[Taxacom] Transatlantic rafting not uncommon

[John Grehan]

What increasing evidence?

The amphisbaenians crossed the Atlantic by mysterious means (this idea
of dispersal being mysterious is periodically invoked by dispersalists).

How does Renner's work support transatlantic dispersal being due to
ocean currents?

John Grehan

John Grehan

-----Original Message-----
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
[mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Kenneth Kinman
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 11:58 PM
To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
Subject: [Taxacom] Transatlantic rafting not uncommon

Dear All,
      I have been reading a lot about increasing evidence for a variety
of taxa whose biogeography was affected by TransAtlantic dispersal,
especially by rafting (which I believe is the most common mode of
dispersal in such cases).

      However, I was a bit shocked to learn that TransAtlantic rafting
has been proposed for amphisbaenians (worm lizards), burrowing reptiles
which one would think would be far more likely to be affected by
vicariance than by rafting.  See Vidal et al., 2008 (Biol. Lett.,
4:115-118).        

      As for plants, I noticed today that the work of Suzanne Renner
(and colleagues) tends to support my suspicion that TransAtlantic
dispersal of taxa seems to be most commonly due to ocean currents (i.e.,
rafting), rather than by wind or by birds.  I still think Rhipsalis
would have gotten from South America to Africa in that manner, but how
it got from there to islands in the Indian Ocean could be by a
completely different vector.      
           -----------Ken Kinman




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