Some mammal families that took part in the Great American Faunal Interchange (after Webb, 1997 and MacDonald, 2003).
1. Introduction
Diastrophism includes both tectonic movements and plate tectonics. Together with changes in climate, they largely explain the high number of endemic species and biodiversity of both plants and animals on the North American continent. Each continent has had a different climatic and geological history, which explains why each continent differs in its biota from the others, although there are considerable similarities in the evolution of the biota. Thus in Europe, there are relatively few endemic species of plants (Birks, 2008) in contrast to 70% endemic vascular plants in the North American Tundra and Boreal Forest of the western Cordillera of Canada (Harris, 2008), and close to 100% endemic species in some groups of insects. This chapter provides an outline of the evolution of the biota of North America from the time that it was part of the massive continent (Pangaea) occupying the area around the South Pole, until the present day.
2. Palaeozoic era
At the beginning of the Palaeozoic Era, Laurasia was near the equator on the periphery of Pangaea. The latter was a large land mass consisting of the progenitors of the existing continents that were located around the South Pole at that time. In the Cambrian Period (600-500 million years ago), North America was orientated so that the equator ran from western Mexico northwards to the Arctic Ocean along the Yukon-NWT border (Briden & Irving, 1964). During the Ordovician Period (500-425 million years ago), the continent rotated so that the equator lay in a line from just south of Baja California northeastwards to the east coast of Hudson Bay. The rotation of North America continued and by the Carboniferous Period (345-280 million years ago), it passed through San Diego east-north-eastwards to Cape Breton. Thus the North American plate was rotating in a clock-wise direction as well as moving south relative to the Earth’s magnetic poles, which are assumed to approximate the poles of rotation. Throughout this time, it lay in the Tropics.
It was during the Silurian Period (425-405 million years ago), that plants started to move from the sea on to the tropical parts of the land. Centipedes and spiders appeared amongst the vegetation. In the succeeding Devonian Period (405-345 million years ago), forests were spreading across the hot, humid land areas and the first amphibians appeared on land. By the Carboniferous Period (425-380 million years ago), the extensive coal beds in both Europe and North America indicate that parts of the area had a hot, continuously humid climate supporting a dense equatorial-type forest (Schwarzbach, 1961). Absence of evidence of glacial deposits but the presence of sand dune deposits suggests that there were also areas of hot deserts in the southwest of the United States. It is sometimes called the “Age of the Amphibians” since they were most numerous during the early part of this Period. Off-shore, extensive limestone deposits were being formed together with extensive coral reefs. By the end of this era, many of the genera of horsetails, conifers, reptiles and insects had already been evolved and were present on land. The tropical forests that produced the coal beds had a diverse fauna and flora, the remains of which are found entombed as fossils. The animals were of predominantly different species and genera than those present today, though the main groups of primitive plants were already well represented. The ancestral club-mosses (
By the Permian Period (280-230 million years ago), the equator lay in a line from the California-Oregon border to just north of Newfoundland. Much of the land area was now reduced to a low plain, although mountain chains were rising in the Appalachian region due to collisions of plates (the Appalachian Orogeny). Present-day North America continued to experience a tropical climate, but the mountain chains cut off the rain-bearing winds coming inland from the east coast. This dry environment was ideal for the evolution of a wide variety of dinosaurs from the survivors of the small Paleozoic reptiles, and extensive sand dunes occurred in the southwest of the United States. In the wet areas, the first true reptiles and the ancestors of the crocodiles, alligators and caimen appeared.
Amongst the new genera and species that evolved on this new landscape were the first Laurasian stoneflies (Plecoptera) and several other groups of insects (Illies, 1965; Zwick and Teslenko, 2000). The best record of these insects comes from the Baltic amber of Eocene age (38-54 million years ago) but by then, the fauna resembled the modern one (Hynes, 1988). The Mecoptera which consist of only about 500 species worldwide today (Penny & Byers, 1979) were particularly conspicuous across Laurasia in the Lower Permian sediments (Carpenter, 1930). In general, the genera and families present at that time are also found in the Mesozoic sediments, but died out during the Tertiary Era as the mean annual air temperatures decreased.
The jostling of the plates also resulted in tension, causing faulting in many parts of the continents, and this resulted in widespread out-pouring of basaltic magma. This released considerable quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which would provide sustenance for the tropical forests on the fans below the mountains. In these forests, the first Conifers became abundant, and those insects and amphibians that survived the environmental changes became more widespread. Laurasia began moving northwards away from Gondwanaland just before the end of this period. Since mammals were later to become important species on all the continents, it is probable that the first ancestors of the mammals evolved at this time, prior to the split, although the first known mammalian fossils are dated to about 200 million years ago in the early Jurassic Period.
3. Mesozoic era
The northward movement of the Laurasian plate during the Jurassic period (230-180 million years ago) began about 220 million years before present. The plate consisted of North America, northern Europe and northern Asia. Tropical forests grew in the wetter areas, while sand dunes existed in the drier regions. Laurasia had a varied topography with mountains, plains and shallow seas. The equator now lay across the continent from southern Baja California to New York, so that north-west Alaska was at 50°N (Briden & Irving, 1964, Figure 8). Since the land mass of North America was surrounded by warm oceans, the climate remained hot.
South of the land mass, the Tethys Sea was developing between Laurasia and Gondwanaland. It stretched from central and southern China westwards to the Atlantic Ocean and separated Laurasia from South America, Africa and India. The result was a circum-equatorial ocean. This had an enormous effect on the temperature of the Earth since water absorbs approximately five times as much solar radiation as soil. This ocean provided warm surface and thermohaline currents that carried heat northwards to the Arctic Ocean via the North Pacific, as well as hot tropical air masses (Harris, 2002a). The ice cap over Antarctica melted, leaving a series of large islands where a tropical forest evolved (Francis et al., 2008). A mega warm event had begun (Harris, 2012) that was to last from about 200 million years before present until 44 million years ago. Summer temperatures averaged 20o C during this global thermal maximum. The genera present in this Antarctic flora were the ancestors of the present-day tropical flora.
In the Northern Hemisphere, a tropical biota evolved that was adapted to much higher temperatures than the present-day tropical flora. This extended north to the polar areas, except perhaps on the highest mountains. A tremendous variety of dinosaurs evolved, some reaching gigantic proportions. The first mammals consisted of small rat-like creatures that managed to survive running around the feet of the large, dominant dinosaurs. The oldest known specimen of the Asilidae (robber flies) dates to about 110 million years ago (Grimaldi, 1990), though that author put the evolution of this group at about 144 million years before present. However, they could have originated before Laurasia parted from the southern continents (Yeates & Grimaldi, 1993, Yeates & Irwin, 1996). By Late-Cretaceous times, small primitive marsupials and insectivores similar to shrews and hedgehogs were fairly abundant, and would survive the Cretaceous/Tertiary die-off of the previously dominant Dinosaurs. Cycads and conifers were the main components of the forests, while crocodiles, turtles and lamellibranchs, e.g., oysters, were common in freshwater lakes and swamps. It was during this time that the first birds appeared, apparently evolving from certain groups of dinosaurs.
