[Coral-List] 12 ICRS: Pantropical Cenozoic Reefs

[jklaus at rsmas.miami.edu]

Dear Reef Geologists and Paleobiologists,

We would like to draw your attention to the Mini-Symposium: Pantropical
Paleontology of Cenozoic Coral Reefs at the upcoming 12th International
Coral Reef Symposium held in Cairns, NE Australia, July 9-13, 2012.
Abstract submission runs from July 1 - October 1, 2011.

Ken Johnson and I will be hosting the session, and hope to bring together
a broad group of scientists working on all aspects of Cenozoic Reefs from
around the world.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Ken or I directly.

Best regards,

James Klaus - j.klaus at miami.edu

Ken Johnson - k.johnson at nhm.ac.uk


Abstract:
Pantropical Paleontology of Cenozoic Coral Reefs

Cenozoic reefs occurred in three broad biogeographic provinces:  The
Indo-West Pacific, the Mediterranean and Middle East, and the Caribbean
and eastern Pacific. Frost (1977) suggested the Neogene was characterized
by 25 million years of divergence and extinction from a pan-tropical
Oligocene biota that resulted in modern-day differences between Caribbean
and Indo-Pacific biota. However, these regions have been studied
independently with few attempts to develop the common taxonomic and
environmental framework to compare regional histories of biodiversity
change. Intensive collecting has changed our understanding of the ecology
and evolution of reef-corals in the Caribbean as well as in Mediterranean
and Middle East. These regional projects complement new initiatives to
reconstruct the biotic and environmental history of the Indo-West Pacific.
We would like to bring together researchers to summarize recent advances
and discuss how to move forward with a pantropical taxonomic,
evolutionary, and ecological synthesis of Cenozoic coral reef evolution.


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James S. Klaus Ph.D.
Department of Geological Sciences University of Miami
43 Cox Science, Coral Gables, Florida 33124-0401
E-mail: j.klaus at miami.edu; Phone: (305)-781-7756
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