9316363 Anderson PI will examine how tectonics, paleoceanography, paleoclimate and paleoenvironment affected evolution of an important group of shallow-marine bivalves, the Corbulidae. Study will include: 1) sampling units in Florida and the Atlantic coastal plain to supplement existing collections; 2) morphometric analyses; and 3) cladistic and stratophenic analyses to establish evolutionary relationships among species. This work will contribute to the large-scale Panama Paleontology Project, the goal of which is to document the closing through time of the Isthmus of Panama and the response of organisms to that process.
