| Abstract: |
The Amazon Basin has a larger proportion of marine-derived lineages than any other tropical river drainage. These are taxa primarily distributed in oceans and seas, but including one or more species that are freshwater endemics. Marine-derived fish lineages in the Amazoni Basin include stingrays, herrings, anchovies, toadfishes, needlefishes, drums, soles, and pufferfishes. Some Amazonian aquatic mammals (iniid dolphins, manatees), and several freshwater invertebrates (sponges, crabs) are also derived from marine ancestors. This project uses locality records and the panbiogeographical method of track analysis from several marine-derived lineages to test the hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the origin and evolution of this unique component of the Amazonian aquatic biota. Examination of multiple taxa across different lineages will allow to test for congruence of biogeographic patterns which may reflect shared responses to the same paleogeographic event. |
