Polycystine radiolaria are exclusively marine protists and are
found in all ocean waters, from polar regions to the tropics, and
at all water depths. There are approximately 600 distinct described
living species and several thousand fossil species of polycystines.
Radiolarians in general, and polycystines in particular, have
recently been shown to be a major component of the living plankton
and important to the oceanic carbon cycle. As fossils radiolarians
are also fairly common, and often occur in sediments where other
types of fossils are absent. This has made them very valuable for
certain types of geologic research, particularly estimating the
geologic age of the sediments containing them, and as guides to
past oceanic water conditions. As our current understanding of the
biology, and even taxonomy of the living fauna is still very
incomplete, evolutionary studies based on living polycystines are
still rare. However, the common occurrence of numerous specimens
for many species, and in a wide variety of oceanic environments,
provides an excellent opportunity to study the processes of
biologic evolution in the fossil record. Paleobiology of the
Polycystine Radiolaria is the first major book on radiolarians to
appear in the western literature since 2001. Focusing on living and
fossil siliceous shelled radiolarians, it is notable for its
emphasis not upon morphologic or taxonomic detail but on concepts
and applications. The book attempts to provide a balanced, critical
review of what is known of the biology, ecology, and fossil record
of the group, as well as their use in evolutionary,
biostratigraphic and paleoceanographic research. Full chapters on
the history of study, and molecular biology, are the first ever in
book form. Written for an audience of advanced undergraduate to
doctoral students, as well as for a broad range of professionals in
the biological and Earth sciences, Paleobiology of the Polycystine
Radiolaria summarizes current understanding of the marine
planktonic protist group polycystine radiolaria, both in living and
fossil form.
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