Eurasia was not a single land mass (Cox, 1974). Shallow epicontinental seas covered part of the plate, so that the Turgai Straits separated Scandinavia and Britain (which was part of North America at that time) from the main Asian land mass. Thus although Britain and Scandinavia were part of the same plate, movement of the terrestrial biota across the land areas to Asia was restricted in time and space.
About 150 Ma before present, North America and Eurasia started to separate at their southern margin, and the North Atlantic Ocean began to form. Initially, the biota of both continents remained the same and the opening proceeded slowly, but as the plates continued to move northwestwards, the biota that required very hot tropical conditions could no longer pass back and forth between Eurasia and North America. The first angiosperms appeared at 144 million years ago.
In early Cretaceous times (135-63 million years ago), an epicontinental sea (the Mid-Continental Seaway) encroached onto the land that is now along the Mackenzie valley, and gradually extended south until it reached the ocean in what is now the Gulf of Mexico. This divided the floras and faunas into eastern and western populations, but by Late Cretaceous times the sea had largely dried up. During this time, the two sides had developed different insect faunas since they could not cross the wide expanse of water, but these became homogenized when the sea no longer acted as a barrier. Combined with the Turgai Straits, the Mid-Continental Seaway also resulted in there being two distinct faunas of land animals including the dinosaurs (Cox, 1974, Noonan, 1988, Wolfe, 1975). One was called Asia-America (Asia plus western North America) with a connection between them at high latitude across present-day Alaska and Siberia, and the other, Euroamerica (eastern North America plus northwest Europe). These faunas remained distinct after the disappearance of the Mid-Continental Seaway. During the early phases of the opening of the North Atlantic in the Middle Cretaceous (90-95 million years ago), a rift is believed to have formed between Greenland and Labrador, resulting in Greenland, the Rockall Plateau and Europe being a single land mass separate from North America (Heirtzler, 1973).
About 80 million years before present, the Laurasian plate no longer had room to continue moving northwards. Eurasia became stationary, but North America started its western movement that continues until today. This gradually extended the Atlantic Ocean northwards as two separate plates were formed from the former Laurasian plate. It was also during the Mesozoic Era that South America, Africa and India separated from the land masses around the South Pole. Africa and India headed towards Eurasia, but South America moved northwestwards towards the eastern part of Asia-America.
4. Cenozoic era
At the beginning of the Cenozoic era (63 million years ago), the climate was still tropical, though North America was moving to much higher latitudes. The Pacific Plate was moving north-northwest, but about 43 million years before present, its direction changed to west-northwest, as indicated by the change in direction of the Emperor and Hawaiian sea-mount chains (Clague & Jarrard, 1973). At the same time, the Aleutian Trench and Chain started to form (Worrall, 1991). This altered the geometry of the Beringian Gateway for warm currents carrying heat to the Arctic Ocean. About 38 million years ago, the Turgai Strait Gateway to the Arctic Ocean closed (Marincovich et al., 1990, McKenna, 1975). At the end of the Paleocene (c. 60 million years ago) in the Southern Hemisphere, the tropical forests were gradually displaced by floras dominated by the
Soon after (before 29 million years ago), the Tethys Sea became fragmented into the Mediterranean Sea and an eastern portion including the Indian Ocean, as the Arabian plate collided with the almost stationary Eurasian plate. This resulted in the crumpling of the marine sediments in the former Tethys, which were uplifted into the mountains ranges of Iraq, Persia and Afghanistan (Nomura et al., 1997). Gone was a substantial part of the heat source for the Arctic, and the climate of the northern land areas was cooling (Harris, 2002a). The gradual closing of the gap between Asia and North America reduced the flow of warm ocean currents into the Arctic Basin by about 23.5 million years before present, though this was ultimately offset by currents flowing along the sea connection by the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean about 20 million years ago.
These events appear to have resulted in a dramatic drop in mean annual air temperatures around 35 million years ago (Frakes, 1979). This heralded the end for many of the tropical species of biota inhabiting the northern regions. They were replaced by species that could tolerate the cooler temperatures, and these changes in the biota have continued until today. The loss of the warm ocean currents entering the Arctic Basin would appear to be the most likely cause of the abrupt change in mean annual air temperature around the basin and the consequent extinction of so many species and genera that had survived for so long.
The Cenozoic was when the Mammals became the dominant land animals, aided by the presence of fur and by being warm-blooded. Within 10 million years, they had become greatly diversified and lived in almost all micro-environments. They included herbivores and carnivores, e.g., whales and bats. Those weighing more than about 45 kg are referred to as the Megafauna, and first appeared in Eocene times (55-30 million years ago). These became abundant in the early and middle Cenozoic, but largely died out in the Pliocene and Pleistocene. They included herbivores such as
Stewart & Stark (2002, Figure 3.2) also conclude that a considerable number of genera of Plecoptera (stoneflies) moved across the Bering Land Bridge in both Miocene and early Pliocene times, since today part of their distribution extends south of Alaska to California. Before the closure of the North Atlantic Land Bridge, there was an exchange of at least 5 genera of stoneflies with Europe that now exhibit an Amphi-Atlantic pattern of distribution.
There was also a tremendous explosion of species in the other terrestrial groups including amphibians, birds, fish, insects and reptiles. Many are endemics, often with a very limited distribution. Weber (1965) discussed the plant geography of the southern Rocky Mountains, and determined that there were also a number of species now living in Colorado and California that are also found in sub-tropical Asia. He concluded that they must have crossed the Bering Land Bridge while the climate was still sub-tropical in late Cenozoic times.
As the Atlantic Ocean extended northwards, the remaining land connection was limited to higher and higher latitudes. The history of its extension is quite complex with several phases taking place (Hallam, 1981, 1994). In the latter part of the life of the land bridge, only warm temperate and subtropical biota could pass across from one continent to the other. Molecular studies suggest that some interchange in flora has continued until very recently, but the mechanism has yet to be determined. No similar evidence has been found for interchange of animals.
Northward movement of the Indian plate resulted in the uplift of the Himalayan mountain range about 21-17 million years before present, further reducing the size of the tropical seas. The northward movement of the African plate further reduced the remnants of the Tethys, producing the mountains of southern Europe including the Alps and Carpathians.
