Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Revisiting the Cenozoic History and the Origin of the Eastern Pacific Coral Fauna

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Coral Reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific

Part of the book series: Coral Reefs of the World ((CORW,volume 8))

Abstract

Distribution, composition and functioning of eastern Pacific (EP) coral communities and reefs have resulted from modern and ancient processes. While much has been learned from living systems, still many questions remain regarding how pre-Holocene events shaped modern EP coral communities and reefs. From the late Paleocene to late Miocene, fossil outcrops were spatially restricted to the Washington-Seattle and California regions, whereas from the late Miocene to late Pleistocene corals have been mainly recovered from the Gulf of California, but scarcely (just two outcrops) from western Mexico and Central America. From the Paleocene to Recent, 191 reef-building species, including living taxa without fossil representatives, have inhabited the eastern Pacific region. Of the 53 identified genera, 11 are living and 42 are regional (i.e., currently restricted to the Indo-Pacific or Caribbean and western Atlantic) or globally extinct; 49 species are living and 142 are extinct. Fourteen of the 48 living EP species have fossil records that extend back to the early (Porites panamensis) and middle (Pocillopora capitata) Pliocene, while the remainder appeared during the middle to late Pleistocene in the Gulf of California. Considering the age and number of taxa per assemblage, genera and species ranged from 1 to 21 (mean = 2.98 ± 3.75 SD), and 1–39 (mean = 3.87 ± 6.12 SD) respectively. The highest numbers of genera (>11) and species (>12) correspond with the middle Eocene to early Miocene of Central Chiapas, and the late Eocene of Panama. As such, EP coral communities and reefs probably never attained high species richness; in addition, depositional evidence and paleoenvironmental reconstructions of coral-bearing deposits from Washington-Seattle, Central California and the Gulf of California suggest that from late Paleocene to late Pleistocene, reefs were small and paucispecific as are today’s formations. Based on coral occurrences, species richness increased during the Late Eocene/Early Oligocene (55 species), decreased during the early and middle Pleistocene (5 species), rose again during the late Pleistocene (13 species) and finally peaked again during Recent times (46 species). Bootstrap tests of the temporal changes in species richness indicate that except for the numbers recorded in Late Eocene-Early Oligocene, Late Pleistocene and Recent, changes elsewhere were non-significant. From the spatio-temporal distribution of the fossil outcrops, our knowledge regarding events directly related to the origin and evolution of the current coral fauna is biased since it represents the evolutionary history of subtropical coral communities and reefs from the Gulf of California. Quantitative analysis of presence/absence coral data suggests that during the last six million years, Gulf coral communities and reefs experienced dramatic turnover, in particular (a) the extinction of Caribbean-related regional endemics, and (b) since the middle Pleistocene, the steady arrival of Indo-Pacific taxa likely via the North Equatorial Counter Current. Lastly, morphologic, electrophoretic and molecular analyses clearly support a strong affinity of the eastern Pacific endemics, Porites panamensis and Porites sverdrupi, with the Caribbean and western Atlantic Porites clades, suggesting that the eastern Pacific poritid fauna resulted from local speciation of Caribbean/Atlantic populations and long-distance dispersal of Indo-Pacific taxa (e.g., Porites australiensis, Porites lutea). Hence, the vicariance and dispersal hypotheses regarding the origin of the eastern Pacific coral fauna, at least for some taxa, are complementary.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Allison EC, Durham JW, Mintz LW (1967) New southeast Pacific echinoids. Occ Pap Cal Acad Sci 62:1–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin EM (1964) Geology of the Dallas and Valsetz quadrangles, Oregon. Bull State Dep Geol Miner Ind 35:1–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Szabo RC (2006) Corals of the K/T-boundary: scleractinian corals of the suborders Astrocoeniina, Faviina, Rhipidogyrina and Amphiastraeina. J Syst Palaeontol 4(1):1–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Szabo RC (2008) Corals of the K/T-boundary: scleractinian corals of the suborders Dendrophylliina, Caryophylliina, Fungiina, Microsolenina, and Stylinina. Zootaxa 1952:1–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Brabb EE, Ristau D, Bukry D, McDougall K, Almgren AA, Saul L, Sanfilippo A (2008) Newly discovered Paleocene and Eocene rocks near Fairfield, California, and correlation with rocks in Vaca Valley and the so-called Martinez formation or stage. US Geol Survey Open-File Report 2008-1228

