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Past and Future Rapid Environmental Changes pp 287–302Cite as

The evolutionary response of vertebrates to Quaternary environmental change

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Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASII,volume 47))

Abstract

It has often been stated that the amount of evolutionary change occurring in the Quaternary was greater than in previous periods, as a result of the profound environmental changes which occurred. In very general terms, the mammalian evidence bears out this suggestion. Comparison of faunal lists for different stages of the British Quaternary, for example (taken from Stuart 1982), indicates not a single mammalian species common to the earliest Pleistocene (ca. 1.7–1.5 Ma) and late Pleistocene (ca. 120 ka BP to present, including both ‘cold’ and ‘warm’ faunas). These changes are a conflation of extinctions, immigrations and evolutionary transitions, but the implication of substantial and rapid faunal turnover is clear.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Adrian M. Lister

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  1. Adrian M. Lister
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Research Centre, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Durham, South Road, DH1 3LE, Durham, UK

    Brian Huntley  & Judy R. M. Allen  & 

  2. Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Telegrafenberg, P.O. Box 6012 03, D-14412, Potsdam, Germany

    Wolfgang Cramer

  3. Quaternary Sciences Institute, University of Waterloo, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    Alan V. Morgan

  4. Department of Systematic Botany, Lund University, Östra Vallgatan 18-20, S-223 61, Lund, Sweden

    Honor C. Prentice

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© 1997 Springer-Verlag Heidelberg

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Lister, A.M. (1997). The evolutionary response of vertebrates to Quaternary environmental change. In: Huntley, B., Cramer, W., Morgan, A.V., Prentice, H.C., Allen, J.R.M. (eds) Past and Future Rapid Environmental Changes. NATO ASI Series, vol 47. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60599-4_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60599-4_23

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-61877-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-60599-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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