Biogeography of the West Indies: A complex scenario for species radiations in terrestrial and aquatic habitats.

ABSTRACT: Studies of the biogeography of the West Indies are numerous but not all taxonomic groups have received the same attention. Many of the contributions to this field have historically focused on terrestrial vertebrates from a perspective closely linked to the classical theory of island biogeography. However, some recent works have questioned whether some of the assumptions of this theory are too simplistic. In this review, we compiled information about the West Indies biogeography based on an extensive and rigorous literature search. While we offer some background of the main hypotheses that explain the origin of the Caribbean biota, our main purpose here is to highlight divergent diversification patterns observed in terrestrial versus aquatic groups of the West Indian biota and also to shed

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez-Silva R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7981229 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature