Bryozoan Paleobiology

Bryozoa are among the most abundant yet least understood of phyla in the fossil record. These exclusively colonial animals can be traced back to the Ordovician as fossils and are common elements of sediments deposited in shallow marine environments. On occasion their calcareous skeletons are sufficiently numerous to produce bryozoan limestones. The potential of bryozoans in facies analysis, and their use in macroevolutionary studies, have both been widely recognised, but to date have been incompletely exploited. 

Bryozoan Paleobiology brings together the scattered research on living and fossil bryozoans in broad and profusely illustrated overview that will help students and researchers alike in understanding this fascinating group of animals. Beginning with the basics of bryozoan morphology, ecology and classification, the book progresses from the smallest scale of skeletal ultrastructure, to the largest of bryozoan distributions in time and space. On the way, topics such as the origin of zooidal polymorphism and macroevolutionary trends in colony forms are covered. Case studies illuminate these topics, and areas in which further research is particularly required are highlighted. 

Dr Paul D. Taylor is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Natural History Museum in London where he spent 39 years as a research scientist. He is widely regarded as one of the world's leading authorities on bryozoans.

Preface

Acknowledgements

1 Introduction

1.1 Zooids

1.2 Colonies

1.3 Colony propogation

1.4 Ecology

1.5 Taxonomy

1.6 Collecting and studying fossil bryozoans

2 Biomineralization and geochemistry

2.1 Skeletal wall types

2.2 Pores and pseudopores

2.3 Skeletal growth

2.4 Skeletal ultrastructure

2.5 Spines

2.6 Mineralogy

2.7 Geochemistry

3 Zooid morphology and function

3.1 Autozooids

3.2 Ontogenetic and astogenetic variations

3.3 Ancestrulae

3.4 Polymorphism

3.5 Reproductive polymorphs

3.6 Active defensive polymorphs

3.7 Structural polymorphs

3.8 Spinozooids

3.9 Rhizooids

3.10 Cleaning polymorphs

3.11 Locomotory polymorphs

3.12 Microenvironmental variability

3.13 Zooid-level skeletal structures

3.14 Extrazooidal structures

3.15 The cormidial ‘zooids’ of advanced cheilostomes

4 Colony morphology and function

4.1 Colony-form classifications

4.2 Growth and colony-form

4.3 Functional morphology of colony-form

4.4 Colony propagation in lunulitiform bryozoans

4.5 Multizooidal feeding morphologies

4.6 Life histories

4.7 Colonial integration

4.8 Endolithic and etching bryozoans

5 Biotic interactions

5.1 Competition

5.2 Predation

5.3 Symbioses

5.4 Bryozoans as habitat providers

6 Ecology and palaeoecology

6.1 Habitats of bryozoans

6.2 Bryozoans in reefs and mounds

6.3 Colony-forms and palaeoenvironments

6.4 Depth distributions and palaeobathymetry

6.5 Sedimentary record of bryozoans

6.6 Taphonomy

6.7 Palaeoclimatology and zooid size

7 Biogeography

7.1 Cosmopolitan vs. endemic distributions

7.2 Modes of dispersal

7.3 Biogeography of bryozoans at the present day

7.4 Latitudinal diversity gradient

7.5 Palaeobiogeography

8 Phylogeny

8.1 Relationships with other phyla

8.2 Inter-relationships of bryozoan classes

8.3 Inter-relationships of bryozoan orders

8.4 Morphological phylogenies

8.5 Molecular phylogenies

9 Evolution and fossil history

9.1 Phanerozoic bryozoan diversity

9.2 Cambrian bryozoans?

9.3 Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event

9.4 End-Ordovician extinction

9.5 Devonian extinctions

9.6 Permian mass extinctions

9.7 Triassic mass extinction

9.8 Jurassic cyclostome radiation

9.9 Cretaceous–Palaeogene radiations

9.10 End Cretaceous and Danian extinctions

9.11 Convergence

9.12 Palaeostomates and post-Palaeozoic cyclostomes compared

9.13 Frontal shield evolution in ascophoran cheilostomes

9.14 Cyclostomes vs. cheilostomes

9.15 Colony-forms through geological time

9.16 Evolotionary tempo in bryozoans

10 Prospective future research

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