Speciation and age revision of the Atacaman snail Bostryx variabilis Herm |
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Authors: | Alan K Craig |
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Institution: | Department of Geography, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida 33431 USA |
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Abstract: | Field evidence from the Atacama Desert of northern Chile indicates that the stratigraphic position of the land snail Bostryx variabilis Herm has been incorrectly assigned to a marine series of the lower Pleistocene. Isotopic dating proves that the snail is a recently extinct Holocene taxon requiring no special paleoenvironmental explanations for its presence. However, the snail appears to offer an example of stress-induced speciation in confirmation of the “punctuated equilibrium” theory of evolution. It was probably transported from a fog oasis mountain habitat to a lower, hyperarid hostile environment by a sudden mudflow. |
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