Cooling of the Northern Hemisphere continued, so that by 6 million years ago, an open Boreal mixed forest had become established in southern Alaska. By then, the species present had largely been replaced by the ancestors of the present-day biota that were adapted to the much colder environments. A land connection across the Bering Strait briefly allowed warm temperate species to be exchanged between Asia and North America. Subsequently, only Arctic and Subarctic biota could cross the Land Bridge due to the marked cooling. Matthews (1980) has argued that most of the modern genera and species of insects in most of North America date from about 5 million years ago and are endemic. Relatively few insects live in the Arctic, most being found further south in warmer climates.
5. Onset of major cold events in North America
About 3.5 million years ago, the first major cold event (extensive glaciations and development of permafrost) affected the Cordillera of western North America. Cold conditions also extended across northern Canada, and there must have been a substantial southward movement of the climatic zones. Another brief connection with Asia across the Bering Land Bridge occurred when the sea level dropped during this first major cold event. There were to be 5 subsequent occasions when the land bridge was open, the last one being during the late Wisconsin cold event about 15,000-20,000 years ago. Altogether there were about 13 major cold events (Harris, 1994; 2000; 2005) separated by shorter interglacials.
The biota that do not live in the Arctic or Subarctic could not move across the Bering Land Bridge during the few times it was open during the last 3.5 million years. These include the Hispine beetles (Staines, 2006). Only one species of Lasiopogon (
The second major cold event at 3 million years ago produced the most extensive glaciation in Alaska and the Yukon Territory. The moisture came primarily from the open Arctic Ocean, but by the time the third major cold event occurred (2.58 million years before today), the Arctic Ocean had frozen over and permafrost with tundra was present along the Arctic coast. This split the temperate humid vegetation into separate eastern and western populations. These were forced to move south along the respective coasts as cooling continued, and any components of the biota that could not adjust to the changing environment were extirpated. Since the climate, topography and micro-environments were different on the two sides of North America, different Temperate and Subtropical species that lived in the more humid areas evolved on the two sides of the Continent. The eastern populations have significantly more species than the western populations. Likewise, the animal populations in the two areas show distinctive species adapted to the local environment. Only the Boreal Forest and Tundra biomes are distributed across the northern part of the continent. Further south, the dry central steppe (Prairies) separates the two populations of biota that are adapted to wetter climates. The Tropical conditions moved south into Central America, while Subtropical climates were limited to the extreme southern United States, even during the Interglacial periods.
Initially, the later glaciations only affected relatively small areas in the north, but subsequently, the ice caps have become far more extensive. Permafrost was particularly widespread across the northern parts of North America, and facilitated the spreading of the Tundra flora south along the western Cordillera (Harris, 2007a). Only in the last 100ka have the Milankovitch cycles become significantly correlated with the onset of glaciations (Harris, 2012, Imbrie & Imbrie, 1980). During the last cold event and probably during the earlier events of the last million years, permafrost extended down to the southern part of Arizona and New Mexico, so the biota of all the climatic zones had to migrate long distances to survive or else find local refugia. The ice sheets wiped out all the vegetation in their path as they advanced, and when they retreated, the biota had to rapidly migrate north again over distances in excess of 1500 km (Dynesius & Jansson, 2000; Harris, 2010a). The result was that only those species of plants and animals that could migrate, adapt or find a suitable refugium could survive.
Refugia were present throughout these climatic changes, providing suitable habitat for the biota, whether the changes involved mean annual air temperature, precipitation, or both. In the more northerly mountain valleys, a combination of cold air drainage, temperature inversions and steam fog provide a buffering of the mean annual air temperature, so that the effects of cooling events were greatly reduced (Harris, 2007b, 2010b). This undoubtedly helped the biota in the eastern part of Beringia survive during the major cold events of the last 3 million years.
It should be noted that there are multiple kinds of refugia. Until now, most of the literature only discusses the effects of variations in temperature (e.g., Willis and Whittaker, 2000; Stewart et al., 2010). As these authors point out, refugia exist for species during both warmer and colder conditions. However, the vegetation is actually controlled by a number of factors, of which the moisture regime is undoubtedly equally important. Since the vegetation cover is a critical part of the ecosystem, it is also a major factor in providing a suitable microenvironment for animals.
The colder climate of the Late Wisconsin event would have resulted in an expansion of the ranges of species adapted to the cold conditions southwards and also on to lands becoming exposed by the eustatic drop in sea level along the Grand Banks area off Newfoundland, the Gulf coast of the southern United States and along the Beringian land bridge. Undoubtedly in the north, these provided expanded ranges for the arctic mammalian fauna, as well as the limited number of arctic insects such as butterflies (Layberry et al., 1998). Many Arctic mammalian species were destined to become extirpated by a combination of hunting and climate change, but 6 species of butterflies still live in both Alaska and the adjacent part of Siberia. The existence of closely related but different species of butterflies in eastern Beringia (Alaska and the Yukon Territory) and in western Beringia (East Siberia) is apparent evidence of Holocene speciation there.
In the southwest United States, the climatic changes were accompanied by widespread tectonic movements and volcanism (Wahrhaftig & Birman, 1965). This orogenic activity started in middle Miocene times and is continuing today. Pluvial lakes developed in the inland drainage basins (Morrison, 1965) and the sediments in these basins contain scattered vertebrate fossils, freshwater mollusks and diatoms, some dating back to 3.4 million years ago. Fossils in the marine terraces provide further evidence of the climatic changes and their effects on the local biota. The isolated volcanic mountains tend to have local endemic biotas that have evolved to cope with the local microenvironments. During pluvial events, animals such as voles are believed to have descended from the mountains and became widespread in the Great Basin and Mohave Deserts (Findley & Jones, 1962, Norris, 1958). Southward movement of sage voles and other animals resulted in their presence as fossils in the Isleta Caves of New Mexico (Harris & Findley, 1964). Around Lake Bonneville, speciation resulted in the appearance of a new species of
In the southeast United States, a narrow zone of subtropical and tropical vegetation may have persisted along the coast during the glaciations, but permafrost conditions were present along the higher and more northern parts of the Appalachian Mountains. Once again there is clear evidence of the southward migration of the biota during the glaciations. Remains of mammoths and other cold arctic fauna are well known from along the eastern seaboard of the United States, and have even been found in the sediments on the shallow sea floor that would have been exposed as dry land due to eustatic sea level changes during the glaciations. There was a gradual change in the mammalian fauna throughout the sequence of glaciations, indicating that speciation was fostered by the climatic changes (see Hibbard et al., 1965, for a summary). This contrasts with only slow speciation being reported in the insect world, since speciation in insects seems to have been slower than the speed of the major climatic changes (Matthews, 1980). Other animals, e.g., the Mollusca, tended to evolve in a similar way to the mammals in response to the environmental changes during the last 3.5 million years.
