Bryozoan Studies 2010 [Paperback]

Bryozoa are a colonial animal phylum with a long evolutionary history, having existed from the early Ordovician (480 My) onward and still flourishing today. Several mass extinctions in earth history shaped and triggered bryozoan evolution through drastic turnover of faunas and new evolutionary lineages. Bryozoa are widespread across all latitudes from Equator to Polar Regions and occur in marine and freshwater environments. They are shaping benthic ecosystems and recording ambient environmental conditions in their skeletons. The book provides a synthesis of the current main topics of research in the field of Bryozoology including combined research on both extant, and extinct taxa. Fields or current research span molecular genetics and phylogeny, life history, reproduction and anatomy, biodiversity and evolutionary patterns in time and space, taxonomy, zoogeography, ecology, sediment interactions, and climate response.

Bryozoa, a colonial animal phylum with a long evolutionary history, remain widespread today, even recording ambient environmental conditions in their skeletons. This synthesis of current research in Bryozoology covers both extant and extinct taxa.

1. Distribution over Space and Time in Epizoobiontic North Sea Bryozoans.- 2. The World?s Oldest-Known Bryozoan Reefs: Late Tremadocian, mid-Early Ordovician: Yichang, Central China.- 3. Molecular Distance and Morphological Divergence in Cauloramphus (Cheilostomata: Calloporidae.- 4. Acanthocladia (Rhabdomesina, Cryptostomata) from the Devonian of Europe.- 5. Growth Rates, Age Determination and Calcification Levels in Flustra foliacea (L.) (Bryozoa: Cheilostomata)  Preliminary Assessment.- 6. Life on the Edge  Parachnoidea (Ctenostomata) and Barentsia (Kamptozoa) on Bathymodiolin Mussels from an Active Submarine Volcano in the Kermadec Volcanic Arc.- 7. Occurrence and Identity of White Spots in Phylactolaemata.- 8. Testing Habitat Complexity as a Control over Bryozoan Colonial Growth FormlƒL