Paleobiology of the Polycystine Radiolaria

We propose a new book which will provide an updated and more balanced presentation of both the biology and fossil record of radiolarians.  The primary target for this book will be researchers and advanced students, and will specifically include more material on paleobiologic themes, as well as a synthesis of recent biologic and ecologic research.  A more balanced, critical review of biostratigraphy, paleoenvironmental studies, including principles and methods, and the taxonomy/systematics of the group will be given, as will a summary of the history of research.  Lastly, a broader range of primary literature, including extensive research in non-english sources (japanese, russian etc) will be used to provide a better summary of our biologic and geologic knowledge of this important group of organisms.  The composition of the proposed book (nine major chapters) is outlined below:

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. 

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.  

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. 

 

Preface

Acknowledgements

1. History

Introduction

Scientific context

Early Studies (first half of 19th Century)

Second half of the 19th Century to ca 1920

Legacy of early studies

Early 20th Century (ca 1920-1940)

The Early New period (ca 1940-1970)

The origins of radiolarian biostratigraphy: 1940s to 1950s

Deep Sea Drilling

Taxonomy

Biology

Mid New Period 1970-2000

Current Period 2000-Present

2. Biology

General characteristics of planktonic protist biology

Physical characteristics of the pelagic ocean

Plankton Taxa

Ecologic and Behavioral Constraints due to Small Body Size

Basic radiolarian cellular structure

Skeleton

Skeleton formation and growth

Size

Colonial forms

Life cycle

Longevity

Motility

Feeding

Predators

Abundance and Role in Carbon Cycle

Symbiosis

Bioluminescence

Summary

3. Ecology

Introduction

Biogeography

Vertical distribution

Tropical submergence

Longitudinal gradients and upwelling assemblages

Latitudinal gradients

Coastal gradients

Seasonal variability

Interannual variability

4. Genetics

Introduction

Molecular phylogenetic position of 'radiolarians' within eukaryotes

Molecular studies of radiolarian's position within eukaryotes

Relationships of radiolarian clades

Origination times of Radiolarian clades

Family level phylogeny

 Spumellaria (shell-bearing radiolarians)

 Collodaria (colonial or naked radiolarians)

 Nassellaria

 Acantharia

 Microevolution of Radiolaria

 Diversity of pico-radiolarian material

 Transcriptomics of Radiolaria

 Methodology

 DNA Extraction

 Reproductive cell method

 Dissecting cell method

 PCR

 Summary

5. Taxonomy and Fossil Record

Introduction

PART 1 - Radiolarian Taxonomy

Principles ofSpecies-Level Taxonomy

Rules for describing and naming species

Current Status of Descriptive Radiolarian Taxonomy

Principles of Higher Level Taxonomy

Haeckel and the Beginnings of Higher Level Radiolarian Taxonomy

Biologic Systematics

Higher-level Taxonomy in Radiolaria

The Observational Basis of Taxonomy: Structures of the Radiolarian Shell

Higher Level Taxonomy in this Book

Formal classification of Polycystina

 Cenozoic Taxa

 Mesozoic and Paleozoic Taxa

Species-level Variation in Radiolaria

 PART 2 - Summary of the Radiolarian Fossil Record

Cambrian and Ordovician

Silurian to the Lower Carboniferous

Late Paleozoic to late Mesozoic siliceous sedimentation

Mass extinctions at the end of the Paleozoic Era

Basal Mesozoic Scarcity of Radiolarian Fossils and Faunal Turnover (Early Triassic)

Triassic

Triassic-Jurassic boundary mass extinction

Jurassic

Early and Middle Jurassic Radiolaria

Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous

Cretaceous

The K/T Extinction Event and early Paleocene

Cenozoic

6. Preservation and Methods

 Introduction

 Preservation

Geographic Variation in Preservation

Diagenesis

Loss of rock record

Differences between Modern and Ancient Oceans

Quality of Radiolarian Fossil Record

 Methods

Collecting material from the water column

Collecting sediments

Collecting lithified material from sections on land

Recovering radiolarians from samples

 Extracting radiolarians with intact protoplasm

 Extracting radiolarian skeletons

 Separation of radiolarians from other chemically resistant similar sized components of residue

Mounting radiolarians

Live preparations

Dissection and serial sectioning

Imaging radiolarians

Visualisation (enhanced imagery)

Morphometrics

Automatic Indentification

7. Paleoceanography

 Introduction

 Radiolarians as tracers of water masses

 Assemblage-based methods of paleoceanographic analysis

Non-temperature uses of assemblage analyses

 Radiolarians in bulk: summary indices and non taxonomic uses of radiolarians in paleoceanography

8. Stratigraphy

 Introduction

 Biostratigraphy in shallow marine rocks: general aspects

 Biostratigraphy in deep-sea sediment sections

 Other types of geochronologic information

Radiometric dating and absolute age

Paleomagnetic stratigraphy

Stable isotope stratigraphy

Cyclostratigraphy

Quantitative biostratigraphy

 Cenozoic radiolarian stratigraphy

History of Development

Tropical Cenozoic radiolarian stratigraphy

Subtropical North Atlantic to Arctic

North Pacific

Southern Ocean

 History

 Characteristics

 Important Sections

 Important Species

 Mesozoic Radiolarian Stratigraphy

Cretaceous

 Europe and southwest North America

 Low-latitude western part of Mesotethys

 Mid-latitude northern part of Mesotethys

 Russian epicontinental seas

 East margin of the mid-latitude Pacific

 Northwest Pacific

 Other regions

The Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary (Tithonian–Berriasian boundary)

Jurassic

 Middle and Late Jurassic

 Lower Jurassic

Triassic–Jurassic (T-J) boundary

Triassic

 Latest Triassic (Rhaetian)

 Carnian and Norian

 Late Olenekian to Ladinian

Basal Triassic (Induan) and Permian-Triassic (P-T) boundary

 Paleozoic Radiolarian Stratigraphy

Permian

Carboniferous

Devonian and Silurian

Ordovician and Cambrian

9. Evolution

 Introduction and general principles

 Features of the deep-sea microfossil record relevant to the study of evolution

 Microevolution

Pattern and processes

Examples of microevolution

 Cladogenesis

 Anagenesis

 Extinction

 Hybridization

 Macroevolution

Definitions and Theory

Theories of diversity and evolution

 Macroevolutionary Patterns in Radiolaria

Origin of radiolarians

 Origin of Collodaria and Colonial Radiolaria

 Origin of higher taxa within radiolaria - general comments

Diversity history of radiolarians

 Methods of diversity reconstruction

 Other problems of diversity reconstruction

 Data for diversity reconstruction

 Global Phanerozoic diversity

 Paleozoic

 Mesozoic

 Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary

 Cenozoic

Other aspects of Cenozoic radiolarian macroevolutionary change

 Phanerozoic diversity - a more modest view

 Summary Discussion

References

Index