The aquatic biota also had to adjust their ranges. The north-south Mississippi River was very important, since it facilitated the migration south of fish and aquatic mollusks from the interior of the continental United States. The biota had to move into the warmer waters close to the Caribbean Sea which also diminished in size as sea levels dropped due to the accumulation of ice on land. During the last few glaciations, the Mississippi River acted as a spillway for the melting ice to the north, so the biota would have had to find refugia in smaller tributary streams. During deglaciation, they would migrate upstream to reclaim their previous habitats, or find new ones. Migratory birds presumably altered their migration patterns as they do today, to dwell in suitable habitats. When a cold event ended, they would adjust their migrations to make use of the new environments as they became available.
OriginCommon Name North AmericaRabbits Squirrel Field mice Cats Skunks and otters Foxes Bears Horses Camels and llamas Deer South AmericaOpossums Armadillos Giant ground sloths Three-toed sloth Anteaters Monkeys Porcupines Guinea pigs |
6. Closing of the Panamanian Seaway
About 3.5 million years ago, the Panamanian Seaway between North and South America began a step-wise closure. The Isthmus of Panama was finally dry land by about 2.4 million years before today. South America had been moving northwestwards and had finally run into the southern margin of the North American plate. The northwards motion of the South America plate is still resulting in volcanism and the formation of the islands in the Caribbean Sea. Both plants and animals have taken part in exchanges between North and South America since then. During Interglacials, Tropical Rain Forest occurred along the Isthmus and permitted the exchange of that biota, but during major cold events, savannah conditions occurred there, allowing an exchange of the biota found in much drier areas (Harris, 2010a). As a result, many of the species of grasses and other vascular plants of Guyana and northeast Brazil are the same as in Costa Rica, Honduras, sub-humid portions of Mexico and the south coast of the United States of America (FNA, 1993 - ?).
There was also a spectacular interchange of mammalian faunas between the two continents (Table 1, modified from Webb, 1997) that has been called “the Great American Interchange” (Marshall et al., 1982). The mammals from North America have tended to displace the marsupials of South America, whereas the marsupials could only move a limited distance north into the United States due to the cold winters and competition from the indigenous mammalian species. A small camel species crossed the Panamanian Land Bridge into South America and evolved into the present-day Llamas, Alpacas, Guanacos, and Vicunas. However only two genera (
7. The Late Wisconsin Glaciation
This took place between about 25,000 years and 10,000 years ago in North America, although the timing of the glacial maximum is highly diachronous. Harris (2010) describes the evidence for the spectacular southward shift of the climatic belts along the western Cordillera during the main event (Figure 1). Permafrost extended down to Arizona and New Mexico, and the arid areas of Mexico moved south into Venezuela and the Guianas. The intertropical convergence zone moved at least 6 degrees to the south, so that sand dunes developed on the slopes just inland of the present-day coast of the Guianas (Harris, 2010a) and in northern Venezuela (Rabassa et al., 2005, Rabassa, 2008).
The ice sheets covered most of Canada (Figure 2), bull-dozing the landscape and destroying the vegetation in their paths. The cold events also allowed the migration of the biota adapted to the drier conditions occurring today in the area from the Mid-West down to Mexico to move south into South America across the Isthmus of Panama, since the climatic zones had moved south (Harris, 2010a). The rest of the biota had to adapt very quickly, or for those species living south of the ice sheets, migrate down the mountain sides and find a suitable refugium. Those that could not adapt perished. The Butterfly species, dependent on specific plants for survival, would have had to follow the changes in distribution of those plants. The species that migrate with seasonal changes would have needed to modify their migration patterns, probably shortening the distance of travel to adapt to the changing climatic zones.
Refugia around the ice sheets included Eastern Beringia (Harris, 2004), various islands along the northwest Pacific coast, the chief of which were the Queen Charlotte Islands (Calder & Taylor, 1968), unglaciated areas in southwest Alberta around Plateau Mountain (Harris, 2007a, 2008), the “Driftless Area” of southwest Wisconsin (Nekola & Coles, 2001, 2010), the Grand Banks east of New England, postulated areas in the far north of the Arctic Islands, and the area south of the ice sheets in the United States (Rogers et al., 1991). This was a time of rapid speciation of plants in the northern refugia (Harris, 2007a, 2008), the number of new species increasing with severity of the climatic change in the refugium. At least two species of land snails (
8. Deglaciation
About 14,000 years ago, there was a marked change in the relative strengths of the air masses affecting North America (Figure 1). This resulted in the northward movement of the climatic zones and the zone of intratropical convergence. It was not a continuous process; the climate fluctuated with both warmer and colder periods, thus complicating the revegetation process. The exact timing of the fluctuations and their areal extent is still being examined. Localized readvances of glaciers provide evidence of these fluctuations, as do variations in pollen, diatom and finger clam distribution at the base of the oldest post-glacial sediments at the bottom of lakes in the formerly glaciated areas. During the early part of the deglaciation process, the Cordilleran ice sheet had rapid local readvances, but in general, it down-wasted in situ with widespread ice stagnation in the valleys in British Columbia and in the Prairies from south-central Alberta across to North Dakota (Alley, 1976, Harris, 1985, Prest et al., 1968). In the Cordillera, the mountain tops appeared first from under the ice and there were numerous lakes in the valleys, with ice blocking the centre of the valley. The former water levels are marked by gravel terraces and hanging deltas along the valley walls. In the main part of central and eastern Canada, the ice persisted as a single entity centered on Hudson Bay (Figure 2) until about 9,000 years ago (Prest et al., 1968). It then split into two parts, one centered on the highlands of northern Québec and the other on the highlands west of Hudson Bay. Complete deglaciation did not occur until 6-7ka in these centers and about 4ka on Baffin Island.
The warming first commenced in the south, and slowly and jerkily moved north (Wright, 1970). Thus the prairie vegetation at 20,000 years before present was limited to a narrow north-south zone extending from central Oklahoma to the east coast of Mexico (Ross, 1970). Lehmkuhl (1980) discusses the movement of insects into the evolving Prairies with their harsh temperature regime and unpredictable precipitation. In the case of the grasshoppers that are found today across the Prairies, Ross reports that only 3 out of 82 species are endemics, 31 species have moved in from the west, 34 from Mexico, 10 from the Caribbean coast, and 7 from the eastern part of the United States. In the case of aquatic Mollusca, Clarke (1973) estimates that only about 21 species out of a potential 103 species now populate the western interior of Canada, probably due to the vast distances, poor dispersal mechanisms, and harsh climate. In contrast, mammals and birds could migrate readily across the region.
The flora and fauna adapted to the cold permafrost land would have had to contract their ranges with some cold-adapted butterflies and rock crawlers (Gylloblattidae) still surviving in small areas on mountain summits along the Cordillera of western North America. The mountain sheep and goats survive in this way, whereas the larger herbivores such as Mammoths could not survive in the southern parts of their former ranges.
The flora and associated fauna of the more humid regions moved north through Mexico, divided into two coastal biotas by the semi-desert of the interior. The western group moved north into California and the Southern Rocky Mountain States, while the eastern biota moved east along the Gulf coast of the United States before moving further north. The results of this can be seen in the present distribution of the Monarch Butterfly (Urquhart, 1960). It feeds on various species of Milkweed that are found in southeast and southwest Canada, where it spends its summers (Figure 3). In winter, the two populations migrate south, the western population over-wintering on trees in the sheltered coastal canyons near Goleta, while the eastern populations over-winter in Florida or along the eastern coast of Mexico.
In the Western Cordillera of the United States, the basins dried up and the biota moved up the mountains, forming isolated ecosystems on the various mountain ranges. This accounts for the considerable endemism found in this region in the plants, reptiles and birds. In the case of the Kangaroo rats, the sharp boundaries between species distribution may be partly caused by competition (Brown & Lomolino, 1998). However in general, many species of birds and 80% of the butterflies rely on one or two families or even species of plants for food, so their distribution is limited by the distribution of the food plant. Additional tropical and subtropical species moved north, adding to the species richness of the region. Cacti, creosote bush and the associated biota moved into the semi-deserts from the south.
In the case of the trans-continental snake
The formerly glaciated areas are another matter. The migration of species into the areas vacated by the glaciers was highly dependent on glacial history, distribution of refugia, the climate which limited the possible migrations, and the waterways in the case of aquatic and associated biota.
The downwasting of glaciers in western Canada and North Dakota slowed the recolonization process of trees (Figure 5), even though deglaciation commenced earlier at about 15,000 years ago. The Jack Pine, which survived the glaciations in the northeast United States, was able to move west along the Laurentide ice front, whereas the Lodgepole Pine that used the west coast as a refugium was largely blocked off from eastward movement by the ice in the mountain valleys and the dry area on the Prairies (MacDonald & Cwynar, 1985). Western Red Cedar only penetrated the Coast Ranges into the Interior Plateau of British Columbia about 3,000 years ago.
In the case of the vascular plants of the present-day alpine tundra and boreal forest, revegetation in western Canada came primarily from Eastern Beringia (Figure 6), with only limited northward movement from the southern refugium (Harris, 2007a, 2008). The species in the SW Alberta refugium spread west across the limestone mountains, while those that survived the glaciation around the Queen Charlotte Islands moved north and south along the west side of the Coast Ranges. In the east, the vegetation gradually moved north following the retreating ice front in the period between 10,000 and 7,000 years ago.
Various species of Succinidae (Mollusca) survived the glaciations in refugia (Figure 7), either in Beringia (e.g.,
Climate certainly limited many northward migrations, e.g., many vascular plants and the freshwater bivalves. The latter only entered the previously glaciated Cordilleran areas in northern Washington, northern Montana and in Southern British Columbia. A few species were able to move further north in the Prairie Provinces, but many only just entered Southern Ontario and the Red River Valley in Manitoba. They only occur along the margins of the Shield on the calcareous rocks and sediments in southern Québec, though the late deglaciation and colder climate there undoubtedly inhibited the northward migration.
The biota that live all or part of their life in fresh water and could tolerate cold climates, e.g., fish and some insects (Lehmkuhl, 1980, Morgan & Morgan, 1980), moved along the main drainage-ways and proglacial lakes, e.g., Glacial Lake Agassiz, crossing into other watersheds using the temporary spillways. Many came from the unglaciated areas to the south, but others came from Beringia.
9. Altithermal/Hypsithermal event
The post-glacial warming culminated in a period of time when the mean annual air temperature was about 2 degrees warmer than at present in the Eastern Cordillera of Southern Alberta (Harris, 2002b). It reached its peak about 9,000 years ago in the southern United States, but the peak only affected the Prairie Provinces of Canada from about 6,500-4,500 years before today. It was the result of a weakening of the cP/cA air masses, resulting in the northward movement of the Arctic front (Figure 1). The vegetation zones migrated up the mountains, while those species that were at the mountain tops were extirpated. The Boreal Forest approached the Arctic Ocean about 5,000 years ago (Anderson et al., 1989, Ritchie and Hare, 1971) with White Spruce having been reported on the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula at about the same time. It was at this time when the last remnants of the mammalian Megafauna disappeared in the isolated parts of Alaska and Siberia.
In the southern Canadian Cordillera, it began after 6,830 years ago. The westerly rain-bearing mP air mass as well as the cold cA/cP air mass weakened relative to the cT air mass, which was therefore able to move north into the southern Yukon Territory before turning east. This resulted in drought conditions across the Prairies with drying up of the ponds and lakes. The Prairie vegetation moved north of latitude 60° (Strong & Hills, 2003), and these authors concluded that it may have migrated westwards into the interior plateau of the Cordillera along the Liard River valley. Remnants of prairie-type vegetation may be found today around Carmacks and Kluane, Yukon Territory, e.g.,
Harris & Pip (1973) demonstrated that there was considerable northward migration of land snails along the main river valleys. Tiny land snails that are currently limited to the east-central United States of America migrated along the major river flood plains to the Cordillera along the North Saskatchewan and Missouri rivers. Today remnants of these populations can be found surviving at sheltered places, but are slowly being extirpated (Figure 9). Thus
10. Neoglacial events
A series of three cold Neoglacial events began about 4,500 years ago during which the MAAT was significantly cooler, and periodic localized increases in precipitation caused the glaciers to advance a short distance down-valley. The balance of the air masses north of about 48 degrees latitude changed (Figure 1), but this did not affect the area further south. There was also no change in the position of the zone of inter-tropical convergence. It was during the first event (3500 years ago) that the western red cedar (
11. Post-Neoglacial changes
The last Neoglacial event ended about 110 years ago with the development of the present-day distribution of air masses (Figure 1), resulting in a minor change in temperature, but important changes in precipitation. There was a marked reduction in precipitation in the Eastern Cordillera, causing the vegetation that required more moisture to become limited to the high precipitation areas around Lake Louise (Harris, 2012). After 1943, the precipitation on the Canadian Prairies increased, and the sand dune field has largely become stabilized, though it is now used for irrigation farming. Grassland species such as the Prairie Swift Fox, the Sage Grouse and Black-Footed Ferret have almost been extirpated on the Canadian Prairies. In the last 500 years, the European settlers have gradually modified the landscape, starting in the east and south as well as at isolated coastal regions in the west. This has had an enormous effect on the biota, especially by destruction of habitat. An additional factor is the importation of species from other countries, especially Europe. Forty percent of the flora of Nova Scotia is from elsewhere (Zinck, 1998). Ships discharging water into North American waterways that is used as ballast are introducing fresh water fish and mollusks, e.g., the Zebra Mussel into the rivers and lakes. These then devastate the indigenous species.
