Publisher's Synopsis
The focus of this comprehensive and authoritative book is on historical biogeography: the explanation of present-day distributions of plants and animals in terms of their phylogenetic histories. Cladistic biogeography treats Earth history and biohistory as interdependent, and seeks explanations from systematic reconstructions of different groups of organisms occurring in similar areas. It embodies the latest of the techniques to be used in historical biogeography.;Providing a general introduction to cladistic biogeography, the book covers the methodology, application and potential value of the subject in developing a new view of the organic world.;Research workers; teachers; postgraduate students in systemic biology, geology, ecology, phytography, botany and zoology.