Book description
The book focuses on geological history as the critical factor in
determining the present biodiversity and landscapes of Amazonia. The
different driving mechanisms for landscape evolution are explored by
reviewing the history of the Amazonian Craton, the associated
sedimentary basins, and the role of mountain uplift and climate change.
This book provdes an insight into the Meso- and Cenozoic record of
Amazonia that was characterized by fluvial and long-lived lake systems
and a highly diverse flora and fauna. This fauna includes giants such
as the ca. 12 m long caiman Purussaurus, but also a varied fish fauna
and fragile molluscs, whilst fossil pollen and spores form relics of
ancestral swamps and rainforests.
Finally, a review the molecular datasets of the modern Amazonian
rainforest and aquatic ecosystem, discussing the possible relations
between the origin of Amazonian species diversity and the
palaeogeographic, palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental evolution of
northern South America. The multidisciplinary approach in evaluating
the history of Amazonia has resulted in a comprehensive volume that
provides novel insights into the evolution of this region.
Carina Hoorn is a paleoecologist who studied
geology and holds a PhD from the University of Amsterdam (The
Netherlands) and an MSc in Science Communication (Imperial College,
London). Currently she is liaised to the University of Amsterdam and
her main research interests are Amazonia, the Himalayas, Tibet, and
the coastal lagoons of Oman.
Frank Wesselingh is a molluscan palaeontologist who studied
geology at the Vrije Universiteit (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and
holds a PhD from the University of Turku (Finland). Frank works at
Naturalis, the Natural History Museum in Leiden (The Netherlands), and
his research interests are fossil molluscan faunas of long-lived
lakes, the North Sea Basin and the Indo-West Pacific.
