By Alexandra van der Geer, George Lyras, John de Vos, Michael Dermitzakis
Evolution on islands differs in a couple of very important methods from evolution on mainland areas. Over thousands of years of isolation, unheard of and infrequently strange mammals advanced on islands, akin to pig-sized elephants and hippos, titanic rats and gorilla-sized lemurs that might were daunting to their mainland ancestors.This well timed and leading edge ebook is the 1st to provide a much-needed synthesis of modern advances within the interesting box of the evolution and extinction of fossil insular placental mammals. It presents a finished evaluation of present wisdom on fossil island mammals around the globe, starting from the Oligocene to the onset of the Holocene.The publication addresses evolutionary techniques and key features of insular mammal biology, exemplified through quite a few fossil species. The authors speak about the human think about prior extinction occasions and lack of insular biodiversity.This available and richly illustrated textbook is written for graduate point scholars researchers in evolutionary biology, palaeontology, biogeography, zoology, and ecology.
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Extra resources for Evolution of Island Mammals: Adaptation and Extinction of Placental Mammals on Islands
Sample text
Fossil faunas are thus useful as a palaeogeographical tool. Dispersals to Islands There are several ways for vertebrates, including mammals, to reach an island and maintain a viable population. Needless to say, the different taxa may disperse differently, so not all dispersal types apply to all taxa. Roughly speaking, three main types of dispersal routes can be distinguished: over land, over water and through the air. The first type has no restriction, except for strictly aquatic taxa. The second type is open only for taxa that can swim, float or raft on a floating mass across wide water barriers, whereas the last type is restricted to bats.
The fauna of the newly formed island is at the beginning a subset of the continental fauna of stage I. However, soon the fauna reduces and only a few (if any) mammalian species survive. In stage III, new mammalian species of mainland origin colonize the island. In stage IV the island is inhabited by endemic species. Meanwhile more colonizers arrive from the mainland. In stage V the successful establishment of new colonizers to the island, as well as other factors, such as the reduction of the island size or its habitats, leads to extinction of many insular species.
2) and lead an aquatic life. 1 Deer swimming in the open sea towards one of the Andaman Islands. 2 Capybara jumping in a lake at Tingói Park, Curitiba, Brazil. indd 26 BEYOND THE MAINLAND The rafters Most proficient in crossing open seas among mammals are rodents, being found on most oceanic islands, including even the Galapagos Archipelago, 972 km off the shore of continental Ecuador, as shown by Robert Dowler and colleagues in 2000. They probably did not arrive there by swimming, but by travelling on a floating mass, known as flotsam.