Author: Jonathan Robert Hendricks Publisher: ISBN: 9780877104827 Category : Conidae, Fossil Languages : en Pages : 184
Book Description
Conus (or cone) shells are common in many Pliocene and Pleistocene fossil deposits from the Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States, but have never been the subjects of a comprehensive taxonomic review or revision. In total, 84 names (including those of some Recent species and fossil taxa from other strata or areas) have been applied to Plio-Pleistocene cone shells from this region, and since Green described Conus marylandicus in 1830, and additional 59 species have been described from these strata. Forty of these taxa were described in the last 17 years and were published outside of the peer-reviewed literature, making their status as distinct species suspect, particularly because most are poorly illustrated, perfunctorily described, and based on few specimens. This makes them nearly impossible to evaluate without direct inspection of type material and/or access to large suites of specimens. Evaluating whether these suspect taxon names represent distinctive morphospecies is critical to attaining an understanding of the evolutionary history and diversity of Neogene and Recent Conus in the western Atlantic. The present work provides a systematic treatment of 82 of the 84 names that have been applied to Conus shells from the Plio-Pleistocene fossil records of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. Here, through application of a conservative morphological species concept (one that accepts large amounts of intraspecific morphological variation), 19 of these nominal taxa are accepted as representing distinctive species of Plio-Pleistocene Conus from this study area. In addition, this investigation also resulted in the discovery of one new fossil morphospecies, described here as Conus burnetti n. sp. An identification key to these 20 species is provided. The status of three additional, previously described species (known only by their type specimens) remains less certain. Two names that are likely familiar to collectors of Plio-Pleistocene Conus from the United States Coastal Plain, C. floridanus Gabb, 1869, and C. druidi Olsson, 1967, are synonymized, respectively, with G. fg. largillierti Kiener, 1845, and C. haytensis G. B. Sowerby II, 1850. All previously described species of sinistral Conus are considered to belong to one highly morphologically variable species, C. adversarius Conrad, 1840.
Author: Alan J. Kohn Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 069113538X Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 476
Book Description
Conus is the largest genus of animals in the sea, occurring throughout the world's tropical and subtropical oceans and contributing significantly to marine biodiversity. The shells of these marine mollusks are prized for their amazing variety and extraordinary beauty. The neurotoxic venoms they produce—injected by a hollow, harpoon-like tooth into prey animals that are then paralyzed and swallowed whole—have a range of pharmaceutical applications, from painkillers to antidepressants. This beautifully illustrated book identifies 53 valid species of the southeastern United States and the Caribbean, a region that supports a diverse but taxonomically challenging group of Conus. Introductory chapters cover the evolution and phylogeny of the genus, and notes on methodology are provided. Detailed species accounts describe key identification features, taxonomy, distribution, ecology, toxicology, life history, and evolutionary relationships. The book includes more than 2,100 photos of shells on 109 splendid color plates; more than 100 additional photos, many depicting live animals in color; and 35 color distribution maps. Identifies 53 valid species—the first reassessment of western Atlantic Conus in more than seventy years Features more than 2,100 photos of shells on 109 color plates Blends the traditional shell-character approach to identification with cutting-edge shell and radular tooth morphometrics and molecular genetic analyses Includes color images of live animals as well as color distribution maps
Author: Warren D. Allmon Publisher: University of Chicago Press ISBN: 022637744X Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 434
Book Description
The literature of paleobiology is brimming with qualifiers and cautions about using species in the fossil record, or equating such species with those recognized among living organisms. Species and Speciation in the Fossil Record digs through this literature and surveys the recent research on species in paleobiology. In these pages, experts in the field examine what they think species are - in their particular taxon of specialty or more generally in the fossil record. They also reflect on what the answers mean for thinking about species in macroevolution. The first step in this approach is an overview of the Modern Synthesis, and paleobiology’s development of quantitative ways of documenting and analyzing variation with fossil assemblages. Following that, this volume’s central chapters explore the challenges of recognizing and defining species from fossil specimens, and show how with careful interpretation and a clear species concept, fossil species may be sufficiently robust for meaningful paleobiological analyses. Tempo and mode of speciation over time are also explored, exhibiting how the concept of species, if more refined, can reveal enormous amounts about the interplay between species origins and extinction and local and global climate change.