12. Conclusion
Until the advent of European settlement, climatic changes and diastrophism essentially determined the biodiversity of the biota of North America. The species found today evolved in the last 6 million years in response to the marked cooling of the continent. There had been limited immigration of present-day species from Asia and South America, and little exchange with Europe. The alternating major warm and cold events caused repeated massive migrations latitudinally and altitudinally, unless a given species was fortunate enough to survive in a refugium. Species that could not adapt or migrate quickly enough were extirpated. The climatic changes also resulted in speciation in the vascular flora, though not in many of the insect groups. Speciation in most of the latter takes more time than the duration of most climatic major warm or cold events. This has resulted in a primarily endemic biota that is able to disperse into new environments rapidly. The exceptions are mainly found in the southwest United States on isolated mountain ranges currently surrounded by deserts. Of particular note is the split in the biota of the more humid regions at lower latitudes into eastern and western groups separated by the central semi-arid plains. This split is the result of the early glacial history of the continent. Clearly, the biota of North America has had a unique history that is significantly different to that of the other continents.
Acknowledgement
Professor G. M. MacDonald (UCLA) kindly commented on an earlier version of part of the subject matter and Robin Poitras drew the Figures.
References
- 1.
Alley N. F. 1976 The palynology and paleoclimatic significance of a dated core of Holocene peat, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences,13 1133 1144 - 2.
Anderson T. W. Mathewes R. W. Schweger C. E. 1989 Holocene climatic trends in Canada with special reference to the Hypsithermal interval. In Fulton, R. J., Ed.. Quaternary geology of Canada and Greenland, the Geology of North America, K-1 520 528 Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa. - 3.
Birks H. H. 2008 The Late-Quaternary history of arctic and alpine plants. Plant Ecology and Diversity,1 135 146 - 4.
Boeskorov G. G. 2004 The North of Eastern Siberia: Refuge of Mammoth Fauna in the Holocene. Gondwanaland Research,7 2 451 455 - 5.
Boeskorov G. G. 2006 Arctic Siberia: refuge of the Mammoth fauna in the Holocene. Quaternary International, 142- 143:119 EOF 123 EOF - 6.
Briden J. C. Irving E. 1964 Palaeolatitude Spectra of sedimentary palaeoclimatic indicators. In: Nairn, A. E. M., Ed.. Problems in Palaeoclimatology. Interscience Publishers, London:199 224 - 7.
Brower L. P. Malcolm 1991 Animal migrations: endangered phenomena. American Zoologist,31 265 276 - 8.
Brown J. H. Lomolino M. V. 1998 Biogeography. 2nd Edition. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA. - 9.
Byers G. W. 1988 Geographic affinities of the North American Mecoptera. Memoires of the Entomological Society of Canada, #144 25 30 - 10.
Calder J. A. Taylor R. L. 1968 Systematics of the vascular plants. Flora of the Queen Charlotte Islands1 Monograph #4, Research Branch, Agriculture Canada. Ottawa. - 11.
Cannings R. A. 2002 The Systematics of Lasiopogon (Diptera: Asilidae). Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria. 354p. - 12.
Carpenter F. M. 1930 The Lower Permian insects of Kansas. Part 1. Introduction and the order Mecoptera. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard,60 69 101 - 13.
Clague D. A. Jarrard R. D. 1973 Tertiary Pacific plate motion deduced from Hawaiian-Emperor chain. Geological Society of America Bulletin,84 1135 1154 - 14.
Clarke A. H. 1973 The Freshwater mollusks of the Canadian Interior Basin. Malacologia, 13(1-2): 509p. - 15.
Cox C. C. 1974 Vertebrate Palaeodistributional Patterns and Continental Drift. Journal of Biogeography,1 75 94 - 16.
Denton G. H. Hughes T. J. 1981 The Last Great Ice Sheets. New York. John Wiley and Sons,494p. - 17.
Douglas G. W. Argus G. W. Dickson H. L. Brunton D. F. 1981 The Rare Vascular Plants of the Yukon. Syllogeus,28 1 96 - 18.
Dynesius M. Jansson R. 2000 Evolutionary consequences of changes in species’ geographical distributionsdriven by Milankovitch climate oscillations. PNAS,97 9115 9120 - 19.
Findley J. S. Jones C. J. 1962 Distribution and variation of the voles of genus Microtus in New Mexico and adjacent areas. Journal of Mammology,43 154 166 - 20.
Fontanella F. M. Feldman C. R. Siddall M. E. Burbrink F. T. 2008 Phylogeography of Diadophis puntatus: Extension Lineage Diversity and repeated patterns of historical demography of a trans-continental snake. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution,46 1049 1070 - 21.
FNA, 1993 1993 Flora of North America north of Mexico. 1-30. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. - 22.
Frakes L. A. 1979 Climates throughout geologic time. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., New York. 310p. - 23.
Francis J. E. Ashworth A. Cantrill D. J. Crame J. A. Howe J. Stephens R. Tosolini A. M. Thorn V. 2008 million years of Antarctic Climate Evolution: Evidence from fossil plants. In: Cooper, A. K., Barrett, P. J., Stagg, H., Storey, B., Stump, E., Wise, W. & the 10th ISAES editorial team, Eds.. Antarctica; A Keystonein a Changing World. Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Anarctic Earth Scienes, Washington, - 24.
D.C. The National Academies Press. Grimaldi, D.,1990 Diptera. In: Grimaldi, D., Ed.. Insects from the Santana Formation, Lower Cretaceous, of Brazil. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History195 1 191 - 25.
Haile J. Froese D. G. Mac Phee. R. D. E. Roberts R. G. Arnold L. J. Reyes A. V. Rasmussen M. Nielsen R. Brook B. W. Robinson S. Demuro D. Gilbert M. T. P. Munch Austin. J. J. Cooper A. Barnes I. Möller P. Willerslev E. 2009 Ancient DNA reveals late survival of mammoth and horse in interior Alaska. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,106 52 22363 22368 - 26. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0912510106
- 27.
Hallam A. 1981 Relative importance of plate movements, eustasy, and climate on controlling major biogeographical changes since the early Mesozoic. In: Nelson, G. and Rosen, D. E., Eds.. Vicariance Biogeography: A Critique. New York, Columbia University Press. - 28.
