Relationship of the tropical shelf regions
Briggs, J.C. (1967). Relationship of the tropical shelf regions. Studies in Tropical Oceanography 5: 569-578
In: Studies in Tropical Oceanography. University of Miami. Institute of Marine Science: Miami. ISSN 0081-8720, meer
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| Abstract |
Four highly efficient zoogeographic barriers separate the tropical shorefaunas of the world. The most effective is the New World land barrierhaving been, except for certain euryhaline forms, completely closed totraffic since the latest Pliocene-earliest Pleistocene times. The next most efficient is the Old World land barrier which permits only a limited migration around the Cape of Good Hope and through the Suez Canal. Third is the East Pacific barrier, and last is the mid-Atlantic barrier. Circumstantial evidence indicates that successful migration across the East Pacific and Old World land barriers is entirely, or almost entirely, undirectional—proceeding outward from the Indo-West Pacific. The Western Atlantic tropics may be considered a secondary center of evolutionary radiation. The differential behavior of species in crossing the major barriers provides a good demonstration of the importance of competition in zoogeography. |
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