[Taxacom] New Zealand modern biota ALL by dispersal?

[John Grehan]

Anyone is, of course, free to believe what they will about the
geological history of an area. But if these beliefs are going to be
invoked within science then one would naturally look for the nature of
evidence used to make particular inferences. If Ken does that then his
view is worth contending - although I notice that Ken's contributions on
viewpoints tend to just be assertions without supporting analysis. When
it comes to groups such as the tuatara or the leiopelmatid frogs what
Ken or anyone else has to do is contend with the apparent fact athat the
nearest relatives are not in Australia, but western North America! If
Ken reads my review on the Ghosts of Gondwana that apparent fact will be
evident.

John Grehan


> -----Original Message-----
> From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu [mailto:taxacom-
> bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Ken Kinman
> Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 11:25 PM
> To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> Subject: [Taxacom] New Zealand modern biota ALL by dispersal?
> 
> Dear All,
>      The more I delve into this subject, the more I am inclined to
believe
> that New Zealand's terrestrial biota was totally obliterated by
submersion
> in the Oligocene.  If so, most of its present fauna probably dispersed
> eastward across the Tasman Sea.  I haven't yet read Michael Pole's
1994
> paper (that New Zealand's present flora probably all got there by
> dispersal), but I think I am going to like what he has to say.
> 
>      Perhaps the most difficult dispersal across the Tasman Sea to
explain
> would be the frog genus Leiopelma, but I am mulling over some ideas.
> Compared to that it would be easy to explain Sphenodon's dispersal
across
> the Tasman Sea, so if I can explain how Leiopelma probably dispersed
> across
> it, everything else would be a breeze.  I am really beginning to think
> that
> the fossil ancestors of such animals will eventually be found in the
early
> Cenozoic of Australia, and that such ancestors will never be found in
the
> early Cenozoic of New Zealand.
>    ----Cheers,
>            Ken Kinman
> 
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