WPC 2 M B P V ` Courier 10cpi | x ? x x x , k x 6 X @ 8 ; X @ Leonard Krishtalka 2 3 ' 3 ' 3 ' 3 ' 4 < D L ! 3 ' 3 ' 3 ' 3 ' 3 ' 3 ' 3 ' 3 ' 3 ' 3 ' 3 ' 3 ' X 3 ' 3 ' 3 ' 3 ' X X X 3 ' 3 ' 3 ' 3 ' " 4 < D L ! (# # x P C X P# Collins 9300905 (# ` h p x (# This three year project will survey and database the Miocene and Pliocene marine invertebrate fossil faunas of tropical America in order to test and study hypotheses of biotic responses to the closing of the Panamanian sea corridor between the Caribbean and Pacific seaways. During the Neogene, this closure split the tropical marine realm and produced oceanic changes and biotic isolation on opposite sides of Central America. The survey, which will occur in a fine scaled stratigraphic framework, will include geographic, sedimentologic, stratigraphic, paleoecologic, and taxonomic datasets. Most of the fauna consists of bryozoans, foraminifera and molluscs, which will be subjected to faunal analyses and employed in paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic determinations. The resultant collections will also be used in systematic and phylogenetic studies of constituent groups and in training students in paleobiology. The project has longstanding collaboration with facilities and investigators at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. %%% During the Miocene and Pliocene epochs 20 million to 2 million years ago the Panamanian sea corridor between the Caribbean and the Pacific became constricted and finally closed, splitting what had been a continuous seaway into two discrete marine realms on either side of Central America. This closure produced wholesale oceanic and biotic changes, including extinctions, migrations and the development of many new marine species. The project will survey the marine fossil faunas of tropical America from this time period in order to study these change s and correlate the impacts on the marine organisms of the closing of the Panamanian seaway. The survey will include geographic, geologic and paleontologic datasets. Most of the fossil animals are bryozoans, foraminifera and molluscs, which will be subjected to faunal analyses and employed in paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic determinations. The resultant collections will also be used to reconstruct the history of these organisms and in training students in paleobiology. The project is extremely important in charting responses in the marine realm to geological events. ***