    Google Scholar 

  • Bridges RA, Castle JW (2003) Local and regional tectonic control on sedimentology and stratigraphy in a strike-slip basin: Miocene Temblor Formation of the Coalinga area, California, USA. Sed Geol 158:271–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Budd AF (1987) Neogene paleontology in the northern Dominican Republic 4. The genus Stephanocoenia (Anthozoa: Scleractinia: Astrocoeniidae). Bull Am Paleontol 93(328):1–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Budd AF (1989) Biogeography of Neogene Caribbean reef corals and its implications for the ancestry of Eastern Pacific reef corals. Mem Ass Aust Palaeontol 8:219–230

    Google Scholar 

  • Budd AF (1991) Neogene paleontology in the northern Dominican Republic 11. The family Faviidae (Anthozoa: Scleractinia). Part I. The genera Montastraea and Solenastrea. Bull Am Paleontol 101:5–83

    Google Scholar 

  • Budd AF (2000) Diversity and extinction in the Cenozoic history of Caribbean reefs. Coral Reefs 19:25–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Budd AF, Guzmán HM (1994) Siderastrea glynni, a new species of scleractinian coral (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) from the eastern Pacific. Proc Biol Soc Wash 107:591–599

    Google Scholar 

  • Budd AF, Johnson KG (1999) Neogene paleontology in the northern Dominican Republic 19. The family Faviidae (Anthozoa: Scleractinia). Part II. The genera Caulastrea, Favia, Diploria, Thysanus, Hadrophyllia, Manicina, and Colpophyllia. Bull Am Paleontol 356:1–83

    Google Scholar 

  • Budd AF, Stemann TA, Johnson KG (1994) Stratigraphic distributions of genera and species of Neogene to Recent Caribbean reef corals. J Paleontol 68:951–977

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Budd AF, Stemann TA, Steward RH (1992) Eocene Caribbean reef corals: a unique fauna from the Gatuncillo Formation of Panamá. J Paleontol 66:570–594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carreño AL, Smith JT (2007) Stratigraphy and correlation for the ancient Gulf of California and Baja California Peninsula, Mexico. Bull Am Paleontol 371:1–146

    Google Scholar 

  • Coates AG, Obando JA (1996) The geologic evolution of the Central American Isthmus. In: Jackson JBC, Budd AF, Coates AG (eds) Evolution and environment in tropical America. University of Chicago Press, London, pp 21–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Coates AG, McNeill DF, Aubry MP, Berggren WA, Collins LS (2005) An Introduction to the geology of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama. Caribb J Sci 41(3):374–391

    Google Scholar 

  • Colgan MW (1990) El Niño and the history of Eastern Pacific reef building. In: Glynn PW (ed) Global ecological consequences of the 1982–83 El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 183–232

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Combosch DJ, Guzman HM, Schuhmacher H, Vollmer SV (2008) Interspecific hybridization and restricted trans-Pacific gene flow in the tropical eastern Pacific Pocillopora. Mol Ecol 17:1304–1312

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cortés JC (1993) Comparison between Caribbean and eastern Pacific coral reefs. Rev Biol Trop 41(supl 1):19–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Cortés JC (1997) Biology and geology of eastern Pacific coral reefs. In: Proceedings of 8th International Coral Reef Symposium, vol 1, Panama, pp 57–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Cortés JC (2003) Coral reefs of the Americas: an introduction to Latin American coral reefs. In: Cortés J (ed) Latin American coral reefs. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 1–7

