Ebook: The Great American Biotic Interchange

Two rather different elements combine to explain the origin of this volume: one scientific and one personal. The broader of the two is the scientific basis-the time for such a volume had arrived. Geology had made remarkable progress toward an understanding of the phys­ ical history of the Caribbean Basin for the last 100 million years or so. On the biological side, many new discoveries had elucidated the distributional history of terrestrial orga­ nisms in and between the two Americas. Geological and biological data had been combined to yield the timing of important events with unprecedented resolution. Clearly, when each of two broad disciplines is making notable advances and when each provides new insights for the other, the rewards of cross-disciplinary contacts increase exponentially. The present volume represents an attempt to bring together a group of geologists, paleontologists and biologists capable of exploiting this opportunity through presentation of an interdisciplinary synthesis of evidence and hypothesis concerning interamerican connections during the Cretaceous and Cenozoic. Advances in plate tectonics form the basis for a modern synthesis and, in the broadest terms, dictate the framework within which the past and present distributions of organisms must be interpreted. Any scientific dis­ cipline must seek tests of its conclusions from data outside of its own confines.

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Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xvii
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
A Kaleidoscope of Plates, Faunal and Floral Dispersals, and Sea Level Changes....Pages 3-16
Caribbean Plate Relative Motions....Pages 17-48
Geochronology and Land-Mammal Biochronology of the Transamerican Faunal Interchange....Pages 49-85
Front Matter....Pages 87-87
Mesozoic and Cenozoic Plate Evolution of the Caribbean Region....Pages 89-121
South American Mammals in the Paleocene of North America....Pages 123-137
Herpetofaunas of North and South America during the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic: Evidence for Interchange?....Pages 139-197
Front Matter....Pages 199-199
Main Pathways of Mammalian Diversification in North America....Pages 201-217
Main Pathways of Mammalian Diversification in South America....Pages 219-247
South American Ungulate Evolution and Extinction....Pages 249-266
Northern Waif Primates and Rodents....Pages 267-282
Front Matter....Pages 283-283
Caribbean Tectonics from a Paleomagnetic Perspective....Pages 285-301
Sea Level, Climate, and the Central American Land Bridge....Pages 303-324
History and Development of the Marine Invertebrate Faunas Separated by the Central American Isthmus....Pages 325-355
Late Cenozoic Mammal Dispersals between the Americas....Pages 357-386
Fossil and Recent Avifaunas and the Interamerican Interchange....Pages 387-424
Front Matter....Pages 425-425
Plants, Their Pollinating Bees, and the Great American Interchange....Pages 427-452
Patterns of Distribution of the Central American Ichthyofauna....Pages 453-473
The American Herpetofauna and the Interchange....Pages 475-487
Mammal Faunas of Xeric Habitats and the Great American Interchange....Pages 489-520
Back Matter....Pages 521-532

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Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xvii
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
A Kaleidoscope of Plates, Faunal and Floral Dispersals, and Sea Level Changes....Pages 3-16
Caribbean Plate Relative Motions....Pages 17-48
Geochronology and Land-Mammal Biochronology of the Transamerican Faunal Interchange....Pages 49-85
Front Matter....Pages 87-87
Mesozoic and Cenozoic Plate Evolution of the Caribbean Region....Pages 89-121
South American Mammals in the Paleocene of North America....Pages 123-137
Herpetofaunas of North and South America during the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic: Evidence for Interchange?....Pages 139-197
Front Matter....Pages 199-199
Main Pathways of Mammalian Diversification in North America....Pages 201-217
Main Pathways of Mammalian Diversification in South America....Pages 219-247
South American Ungulate Evolution and Extinction....Pages 249-266
Northern Waif Primates and Rodents....Pages 267-282
Front Matter....Pages 283-283
Caribbean Tectonics from a Paleomagnetic Perspective....Pages 285-301
Sea Level, Climate, and the Central American Land Bridge....Pages 303-324
History and Development of the Marine Invertebrate Faunas Separated by the Central American Isthmus....Pages 325-355
Late Cenozoic Mammal Dispersals between the Americas....Pages 357-386
Fossil and Recent Avifaunas and the Interamerican Interchange....Pages 387-424
Front Matter....Pages 425-425
Plants, Their Pollinating Bees, and the Great American Interchange....Pages 427-452
Patterns of Distribution of the Central American Ichthyofauna....Pages 453-473
The American Herpetofauna and the Interchange....Pages 475-487
Mammal Faunas of Xeric Habitats and the Great American Interchange....Pages 489-520
Back Matter....Pages 521-532
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