Paleobiology of the Polycystine Radiolaria

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.

List of contents

Preface xi
 
Acknowledgements xv
 
Chapter 1 History 1
 
Introduction 1
 
Scientific Context 4
 
Early Studies (First Half of the Nineteenth Century) 8
 
C.G. Ehrenberg and J. Müller 8
 
Second Half of the Nineteenth Century to ca. 1920 13
 
E. Haeckel and his Disciples 13
 
Legacy of Early Studies 16
 
Early Twentieth Century (ca. 1920-1940) 17
 
The Early New Period (ca. 1940-1970) 20
 
The Origins of Radiolarian Biostratigraphy: 1940s to 1950s 20
 
Deep-Sea Drilling 21
 
Taxonomy 25
 
Biology 27
 
Mid New Period (1970-2000) 28
 
Current Period (2000-Present) 37
 
Chapter 2 Biology 41
 
General Characteristics of Planktonic Protist Biology 41
 
Physical Characteristics of the Pelagic Ocean 42
 
Plankton Taxa 46
 
Ecologic and Behavioral Constraints due to Small Body Size 46
 
Basic Radiolarian Cellular Structure 48
 
Skeleton 53
 
Skeleton Formation and Growth 55
 
Size 59
 
Colonial Forms 59
 
Life Cycle 60
 
Longevity 62
 
Motility 63
 
Feeding 63
 
Predators 65
 
Abundance and Role in Carbon Cycle 66
 
Symbiosis 67
 
Bioluminescence 68
 
Summary 69
 
Chapter 3 Ecology 71
 
Introduction 71
 
Biogeography 75
 
Vertical Distribution 83
 
Tropical Submergence 86
 
Longitudinal Gradients and Upwelling Assemblages 89
 
Latitudinal Gradients 90
 
Coastal Gradients 90
 
Seasonal Variability 91
 
Interannual Variability 93
 
Chapter 4 Genetics 95
 
Introduction 95
 
Molecular Phylogenetic Position of "Radiolarians" within Eukaryotes 96
 
Molecular Studies of Radiolarian's Position within Eukaryotes 97
 
Relationships of Radiolarian Clades 98
 
Origination Times of Radiolarian Clades 102
 
Family-Level Phylogeny 102
 
Spumellaria (Shell-Bearing Radiolarians) 105
 
Collodaria (Colonial or Naked Radiolarians) 105
 
Nassellaria 106
 
Acantharia 107
 
Microevolution of Radiolaria 107
 
Diversity of Pico-Radiolarian Material 111
 
Transcriptomics of Radiolaria 112
 
Methodology 113
 
DNA Extraction 114
 
Reproductive Cell Method 114
 
Dissecting Cell Method 114
 
PCR 114
 
Summary 114
 
Chapter 5 Taxonomy and Fossil Record 117
 
Introduction 117
 
PART 1 - Radiolarian Taxonomy 118
 
Principles of Species-Level Taxonomy 118
 
Rules for Describing and Naming Species 121
 
Current Status of Descriptive Radiolarian Taxonomy 124
 
Principles of Higher-Level Taxonomy 129
 
Haeckel and the Beginnings of Higher-Level Radiolarian Taxonomy 129
 
Biologic Systematics 132
 
Higher-Level Taxonomy in Radiolaria 134
 
The Observational Basis of Taxonomy: Structures of the Radiolarian Shell 136
 
Higher-Level Taxonomy in this Book 139
 
Formal Classification of Polycystina 143
 
Cenozoic Taxa 143
 
Order Spumellaria Ehrenberg 1876 143
 
Family Actinommidae Haeckel 1862 145
 
Family Heliodiscidae Haeckel 1881 149
 
Family Coccodiscidae Haeckel 1862, emend. Sanfilippo and Riedel 1980 151
 
Family Pyloniidae Haeckel 1881 153
 
Family Lithelidae Haeckel 1862 155
 
Family Tholonidae Haeckel 1887 156
 
Family Spongodiscidae Haeckel 1862 156
 
Order Nassellaria Ehrenberg 1876 160
 
Family

About the author

About the Editors David Lazarus has studied the paleobiology and earth science applications of Cenozoic radiolaria for more than 40 years, formerly holding research positions at Columbia University/Lamont Earth Observatory, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich. He is currently Curator for Micropaleontology at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. Noritoshi Suzuki has studied the taxonomy and species diversity of radiolarians thoughout the Phanerozoic. He started his career in field geology, switched to Devonian radiolarians for his Masters degree, and received his PhD degree for a study of Cenozoic radiolarians from Tohoku University, Japan. He has co-published a monograph on the radiolarians of the Ehrenberg Collection (Berlin), and has published integrative studies of radiolarian morphology and phylogenetics. He is currently Associate Professor at Tohoku University. Yoshiyuki Ishitani is a paleobiologist, focusing on the evolution of radiolarians. He is currently a researcher at the University of Tsukuba, and was formerly at Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Glasgow University, and the University of Tokyo. Kozo Takahashi has studied the distribution and ecology of radiolarians and other siliceous plankton collected from ocean waters for several decades. Following an early career of staff scientist positions at the Woods Hole and Scripps oceanographic institutions he held multiple professorships in Japan, including universities in Sapporo and Kyushu University in Fukuoka.

Summary

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.

Report

"Paleobiology of the Polycystine Radiolaria is well worth the purchase price and should be in the personal library of all protistologists working on marine forms." Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology
 
"A welcome addition to the literature in a field that is rich in potential for interdisciplinary research." Journal of Plankton Research

Product details

• Authors: Yoshiaki Aita, Yoshiaki et a Aita, Yoshiyu Ishitani, Yoshiyuki Ishitani, Yoshiyuki (University of Tsukuba Ishitani, D Lazarus, Davi Lazarus, David Lazarus, David (Museum Fur Naturkunde Lazarus, David Suzuki Lazarus, David Takahashi Lazarus, Noritosh Suzuki, Noritoshi Suzuki, Noritoshi (Tohoku University Suzuki, Koz Takahashi, Kozo Takahashi, Kozo (Kyushu University Takahashi
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.12.2020
• EAN: 9780470671443
• ISBN: 978-0-470-67144-3
• No. of pages: 504
• Series: TOPA Topics in Paleobiology
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Pre and early history; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences > Palaeontology; Paläontologie, Geowissenschaften, Paläobiologie, Earth Sciences, Paleontology, Paleobiology & Geobiology, Paläontologie, Paläobiologie u. Geobiologie