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dana TF (1975) Development of contemporary eastern Pacific corals reefs. Mar Biol 33:355–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeDiego-Forbis T, Douglas R, Gorsline D, Nava-Sanchez E, Mack L, Banner J (2004) Late Pleistocene (Last Interglacial) terrace deposits, Bahía Coyote, Baja California Sur, México. Quatern Int 120:29–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dibblee TW (1973) Stratigraphy of the southern coast ranges near the San Andreas Fault from Cholame to Maricopa, California. Geol Sur Prof Paper 764:1–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickerson RE (1914) Fauna of the Martinez Eocene of California. California Univ Publ Geol Sci 8:61–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Durham JW (1942a) Eocene and Oligocene coral faunas of Washington. J Paleontol 16:84–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Durham JW (1942b) Reef corals from the California Middle Eocene. Proc Cal Acad Sci 23:503–510

    Google Scholar 

  • Durham JW (1943) Pacific coast Cretaceous and Tertiary corals. J Paleontol 17:196–202

    Google Scholar 

  • Durham JW (1944) Megafaunal zones of the Oligocene of Northwestern Washington, California. Univ Publ Geol Sci 27:101–211

    Google Scholar 

  • Durham JW (1947) Corals from the Gulf of California and the north Pacific coast of America. Geol Soc Am Mem 20:1–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durham JW (1950a) Cenozoic marine climates of the Pacific coast. Geol Soc Am Bull 61:1243–1264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durham JW (1950b) 1940 E.W. Scripps cruise to the Gulf of California. Part II. Megascopic paleontology and marine stratigraphy. Geol Soc Am Mem 43:1–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durham JW (1966) Coelenterates, especially stony corals, from the Galápagos and Cocos Islands. In: Bowman RL (ed) the Galápagos. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 123–135

    Google Scholar 

  • Durham JW (1980) A new fossil Pocillopora (coral) from Guadalupe Island, México. In: Powers DM (ed) The California Islands, vol 1, pp 63–70. Proceedings symposium, Santa Barbara

    Google Scholar 

  • Durham JW, Allison EC (1960) The geologic history of Baja California and its marine faunas. Syst Zool 9:47–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emerson WK, Chaney HW (1995) A zoogeographic review of the Cypraeidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) occurring in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Veliger 38:8–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Faustino LA (1931) Two new madreporarian corals from California. Philipp J Sci 44:285–289

    Google Scholar 

  • Forsman ZH, Guzmán HM, Chen CA, Fox GE, Wellington GM (2005) An ITS region phylogeny of Siderastrea (Cnidaria: Anthozoa): is S. glynni endangered or introduced? Coral Reefs 24:343–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forsman ZH, Hunter CL, Fox GE, Wellington GM (2006) Is the ITS region the solution to the ‘species problem’ in corals? Intragenomic variation and alignment permutation in Porites, Siderastrea and outgroup taxa. In: Proceedings of 10th International Coral Reef Symposium, vol 1, Okinawa, pp 14–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Forsman ZH, Barshis DJ, Hunter CL, Toonen RJ (2010) Shape-shifting corals: molecular markers show morphology is evolutionarily plastic in Porites. BMC Evol Biol 9:45. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-9-45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frost SH, Langenheim RL (1974) Cenozoic reef biofacies: Tertiary larger Foraminifera and scleractinian corals from Chiapas, México. North Illinois University, De Kalb p 388

    Google Scholar 

  • Frost SH (1977) Miocene to Holocene evolution of Caribbean province reef-building corals. In: Proceedings of 3rd International Coral Reef Symposium, vol 1, Miami, pp 353–359

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster AB (1986) Neogene paleontology in the northern Dominican Republic 3. The family Poritidae (Anthozoa: Scleractinia). Bull Am Paleontol 90:45–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Fukami H, Budd AF, Paulay G, Solé-Cava A, Chen CA, Iwao K, Knowlton N (2004) Conventional taxonomy obscures deep divergence between Pacific and Atlantic corals. Nature 427:832–835

    Google Scholar 

  • Gabb WM (1864) Description of the Cretaceous fossils, paleontology. Geol Surv Cal 1:57–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Gabb WM (1869) Cretaceous and Tertiary fossils, paleontology. Geol Surv Cal 2:1–276

    Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW, Ault JS (2000) A biogeographic analysis and review of the far eastern Pacific coral reef region. Coral Reefs 19:1–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW, Wellington GM, Riegl B, Olson DB, Borneman E, Wieters EA (2007) Diversity and biogeography of the scleractinian coral fauna of Easter Island (Rapa Nui). Pacific Sci 61:67–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenstein BJ (2003) Taphonomic alteration of reef corals: effects of reef environment and coral growth form II: the Florida Keys. Palaios 18:495–509

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halfar J, Godinez-Orta L, Goodfriend GA, Mucciarone DA, Ingle JC, Holdern P (2001) Holocene-Late Pleistocene non-tropical carbonate sediments and tectonic history of the western rift basin margin of the southern Gulf of California. Sed Geol 144:149–178

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hay WW, Soeding E, DeConto RM, Wold CN (2002) The Late Cenozoic uplift–climate change paradox. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 91:746–774

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Heck KL, McCoy ED (1978) Long-distance dispersal and the reef-building corals of the Eastern Pacific. Mar Biol 48:349–356

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hertlein LG (1957) Pliocene and Pleistocene fossils from the southern portion of the Gulf of California. Bull Soc Cal Acad Sci 56:57–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Hertlein LG (1972) Pliocene fossils from Baltra (South Seymour) Island, Galapagos Islands. Proc Cal Acad Sci 39:25–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Hertlein LG, Emerson WK (1959) Results of the Puritan-American Museum of Natural History Expedition to western México. 5. Pliocene and Pleistocene megafossils from Tres Marías Islands. Am Mus Novit 1940:1–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Hertlein LG, Grant US (1960) The geology and paleontology of the marine Pliocene of San Diego, California. Part 2a, Paleontology (Coelenterata, Bryozoa, Brachiopoda, Echinodermata). Mem San Diego Soc Nat Hist 1:73–133

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson ME, Ledesma-Vázquez J (1999) Biological zonation on a rocky-shore boulder deposit: upper Pleistocene Bahía San Antonio (Baja California Sur, México). Palaios 14:569–584

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson ME, Ledesma-Vázquez J (2001) Pliocene-Pleistocene rocky shorelines trace coastal development of Bahía Concepción, gulf coast of Baja California Sur (México). Palaeogeogr Palaeoclim Palaeoecol 166:65–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson ME, López-Pérez RA, Ransom CR, Ledesma-Vázquez J (2007) Late Pleistocene coral-reef development on Isla Coronados, Gulf of California. Cien Mar 33(2):1–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Jordan EK, Hertlein LG (1926) Expedition to the Revillagigedo Islands México, in 1925, IV. Proc Cal Acad Sci 15:209–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Ketchum JT, Reyes-Bonilla H (2001) Taxonomía y distribución de los corales hermatípicos (Scleractinia) del Archipiélago de Revillagigedo, Pacífico de México. Rev Biol Trop 49:803–848

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kirby MX, Jones DS, MacFadden BJ (2008) Lower Miocene stratigraphy along the Panama Canal and its bearing on the Central American Peninsula. PLoS ONE 3(7):e2791. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002791

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kulm LD, Thornburg TM, Suess E, Resig J, Fryer P (1990) Clastic, diagenetic, and metamorphic lithologies of a subsiding continental block: Central Peru Forearc. Proc Ocean Drill Program Part B Sci Results 112:1–738

    Google Scholar 

  • Lessios HA, Kessing BD, Wellington GM, Graybeal A (1996) Indo-Pacific echinoids in the tropical eastern Pacific. Coral Reefs 15:133–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lessios HA, Robertson DR (2006) Crossing the impassable: genetic connections in 20 reef fishes across the eastern Pacific barrier. Proc R Soc B 273:2201–2208

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lessios HA, Kane J, Robertson DR (2003) Phylogeography of the pantropical sea urchin Tripneustes: contrasting patterns of population structure between oceans. Evolution 57(9):2026–2036

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lindberg DR, Squires RL (1990) Patellogastropods (Mollusca) from the Eocene Tejon Formation of Southern California. J Paleontol 64(4):578–587