Hallam A. 1994 An outline of Phanerozoic Biogeography. Oxford University Press, Oxford. - 29.
Harrington C. R. 1978 Quaternary vertebrate faunas of Canada and Alaska and their suggested chronological sequence. Syllogeus,15 1 105 - 30.
Harris A. H. Findley J. S. 1964 Pleistocene-Recent fauna of the Isleta Caves, Bernaillo County, New Mexico. American Journal of Science,262 114 120 - 31.
Harris S. A. 1985 Evidence for the nature of the early Holocene climate and palaeogeography, High Plains, Alberta, Canada. Arctic and Alpine Research,17 49 67 - 32.
Harris S. A. 1994 Chronostratigraphy of glaciations and permafrost episodes in the Cordillera of western North America. Progress in Physical Geography,18 366 395 - 33.
Harris S. A. 2000 Pliocene and Pleistocene glaciations and permafrost events proven to date in the Cordillera of western North America. Earth Cryology,4 24 43 In Russian]. - 34.
Harris S. A. 2002a Global Heat Budget, Plate Tectonics and Climatic Change. Geografiska Annaler, 84A (1 EOF 9 EOF - 35.
Harris S. A. 2002b Biodiversity of the Vascular Timberline Flora of the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada. In: Köerner, C. and Spehn, E., Eds.. Mountain Biodiversity: A global assessment. Parthenon Publishing Group, Lancashire, U.K.:49 57 - 36.
Harris S. A. 2004 Source areas of north Cordilleran endemic flora: Evidence from Sheep and Outpost Mountains, Kluane National Park, Yukon Territory. Erdkunde,58 62 81 - 37.
Harris S. A. 2005 Thermal history of the Arctic Ocean environs adjacent to North America during the last 3.5 Ma and a possible mechanism for the cause of the cold events (major glaciations and permafrost events). Progress in Physical Geography,29 1 19 - 38.
Harris S. A. 2007a Biodiversity of the alpine vascular flora of the N.W. North American Cordillera: The Evidence from phytogeography. Erdkunde,61 4 344 357 - 39.
Harris S. A. 2007b Reaction of continental mountain climates to the postulated “global warming”: Evidence from Alaska and the Yukon Territory. Earth Cryosphere,11 3 78 84 In Russian.] - 40.
Harris S. A. 2008 Diversity of Vascular Plant Species in the Montane Boreal Forest of western North America. Erdkunde,62 1 59 73 - 41.
Harris S. A. 2010a Climatic change in Western North America during the last 15,000 years: The role of changes in the relative strengths of air masses in producing changing climate. Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions,2 5 371 383 - 42.
Harris S. A. 2010b Evidence for increased stability of temperatures in areas of mountain permafrost in interior valleys and closed basins in wide Cordilleras in North America. In: Cryospheric change and its influences. Program and Abstracts, Lijiang, China,52 54 - 43.
Harris S. A. 2012 Climatic Change: Comparison of some of the Causes, and a Theory of how they operate together..Advances in Meteorology. In Press. - 44.
Harris S. A. Hubricht L. 1982 Distribution of the species of the genus Oxyloma (Succinidae) in southern Canada and the Adjacent Portions of the United States. Canadian Journal of Zoology,60 1607 1611 - 45.
Harris S. A. Pip E. 1973 Molluscs as indicators of Late and Post-Glacial history in Alberta. Canadian Journal of Zoology,51 209 215 - 46.
Harrison J. A. 1985 Giant Camels from the Cenozoic of North America. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology,57 1 29 - 47.
Heirtzler J. R. 1973 The Evolution of the North Atlantic Ocean. In: Tarling, D. H. and Runcorn, S. K., Eds.. Implications of Continental Drift to the Earth Sciences,1 Academic Press, New York,191 196 - 48.
Hibbard C. W. Ray D. E. Savage D. E. Taylor D. W. Guilday J. E. 1965 Quarternary Mammals in North America. In: Wright, H. E., Jr. and Frey, D. G., Eds.. The Quaternary of the United States. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey,509 525 - 49.
Hynes H. B. N. 1988 Biogeography and Origins of the North American stoneflies (Plecoptera). Memoires of the Entomological Society of Canada, #144 31 37 - 50.
Illies H. B. N. 1965 Phylogeny and Zoogeography of the Plecoptera. Annual Review of Entomology,10 117 140 - 51.
Imbrie J. Imbrie J. Z. 1980 Modeling Climatic Response to Orbital Variations. Science,207 943 953 - 52.
Karmarovitch N. Geoph P. 2009 Hansen Mars Challenge- a challenge to Hansen et al., 1988. Australian Institute of Geophysicists (AIG), NEWS 96, May, 2009. - 53. http://aig.org.au/assets/194/AIGnews_May09.pdf
- 54.
Layberry R. A. Hall P. W. Lafontaine J. D. 1998 The Butterflies of Canada. Toronto. University of Toronto Press. - 55.
Lehmkuhl D. M. 1980 Temporal and spatial changes in the Canadian insect fauna: Patterns and explanation. The Canadian Entomologist,112 11 1145 1159 - 56.
Mac Donald. G. M. 2003 Biogeography: Introduction to Space Time and Life. New York. J. Wiley and Sons: 518. - 57.
Mac Donald. G. M. Cwynar L. C. 1985 A fossil pollen based reconstruction of the Late Quaternary historyof lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) in the western interior of Canada. Canadian Journal of Forest Research,15 1039 1044 - 58.
Marincovich L. Jr Brouwers E. M. Hopkins D. M. Mc Kenna M. C. 1990 Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic paleogeographic and paleoclimatic history of the Arctic Ocean Basin, based on shallow-water marine faunas and terrestrial vertebrates. Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, L:403 426 - 59.
Marshall L. G. Webb S. D. Sepkoski J. J. Jr Raup D. M. 1982 Mammalian evolution and the great American Interchange. Science,215 1351 1357 - 60.
Matthews J. V. 1980 Tertiary land bridges and their climate: Backdrop for development of the present Canadian insect fauna. The Canadian Entomologist,112 11 1089 1103 - 61.
Mc Kenna M. C. 1975 Fossil mammals and Early Eocene North Atlantic land continuity. Annals of the Missouri Botanic Gardens,62 335 353 - 62.
Morgan A. V. Morgan A. 1980 Faunal assemblages and distributional shifts of Coleoptera during the Late Pleistocene in Canada and the Northern United States. The Canadian Entomologist,112 11 1105 1144 - 63.
Morrison R. B. 1965 Quaternary Geology of the Great Basin. In: Wright, H. E., Jr. and Frey, D. G., Eds.,The Quaternary of the United States. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey,265 285 - 64.
