Amazonia: Landscape and Species Evolution: A Look into the Past

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Carina Hoorn, Frank Wesselingh
John Wiley & Sons, Sep 26, 2011 - Science - 464 pages
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The book focuses on geological history as the critical factor in determining the present biodiversity and landscapes of Amazonia. The different driving mechanisms for landscape evolution are explored by reviewing the history of the Amazonian Craton, the associated sedimentary basins, and the role of mountain uplift and climate change.

This book provdes an insight into the Meso- and Cenozoic record of Amazonia that was characterized by fluvial and long-lived lake systems and a highly diverse flora and fauna. This fauna includes giants such as the ca. 12 m long caiman Purussaurus, but also a varied fish fauna and fragile molluscs, whilst fossil pollen and spores form relics of ancestral swamps and rainforests.

Finally, a review the molecular datasets of the modern Amazonian rainforest and aquatic ecosystem, discussing the possible relations between the origin of Amazonian species diversity and the palaeogeographic, palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental evolution of northern South America. The multidisciplinary approach in evaluating the history of Amazonia has resulted in a comprehensive volume that provides novel insights into the evolution of this region.

 

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Contents

Dedication to Thomas van der Hammen
Prologue
TWO Geological evolution of the Amazonian Craton
THREE The Paleozoic Solim6es and Amazonas basins
FIVE Cenozoic sedimentary evolution of the Amazonian
basin evolution and its biota
Amazonia
EIGHT The development of the Amazonian megawetland
FOURTEEN Modern Andean rainfall variation during ENSO
FIFTEEN A review of Tertiary mammal faunas and birds from
SIXTEEN Neogene crocodile and turtle fauna in northern
SE VENTEEN The Amazonian Neogene fish fauna
EIGHTEEN Amazonian aquatic invertebrate faunas Mollusca
TWENTYONE Contribution of current and historical
TWENTYTWO Composition and diversity of northwestern
TWENTYTHREE Diversification of the Amazonian flora

evidence from
TEN Megafan environments in northern South America
ELEVEN Longterm landscape development processes
Biotic patterns and environmental processes
Am 2 ni n lim n r
THIRTEEN Modelling the response of Amazonian climate
TWENTYFOUR Molecular studies and phylogeography
TWENTYFIVE Molecular signatures of Neogene
TWENTYSIX On the origin of Amazonian landscapes
Colour plates
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Amazonia, Landscape and Species Evolution: A Look into the Past
Carina Hoorn,Frank Wesselingh
No preview available - 2010
Amazonia, Landscape and Species Evolution: A Look into the Past
Carina Hoorn,Frank Wesselingh
No preview available - 2010

Common terms and phrases

Acre Alter do Chao Amazon Basin Amazon drainage basin Amazon River Amazonia Amazonian Craton Amazonian foreland basin Andean biodiversity biogeography Bolivia Brazil Cenozoic Central Chao Formation Chapter clades clay climate Colombia continental Craton Cretaceous deposits diversification diversity drainage basin Eastern Cordillera ENSO environments Eocene erosion evolution fauna fishes Fitzcarrald Arch floodplain fluvial systems foredeep foreland basin forest fossil freshwater Geol geological Guiana Shield Hammen Hermoza Hoorn Hovikoski Iquitos isotope lake landscape Late Miocene lowland Lundberg Madre de Dios marine incursions megafan Middle Miocene modern molecular mollusc Nazca Ridge Neogene Neotropical Oligocene orogenic outcrops Palaeogeogr Palaeocl Paleocene patterns Pebas Formation Peru Peruvian phylogenetic phylogeny phylogeography Pleistocene Pliocene pollen Quaternary rainfall rainforest Rasanen record region Roddaz Sand Unit sandstones sedimentary sediments sequences soils Solimoes Formation South America speciation species sub-Andean zone taxa tectonic tidal tropical uplift Upper Urumaco Venezuela vertebrate Vonhof Wesselingh western Amazonia wetland

About the author (2011)

Carina Hoorn is a paleoecologist who studied geology and holds a PhD from the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and an MSc in Science Communication (Imperial College, London). Currently she is liaised to the University of Amsterdam and her main research interests are Amazonia, the Himalayas, Tibet, and the coastal lagoons of Oman.

Frank Wesselingh is a molluscan palaeontologist who studied geology at the Vrije Universiteit (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and holds a PhD from the University of Turku (Finland). Frank works at Naturalis, the Natural History Museum in Leiden (The Netherlands), and his research interests are fossil molluscan faunas of long-lived lakes, the North Sea Basin and the Indo-West Pacific.

Bibliographic information

QR code for Amazonia: Landscape and Species Evolution
TitleAmazonia: Landscape and Species Evolution: A Look into the Past
EditorsCarina Hoorn, Frank Wesselingh
PublisherJohn Wiley & Sons, 2011
ISBN1444360256, 9781444360257
Length464 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Science / Earth Sciences / General
  
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