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • López-Forment MB (2004) DNA phylogeny and biogeography of the corals Porites and Pocillopora in the Gulf of California. University of California Berkeley, Berkeley p 750

    Google Scholar 

  • López-Pérez RA (2005) The Cenozoic hermatypic corals in the eastern Pacific: history of research. Earth-Sci Rev 72:67–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • López-Pérez RA (2008) Fossil corals from the Gulf of California, Mexico: still a depauperate fauna but it bears more species than previously thought. Proc Cal Acad Sci 59(13):515–531

    Google Scholar 

  • López-Pérez RA (2012) Late Miocene to Pleistocene reef corals in the Gulf of California. Bull Am Paleontol 383:1–78

    Google Scholar 

  • López-Pérez RA, Budd AF (2009) Coral diversification in the Gulf of California during Late Miocene to Pleistocene. In: Johnson ME, Ledesma-Vasquez J (eds) Atlas of coastal ecosystems in the Gulf of California: past and present. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp 58–71

    Google Scholar 

  • López-Pérez RA, Reyes-Bonilla H, Budd AF, Correa-Sandoval F (2003) The taxonomic status of Porites sverdrupi, an endemic coral of the Gulf of California. Cien Mar 29:677–691

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer L, Vincent KR (1999) Active tectonics of the Loreto area, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Geomorphology 27:243–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montes C, Cardona A, McFadden R, Morón SE, Silva CA, Restrepo-Moreno S, Ramírez DA, Hoyos N, Wilson J, Farris D, Bayona GA, Jaramillo CA, Valencia V, Bryan J, Flores JA (2012) Evidence for middle Eocene and younger land emergence in central Panama: implications for isthmus closure. Geol Soc Am Bull 124:780–799

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nomland JO (1916) Corals from the Cretaceous and Tertiary of California and Oregon. Calif Univ Publ Geol Sci 9:59–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Nomland JO (1917) New fossil corals from the Pacific coast. California University Publ Geol Sci 10:185–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer RH (1928) Geology of southern Oaxaca, México. Geol J 36:718–734

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prothero DR, Draus E, Nesbitt EA, Smiley TM, Burns C (2009) Paleomagnetism and counterclockwise tectonic rotation of the Eocene-Oligocene Lyre, Quimper, and Marrowstone Formations, NE Olympic Peninsula, Washington State, USA. Newsl Stratigr 43(2):127–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyes-Bonilla H (1992) New records for hermatypic corals (Anthozoa: Scleractinia) in the Gulf of California, México, with an historical and biogeographical discussion. J Nat Hist 26:1163–1175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reyes-Bonilla H (2002) Checklist of valid names and synonyms of stony corals (Anthozoa: Scleractinia) from the eastern Pacific. J Nat Hist 36:1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyes-Bonilla H (2003) Coral reefs of the Pacific coast of México. In: Cortés J (ed) Coral reefs of Latin America. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 310–330

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyes-Bonilla H, López-Pérez RA (2009) Corals and coral-reef communities in the Gulf of California. In: Johnson ME, Ledesma-Vasquez J (eds) Atlas of coastal ecosystems in the Gulf of California: past and present. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp 45–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyes-Bonilla H, López-Pérez RA, Mohedano A (2012) Discrepancia taxonómica y riqueza de corales zooxantelados del Pacífico oriental durante el Cenozoico. Rev Mex Biol 83:939–945

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson DR, Allen GR (1996) Zoogeography of the shorefish fauna of Clipperton Atoll. Coral Reefs 15:121–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosen BR (2000) Algal symbiosis, and the collapse and recovery of reef communities: Lazarous corals across the K-T boundary. In: Culver SJ, Rawson PF (eds) Biotic response to global change. Cambridge University Press, London, pp 164–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Sekar R, Kaczmarsky LT, Richardson L (2008) Microbial community composition of black band disease on the coral host Siderastrea siderea from three regions of the wider Caribbean. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 362:85–98

