Paleobiology of the Polycystine Radiolaria

Polycystineradiolariaare exclusively marineprotistsand are found in all ocean waters, from polar regions to the tropics, and at all water depths. There are approximately 600 distinct described living species and several thousand fossil species ofpolycystines. Radiolarians in general, andpolycystinesinparticular,have recently been shown to be a majorcomponent of the living planktonand important to the oceanic carboncycle. As fossilsradiolarians arealsofairly common, and often occur in sediments where other types of fossils are absent. This has made them very valuable for certain types of geologic research, particularly estimating the geologic age of the sediments containing them, and as guides to past oceanic water conditions. Asour current understanding of the biology, and even taxonomy of the living fauna is still very incomplete, evolutionary studies based on livingpolycystinesare still rare. However, the common occurrence of numerous specimens for many species, and in a wide variety of oceanic environments,provides an excellent opportunity to studythe processes ofbiologic evolution in the fossil record. Paleobiology of thePolycystineRadiolariais the first major book on radiolarians to appear in the western literature since 2001.?Focusing on living and fossil siliceous shelled radiolarians, it is notable for its emphasis not upon morphologic or taxonomic detail but on concepts and applications. The book attempts to provide a balanced, critical review of what is known of the biology, ecology, and fossil record of the group, as well as their use in evolutionary,biostratigraphicandpaleoceanographicresearch. Full chapters on the history of study, and molecular biology, are the first ever in book form. Written foran audience of advanced undergraduate to doctoral students, as well as for a broad range of professionals in the biological and Earth sciences,Paleobiology of thePolycystineRadiolariasummarizes current understanding of the marine planktonic protist grouppolycystineradiolaria, both in living and fossil form.