Historical Biogeography of Neotropical Freshwater FishesJames S. Albert, Roberto Reis The fish faunas of continental South and Central America constitute one of the greatest concentrations of aquatic diversity on Earth, consisting of about 10 percent of all living vertebrate species. Historical Biogeography of Neotropical Freshwater Fishes explores the evolutionary origins of this unique ecosystem. The chapters address central themes in the study of tropical biodiversity: why is the Amazon basin home to so many distinct evolutionary lineages? What roles do ecological specialization, speciation, and extinction play in the formation of regional assemblages? How do dispersal barriers contribute to isolation and diversification? Focusing on whole faunas rather than individual taxonomic groups, this volume shows that the area’s high regional diversity is not the result of recent diversification in lowland tropical rainforests. Rather, it is the product of species accumulating over tens of millions of years and across a continental arena. |
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Historical Biogeography of Neotropical Freshwater Fishes James S. Albert,Roberto E. Reis Limited preview - 2011 |
Historical Biogeography of Neotropical Freshwater Fishes James S. Albert,Roberto E. Reis No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
Albert Amazon Basin Amazon River Amazonian Andean Anzótegui and Garralla aquatic Argentina assemblages biogeographic biota Brazil Brazilian Shield Caribbean Casiquiare catfishes Cenozoic Central America Chapter Characidae Characiformes cichlids clades coastal colleagues continental Crampton Cretaceous dispersal distribution diversification diversity drainages eastern ecological ecoregions Eigenmann endemic evolution evolutionary extinction Figure fish fauna fish species floodplain foreland basin Formation fossil Gayet genera genus geographic geological groups Guiana Shield Gymnotiformes habitats headwaters Hoorn hypothesis ichthyofauna Iriondo Kullander lakes lineages Loricariidae Lovejoy lowland Lundberg Magdalena Malabarba Maracaibo marine incursions Miocene modern molecular Negro Neogene Neotropical Neotropical fishes Neotropical freshwater fishes northern number of species Orinoco Orinoco Basin Ostariophysi Pacific Paleogene Paraguay Paraguay Basin Paraná patterns phylogenetic phylogeny region Reis Río river basins river systems sediments Siluriformes South America speciation species richness streams taxa taxonomic tectonic tion tributaries tropical upland upper Venezuela vicariance watershed Wesselingh western Winemiller Zucol