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schweitzer CE, Feldmann RM, González-Barba G, Cosovic V (2006) New Decapoda (Anomura, Brachyura) from the Eocene Bateque and Tepetate Formations, Baja California Sur, México. Bull Mizunami Fos Mus 33:21–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Simian ME, Johnson ME (1997) Development and foundering of the Pliocene Santa Ines Archipelago in the Gulf of California: Baja California Sur, México. In: Johnson ME, Ledesma-Vázquez J (eds) Pliocene carbonates and related facies flanking the Gulf of California, Baja California, México. Geol Soc Amer Spec Pap 318:25–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Squires DF (1959) Results of the Puritan-American Museum of Natural History Expedition to western México. 7 Corals and coral reefs in the Gulf of California. Bull Am Mus Nat Hist 118:367–432

    Google Scholar 

  • Squires RL (1997) Taxonomy and distribution of the buccinid gastropod Brachysphingus from Uppermost Cretaceous and Lower Cenozoic marine strata of the Pacific Slope of North America. J Paleontol 71(5):847–861

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Squires RL, Demetrion RA (1992) Paleontology of Eocene Bateque Formation, Baja California Sur, México. Contrib Sci Nat Hist Mus Los Angeles Co 434:1–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas E, Brinkhuis H, Huber M, Röhl U (2006) An ocean view of the early Cenozoic greenhouse world. Oceanography 19(4):94–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan TW (1917) The coral reef fauna of Carrizo Creek, Imperial County, California, and its significance. Geol Sur Prof Pap 98:355–386

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan TW (1919) Fossil corals from Central America, Cuba, and Porto Rico with an account of the America Tertiary, Pleistocene, and Recent coral reefs. Bull US Nat Mus 103:189–524

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan TW (1922) Description of the species of coral from the Negritos Formation. In: Bosworth TO (ed) Geology of the Tertiary and Quaternary periods in the north-west part of Peru. Macmillan, London, pp 126–135

    Google Scholar 

  • Veron JEN (1995) Corals in space and time. Comstock/Cornell, Ithaca p 321

    Google Scholar 

  • Veron JEN (2000) Corals of the world, Vol. 1–3. Aus Inst Mar Sci, Townsville

    Google Scholar 

  • Veron JEN, Kelley R (1988) Species stability in reef corals of Papua New Guinea and the Indo-Pacific. Mem Ass Aus Palaeont 6:1–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Veron JEN, Stafford-Smith M, DeVantier L, Turak E (2015) Overview of distribution patterns of zooxanthellate Scleractinia. Front Mar Sci. doi:10.3389/fmars.2014.00081

    Google Scholar 

  • Weil E (1992) Genetic and morphological variation in Caribbean and eastern Pacific Porites (Anthozoa: Scleractinia). Preliminary results. In: Proceedings of 7th International Coral Reef Symposium, vol 2, Guam, pp 643–656

    Google Scholar 

  • Wells JW (1940) Two new corals from the Avenal Formation (Eocene) of California. J Wash Acad Sci 30:374–376

    Google Scholar 

  • Wells JW (1983) Annotated list of the scleractinian corals of the Galápagos Islands. In: Glynn PW, Wellington GM (eds) Corals and coral reefs of the Galápagos Islands. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 212–295

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodring WP (1957) Geology and paleontology of Canal Zone and adjoining parts of Panama. Geol Surv Prof Pap 306(A):360

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Ecosistemas Costeros, Departamento de Hidrobiología, UAM-Iztapalapa, San Rafael Atlixco 186, Col. Vicentina, Iztapalapa, Ciudad de México, 09340, México

    Andrés López-Pérez

Authors
  1. Andrés López-Pérez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrés López-Pérez .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. RSMAS MBE, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA

    Peter W. Glynn

  2. NOAA/AOML, Miami, Florida, USA

    Derek P. Manzello

  3. RSMAS CIMAS - NOAA/AOML, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA

    Ian C. Enochs

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

López-Pérez, A. (2017). Revisiting the Cenozoic History and the Origin of the Eastern Pacific Coral Fauna. In: Glynn, P., Manzello, D., Enochs, I. (eds) Coral Reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Coral Reefs of the World, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7499-4_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation