Description
Book SynopsisAs a review of the status of biogeography in the West Indies in the 1980s, the first edition of Biogeography of the West Indies: Past, Present, and Future provided a synthesis of our current knowledge of the systematics and distribution of major plant and animal groups in the Caribbean basin. The totally new and revised Second Edition, Biogeography of the West Indies: Patterns and Perspectives, emphasizes recent ideas and hypotheses in the field and includes many new chapters and contributions. The authors use the broadest possible interpretations of the concepts of biogeography, consider anthropological and geological factors, and discuss the conservation of endemic species.
Drawing together contributions from the leading experts in biogeography and biodiversity, this book introduces new patterns and developments that add to our understanding of how plants and animals are dispersed throughout the region. Many contributions use new techniques such as molecular systematics to tes
Table of ContentsIntroduction. Biogeography of the West Indies. Climate Change in the Circum-Caribbean and Implications for Regional Biogeography. Functional Adaptations to Island Life. Phylogeny and Biogeorgraphy of Lyonia sect. Patterns of Endemism and Biogeography of Cuban Insects. The Caribbean's Contribution to the Spider Fauna of Florida. Rhysodine Beetles. New Perspectives on the Biogeography of Butterflies. Relationships and Divergence Times of Amphibians and Reptiles. The Historic and Prehistoric Distribution of Parrots. Early Tertiary Vertebrate Fossils from Seven Rivers. The Sloths. The Origin of the Greater Antillean Insectivorian. Systematics, Biogeography, and Conservation Strategies for Solenodons. Insular Patterns and Radiations of Rodents. Ecology of an Introduced Population of the Bahamian Hutia. Biogeography of Bats. Patterns of Extinction in Bats. The Mongoose. Status and Biogeography of the Manatee. Historical Biogeography in Cuba. Native American Use of Animals. The Prehistory and Early History of the Caribbean. Impact of Hunting on Jamaican Hutia Populations. Status of Conservation in Haiti.