Nekola J. C. Coles B. F. 2001 Systematics and ecology of Gastrocopta (Gastrocopta) rogersensis (Gastropoda: Pupillidae), a new species of land snail from the Midwest of the United States of America. The Nautilus,115 3 105 114 - 65.
Nekola J. C. Coles B. F. 2010 Pupillid land snails of eastern North America. American Malacological Bulletin28 29 57 - 66.
Nomura R. Seto K. Nishi H. Takemura A. Iwai M. Motoyama I. Maruyama T. 1997 Cenozoic paleoceanography in the Indian Ocean; Paleoceanographic biotic and abiotic changes before the development of monsoon system. Journal of the Geological Society of Japan,103 3 280 303 - 67.
Noonan G. R. 1988 Faunal relationships of Eastern North America and Europe as shown by Insects. Memoires of the Entomological Society of Canada, #144 39 53 - 68.
Norris K. S. 1958 The evolution and systematic of the iguanid genus Uma and its relation to the evolution of other North American desert reptiles. American Museum of Natural History Bulletin,114 247 326 - 69.
Penny N. D. Byers G. W. 1979 A Check-list of the Mecoptera of the World. Acta Amazonica,9 365 388 - 70.
Prest V. K. Grant D. R. Rampton V. N. 1968 Glacial Map of Canada. Geological Survey of Canada, Map 1253A. - 71.
Rabassa J. Coronato A. Salemme M. 2005 Chronology of the Late Cenozoic Patagonian glaciations and their correlation with biostratigraphic units in the Pampean region(Argentina). Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 20(1-2): 363-379. - 72.
Rabassa J. 2008 The Late Cenozoic of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. Developments in Quaternary Science,11 151 204 - 73.
Ritchie J. C. Hare F. K. 1971 Late-Quaternary vegetation and climate near the arctic tree line in Northwestern North America. Quaternary Research,1 331 342 - 74.
Rogers R. A. Rogers L. A. Hoffmann R. S. Martin L. D. 1991 Native American biological diversity and the biogeographic influence of Ice Age refugia. Journal of Biogeography,18 623 630 - 75.
Ross H. H. 1970 The ecological history of the Great Plains: Evidence from Grassland Insects. In: Dort, W. and Jones, J. K., Jr., Eds., Pleistocene and Recent Environments of the Central Great Plains. Special Publication of the University of Kansas Department of Geology,3 225 240 - 76.
Schwarzbach M. 1961 The Climatic History of Europe and North America. In: Nairn, A. E. M., Ed.. Descriptive Palaeoclimatology. London, InterScience Publishers. Chapter11 255 291 - 77.
Shackleton N. J. Kennett J. P. 1995 Late Cenozoic oxygen and carbon isotopic changes at DSDP site 284: Implications for Glacial History of the Northern Hemisphere and Antarctica. In: Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project 29: 801. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.. - 78.
Staines C. L. 2006 The Hispine Beetles of America North of Mexico (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae. Virginia Museum of Natural History, Special Publication #5, Martinsville, Virginia. 178p. - 79.
Stewart J. R. Lister A. M. Barnes I. Dalén L. 2010 Refugia revisited: individualistic responses of species in space and time. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B,277 661 671 - 80.
Stewart K. W. Stark B. P. 2002 Nymphs of North American Stonefly Genera. The Caddis Press, Columbus, Ohio. 510p. - 81.
Strong W. L. Hills L. V. 2005 Late-glacial and Holocene palaeovegetation zonal reconstruction for central and north-central America. Journal of Biogeography,32 1043 1062 - 82.
Tripati A. K. Backman J. Elderfield H. Ferretti P. 2008 Eocene bipolar glaciations associated with global carbon cycle changes. Nature,463 341 346 - 83.
Urquhart F. A. 1960 The Monarch Butterfly. University of Toronto Press, Toronto. - 84.
Varanyan S. L. Garutt V. E. Sher A. V. 1993 Holocene dwarf mammoths from Wrangel Island in the Siberian Arctic. Nature,362 337 340 - 85.
Wahrhaftig C. Birman J. H. 1965 The Quaternary of the Pacific Mountain System in California. In: Wright, H. E.,Jr.and Frey, D. G., Eds., The Quaternary of the United States. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey,299 340 - 86.
Wassenaar L. J. Hobson K. A. 1998 Natal origins of migratory monarch butterflies at wintering colonies in Mexico: New isotopic evidence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,95 15436 15439 - 87.
Webb S. D. 1997 The Great American Faunal Interchange. In: Coates, A. G. (Ed)., Central America:97 122 New Haven, Connecticut, Yale University Press. - 88.
Weber W. A. 1965 Plant Geography in the Southern Rocky Mountains. In: Wright, H. E., Jr. and Frey, D. G., Eds.. The Quaternary of the United States,453 468 Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press. 922p. - 89.
Willis K. J. Whittaker R. J. 2000 The Refugial Debate. Science,287 1406 1407 - 90.
Wolfe J. A. 1975 Some aspects of plant geography of the northern Hemisphere during the Late Cretaceous and Tertiary. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden,62 264 279 - 91.
Wolfe S. A. Huntley D. J. David P. P. Ollerhead J. Sauchin D. J. Mac Donald. G. M. 2001 Late 18th century drought induced sand dune activity, Great Sand Hills, Saskatchewan. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences,38 105 117 - 92.
Wolfe S. A. Hugenholtz C. H. 2009 Barchan dunes stabilized under recent climate warming on the southern Great Plains. Geology,37 11 1039 1042 - 93.
Worrall D. M. 1991 Tectonic history of the Bering Sea and evolution of Tertiary strike-slip basins of the Bering shelf. Geological Society of America Special Paper,257 1 120 - 94.
Wright H. E. Jr 1970 Vegetational history of the Central Plains. In: Dort, W. and Jones, J. K., Jr., Eds., Pleistocene and Recent Environments of the Central Great Plains. Special Publication of the University of Kansas Department of Geology,3 152 172 - 95.
Yeates D. K. Grimaldi D. 1993 A new Metatrichia window fly (Diptera: Scenopinidae) in Dominican amber, with a review if the systematic of the genus. American Museum Novtates,3078 1 8 - 96.
Yeates D. K. Irvin M. E. 1996 Apioceridae (Insecta: Diptera): cladistic reappraisal and biogeography. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society,166 247 301 - 97.
Zinck M. 1998 Roland’s Flora of Nova Scotia. Halifax, Nova Scotia Museum and Nimbus Publishing. 3rd Edition: 2 volumes. - 98.
Zwick P. Teslenko V. 2000 Phylogenetic system and zoogeography of the Plecoptera. Annual Review of Entomology,45 709 746