Biogeography Flashcards
Define the terms:
Biogeography
Historical biogeography
Ecological biogeography
Phylogeography
Current range
Historical range
Endemic
Regionalization
What are biogeographic realms?
Name the 8 realms in use today and describe where they are.
What are the 2 subcategories of regionalization under realms?
Which is the largest biogeographic realm?
How was the Nearctic connected to the Palearctic and Neotropic during the Great American Biotic Exchange?
With which 2 realms does the Afrotropic share most of its families?
Which realm has few endemics, but high biodiversity because it is a cross-roads between 3 neighboring realms?
What is the most isolated of the warm realms? What comprises most of its endemics?
Which realms have the most and least total and endemic families?
aWhat is the contintental drift theory?
What is Pangaea, and how long ago did it exist?
Describe how tectonic plates play into continental drift.
By the early Jurassic period, Pangaea had divided into what 2 land masses?
By when had Africa and India separated from one of these land masses (which one)?
During the Eocene Epoch, what connected Africa and Eurasia? How had India and Asia affected one another?
What happened to Antarctica during the Eocene and how did it affect mammal evolution?
When did North and South America become connected, and by what? What was the biological result of this?
What time periods occured 250 million years ago?
What emerged as the dominant land forms?
What went extinct?
How many MYA was the middle Jurassic?
What era had come and gone (with relation to mammalian lineage)?
What forms dominated the landscape?
What occured with the Monotremes during this period?
How many MYA was the mid-Cretaceous?
What was unique about biogeography during this time?
What major phylogentic split occured during this time?
What form was dominant?
What major land bridge disappeared during this time?
What major extinction even happened 65 MYA?
What disappeared in this extinction?
What phylogenetic group emerged, and where?
What was happening to global temperatures?
What was the Great American Biotic Exchange (GABI) and when did it occur?
What was the connection point that enabled GABI?
What major shift occured between Eutherians and Metatherians during this event, and why?
Briefly describe the 3 phases of GABI during which time periods they occured.
How have historical global glacial cycles affected the current species compositions of lands and water bodies?
Define these terms:
Dispersal
Vicariance
Corridor route
Filter route
Sweepstakes route
Describe Foster’s Rule.
What are the selective pressures that apply here?
What is an associated biogeography theory?
Describe Bergmann’s Rule.
What is an exception to this rule?
What are 2 possible causes for this rule’s pattern?
Describe Latitudinal Gradient.
What selective pressures cause this?
Describe Elevational Gradient.
What selective pressures cause this?
Describe the Peninsular Effect.
What selective pressures cause this?
diversity highest at the transition point between mainland and peninsula
