The Quaternary: A Time of Biological Diversification or Impoverishment

A special issue of Quaternary (ISSN 2571-550X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 303

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Evolution and Ecology Group, Department of Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA
Interests: systematics; cladistics; nymphalidae

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Guest Editor
Laboratorio de Genetica & Biodiversidade, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, 74001-970 Goiânia, GO, Brazil
Interests: phylogeography; population genetics and genomics; phylogenetic structure

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Guest Editor
Department of Ornithology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
Interests: evolution; systematic; biogeography

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the past, the Quaternary was considered a time of extinction and biodiversity depletion, mainly due to the idea that the intense cooling and the expansion of polar ice sheets until temperate latitudes drastically reduced the habitable space and deteriorated the environmental conditions for life. During the last glacial cycle, human activities, notably hunting, would have also contributed to the extinction of many species. Under such a perspective, it was taken for granted that major diversification processes took place in pre-Quaternary times, mainly during the Neogene, and the main diversification drivers would have been tectonically-driven phenomena such as, among others, mountain building, formation of new volcanic islands, large-scale spatiotemporal climatic changes, or significant paleogeographic changes causing the waxing and waning of physical connections and barriers affecting speciation patterns. These inferences were based chiefly on the observed biogeographical patterns of extant organisms.

However, the inception of molecular phylogenetic and phylogeographic studies in the last decades has demonstrated that Quaternary speciation has been intense in many groups of organisms, which has been attributed to the glacial–interglacial recurrence and the associated sea-level changes. Some regional meta-analyses have shown rather continuous speciation trends during the Neogene and the Quaternary, with no significant diversification bursts in any of these geological periods. However, a global quantification of the degree of speciation and extinction events of the Quaternary, as compared to former times, is still unavailable. Therefore, a general evaluation of the Quaternary as a time of diversification or of biodiversity depletion is not yet possible.

This Special Issue aims at encouraging researchers on multidisciplinary areas (geology, biogeography, paleoecology, paleoclimatology, molecular phylogenetics/phylogeography, etc.) to revisit the topic of Quaternary diversification and its role in the shaping of modern biodiversity patterns, preferably at a global level, but also at regional and continental scales. Any approach related to this topic is acceptable for the Special Issue, which has no pre-meditated viewpoint. Rather, it aims to provide the arena for free discussions on the topic for the readers to have, in a single issue, as much information as they need to develop their own views and approaches to the subject. As usual in the journal, there are no limits for words, references, tables or color figures, and any type of paper (research, review, meta-analysis, short communication, commentary, viewpoint, opinion, etc.) on any type of organisms is acceptable. See the Instructions for Authors for more information.

Dr. Andrew V. Z. Brower
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • Diversification
  • Biogeography
  • Phyogeograpy
  • Quaternary climate changes

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Published Papers

There is no accepted submissions to this special issue at this moment.
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