peter Jung, Helena Fortunato. 10: Diversity of Pliocene-Recent Mollusks in the Western Atlantic: Extinction, Origination, and Environmental Change Warren D. Allmon, Gary Rosenberg, Roger W. Portell, Kevin Schindler. 11: Molecular Comparisons of Transisthmian Species Pairs: Rates and Patterns of Evolution Timothy Collins 12: Late Cenozoic Evolution of the Neotropical Mammal Fauna S. David Webb, Alceu Rancy. 13: Quaternary Environmental History and Forest Diversity in the Neotropics Paul A. Colinvaux List of Contributors Index

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