Author: Stephen D. Cairns Publisher: French National Museum Natural History ISBN: 9782856537671 Category : Benthic animals Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Tropical Deep-Sea Benthos is a series dedicated to the inventory and description of the deep-sea fauna of the world, with special emphasis on their most extensive--but remote and least-explored--habitats: the Indo-West Pacific. Growing out of marine expeditions undertaken by the French National Museum of Natural History and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, the series continues to present many new, strange, and sometimes colorful invertebrates. The present volume presents results from recent expeditions within the New Caledonian Exclusive Economic Zone, reporting ninety-eight species (including fifty-seven new species) of corals from the Stylasteridae family and one new calcified species of hydrozoa from the family Hydractiniidae. Including numerous seamounts, submarine ridges, and small islands, New Caledonia's deep-sea benthos are ideal habitat for stylasterids, making it the most species-rich marine region in the world for this taxon.
Author: C. Hillaire-Marcel Publisher: Elsevier ISBN: 0080525040 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 863
Book Description
The present volume is the first in a series of two books dedicated to the paleoceanography of the Late Cenozoic ocean. The need for an updated synthesis on paleoceanographic science is urgent, owing to the huge and very diversified progress made in this domain during the last decade. In addition, no comprehensive monography still exists in this domain. This is quite incomprehensible in view of the contribution of paleoceanographic research to our present understanding of the dynamics of the climate-ocean system. The focus on the Late Cenozoic ocean responds to two constraints. Firstly, most quantitative methods, notably those based on micropaleontological approaches, cannot be used back in time beyond a few million years at most. Secondly, the last few million years, with their strong climate oscillations, show specific high frequency changes of the ocean with a relatively reduced influcence of tectonics. The first volume addresses quantitative methodologies to reconstruct the dynamics of the ocean andthe second, major aspects of the ocean system (thermohaline circulation, carbon cycle, productivity, sea level etc.) and will also present regional synthesis about the paleoceanography of major the oceanic basins. In both cases, the focus is the "open ocean leaving aside nearshore processes that depend too much onlocal conditions. In this first volume, we have gathered up-to-date methodologies for the measurement and quantitative interpretation of tracers and proxies in deep sea sediments that allow reconstruction of a few key past-properties of the ocean( temperature, salinity, sea-ice cover, seasonal gradients, pH, ventilation, oceanic currents, thermohaline circulation, and paleoproductivity). Chapters encompass physical methods (conventional grain-size studies, tomodensitometry, magnetic and mineralogical properties), most current biological proxies (planktic and benthic foraminifers, deep sea corals, diatoms, coccoliths, dinocysts and biomarkers) and key geochemical tracers (trace elements, stable isotopes, radiogenic isotopes, and U-series). Contributors to the book and members of the review panel are among the best scientists in their specialty. They represent major European and North American laboratories and thus provide a priori guarantees to the quality and updat of the entire book. Scientists and graduate students in paleoclimatology, paleoceanography, climate modeling, and undergraduate and graduate students in marine geology represent the target audience. This volume should be of interest for scientists involved in several international programs, such as those linked to the IPCC (IODP – Integrated Ocean Drilling Program; PAGES – Past Global Changes; IMAGES – Marine Global Changes; PMIP: Paleoclimate Intercomparison Project; several IGCP projects etc.), That is, all programs that require access to time series illustrating changes in the climate-ocean system. - Presents updated techniques and methods in paleoceanography - Reviews the state-of-the-art interpretation of proxies used for quantitative reconstruction of the climate-ocean system - Acts as a supplement for undergraduate and graduate courses in paleoceanography and marine geology
Author: Charles F. Sturm Publisher: Universal-Publishers ISBN: 1581129300 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 445
Book Description
Mollusks have been important to humans since our earliest days. Initially, when humans were primarily interested in what they could eat or use, mollusks were important as food, ornaments, and materials for tools. Over the centuries, as human knowledge branched out and individuals started to study the world around them, mollusks were important subjects for learning how things worked. In this volume, the editors and contributors have brought together a broad range of topics within the field of malacology. It is our expectation that these topics will be of interest and use to amateur and professional malacologists.
Author: Jonathan Robert Hendricks
Author: Alan J. Kohn
Author: Warren D. Allmon
Author: 
Author: Jonathan Robert Hendricks
Author: Stephen D. Cairns
Author: Robert Tucker Abbott
Author: C. Hillaire-Marcel
Author: Y. Finet
Author: Charles F. Sturm