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[John Grehan]

Some subscribers may be aware of the recent Science article reporting a
Jurassic angiosperms fossil. I am preparing a letter for submission to
Science pointing out the significance of this find in the context of
panbiogeographic predictions made by Leon Croizat. A preliminary draft is
presented below.

This is not the first time I have drawn attention to recent discoveries
being  anticipated in panbiogeography, but it seems that journals editors
are not  interested in such things, and a number of pop journals do not
consider  panbiogeography to be a subject of general interest. In this
context, opposition by authors of articles being referred to (the authors
either did  not like having their discovery anticipated, or their
conclusions or  inferences were in conflict with panbiogeographic views)
was uncritically accepted by the journal editors.

Thus I am posting this draft on Taxacom for two reasons. One is for
general interest to those few who might find it interesting. The other
is for any suggestions or comments that might improve the letter - not
that I expect any improvement will make a difference, but I still have this
absurd thought that there will be fluke of circumstance that will result in
a pop journal acknowledging the existence of  panbiogeography.

I will also email this draft to the authors of the angiosperm article.

Sincerely, John Grehan

DRAFT LETTER as follows:


The recent confirmation of a Jurassic angiosperms fossil (1) is not
only significant for paleontology, but also biogeography. While
most evolutionists have treated the Cretaceous appearance of
angiosperms in the fossil record as direct evidence of angiosperm
origins, the Jurassic discovery confirms predictions made by Croizat (2),
that angiosperms evolved before the Cretaceous.

Croizat is not alone in supporting a pre-Cretaceous origin, but his
prediction is unique because arose from a biogeographic analysis using
spatial correlations between extant angiosperm distributions and Mesozoic
geology (modern ocean basins) (3). This elaborate hypothesis received
corroboration from geologists who have, for example, corroborated
geological predictions made by Croizat about the structure of the Americas
not known to the geologists of the time (4).

Croizat's biogeography was opposed or ignored by the leading biogeographers
and evolutionists of his day (5), but it has since received wider
recognition as a distinct and productive research program (6). The
predictive or progressive power of panbiogeography is exemplified by other
predictions for a Mesozoic origin for modern groups including orders of
mammals and birds (7).

The biogeographic implications of these predictions go beyond simply
determining earlier origins, but how we understand the spatial location of
these origins. Sun et al. (1) suggests that angiosperms may have originated
in Asia, but panbiogeographic analyses point to centers of origin for
angiosperms in what are now tectonic basins - the Pacific, Indian, and
Atlantic Oceans. The integration of paleontology with biogeography may yet
have a long what to go, but the current discoveries point to a promising
future.


(1) G. Sun et al., Science 282. 1692

(2) L. Croizat. Panbiogeography  (Published by the author, Caracas, 1958).

(3) R. C. Craw and R. Page, in Evolutionary Processes and Metaphors, M.-Ho
and S. Fox, Eds. (John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 1988).

(4) R. C. Craw and P. Weston, Syst. Zool. 33, 1 (1984)

(5) D. L. Hull. Science as a Process: An Evolutionary Account of the Social
and Conceptual Development of Science (University of Chicago    Press,
Chicago, 1988)

(6) R. C. Craw et al., Panbiogeography: Tracking the History of Life
(Oxford University Press, In press).

(7) S. B. Hedges Nature 381, 226 (1996)