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Palaeocology of Africa and surrounding islands
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in my view an overwhelmingly strong case against it. A. HALLAM (Birmingham)
Palaeoecology of Africa and Surrounding Islands. Edited by E. M. van Zinderen Bakker Sr, J. A. Coetzee and L. Scott. 1986. Vol. 17. Southern African Society for Quaternary Research. Proceedings of the VIIth biennial conference held at the University of Stellenbosch, 29 March 3 April 1985. Edited by H. J. Deacon. 260 pp. ISBN 90-6191-625-9. Balkema, Rotterdam. Dfl.89.25. This series is well established since years. It aims at providing integrant reviews of all ecological and physical facts, features and theories that help reconstruct the history of the African biota. It frequently features very interesting invited papers. The present volume presents the proceedings of the VIIIth SASQUA conference which focussed on Southern Africa. A total of 26, mostly short, chapters are organized in four sections. In the first section there are five chapters discussing various specialistic aspects of the Cenozoic and Neogene geological, geomorphological, palaeontological and archaeological history of some sites in the mediterranean fynbos area in the Cape of South Africa. Next come five chapters on pans and pan-like structures in the arid parts of Southern Africa. Some discuss palaeohydrological patterns and processes, others concentrate on archaeological and palaeoenvironmental conclusions drawn from excavations in pans. Past environments of South Africa mainly in the Quaternary are studied from a variety of perspectives in the third section, consisting of six chapters. The main entrances are contemporary periglacial phenomena, soils composition, pollen analysis, and carbon isotope research of recent and fossil bones in an attempt to reconstruct the palaeo-environment in terms of C 3 and C4plants from browsing to grazing ratios. The fourth section contains 11 chapters on
the historical biogeography of South Africa, introduced by J. C. Poynton in an interesting review chapter that points out the remarkable lack of common concepts and methodology among biogeographers. R. M. Cowling presents an interesting case study which he uses to demonstrate a method that results in what he calls "testable hypotheses" about the not too distant history of biogeographic patterns. Other chapters discuss general or peculiar distribution patterns in specific taxonomic groups, both plants and animals, or geographic areas. As the other volumes in this series, the present one is a valuable source of information for those concerned with contributions of the various disciplines to the progress in the reconstruction of the history of (southern) African biomes. M. J. A. WERGER (Utrecht)
Conodonts: Investigative Techniques and Applications. Edited by Ronald L. Austin. British Micropalaeontological Society Series. Ellis Horwood, Chichester, 1987. 422pp. Price: £65.00. This volume is one of two that resulted from the Fourth European Conodont Symposium (ECOS IV) held in Nottingham, England, during July 1985. The other volume is principally concerned with conodont palaeobiology, whereas this one deals with conodont techniques, applications, biostratigraphy, and palaeoecology. There are 23 papers by authors from 11 countries. The first part of the volume is a review of techniques, old and new, by which conodonts are collected, separated from the rock, isolated, and photographed. There are also several papers on uses of conodonts other than the usual biostratigraphical, palaeofacies, and palaeothermal applications. These include conodont electron spin resonance as a function of time and temperature, the relation of palaeotemperatures to conodont diversity, the use of conodont trace elements in correlation, tracking of hot spots by conodont geo-
in my view an overwhelmingly strong case against it. A. HALLAM (Birmingham)
Palaeoecology of Africa and Surrounding Islands. Edited by E. M. van Zinderen Bakker Sr, J. A. Coetzee and L. Scott. 1986. Vol. 17. Southern African Society for Quaternary Research. Proceedings of the VIIth biennial conference held at the University of Stellenbosch, 29 March 3 April 1985. Edited by H. J. Deacon. 260 pp. ISBN 90-6191-625-9. Balkema, Rotterdam. Dfl.89.25. This series is well established since years. It aims at providing integrant reviews of all ecological and physical facts, features and theories that help reconstruct the history of the African biota. It frequently features very interesting invited papers. The present volume presents the proceedings of the VIIIth SASQUA conference which focussed on Southern Africa. A total of 26, mostly short, chapters are organized in four sections. In the first section there are five chapters discussing various specialistic aspects of the Cenozoic and Neogene geological, geomorphological, palaeontological and archaeological history of some sites in the mediterranean fynbos area in the Cape of South Africa. Next come five chapters on pans and pan-like structures in the arid parts of Southern Africa. Some discuss palaeohydrological patterns and processes, others concentrate on archaeological and palaeoenvironmental conclusions drawn from excavations in pans. Past environments of South Africa mainly in the Quaternary are studied from a variety of perspectives in the third section, consisting of six chapters. The main entrances are contemporary periglacial phenomena, soils composition, pollen analysis, and carbon isotope research of recent and fossil bones in an attempt to reconstruct the palaeo-environment in terms of C 3 and C4plants from browsing to grazing ratios. The fourth section contains 11 chapters on
the historical biogeography of South Africa, introduced by J. C. Poynton in an interesting review chapter that points out the remarkable lack of common concepts and methodology among biogeographers. R. M. Cowling presents an interesting case study which he uses to demonstrate a method that results in what he calls "testable hypotheses" about the not too distant history of biogeographic patterns. Other chapters discuss general or peculiar distribution patterns in specific taxonomic groups, both plants and animals, or geographic areas. As the other volumes in this series, the present one is a valuable source of information for those concerned with contributions of the various disciplines to the progress in the reconstruction of the history of (southern) African biomes. M. J. A. WERGER (Utrecht)
Conodonts: Investigative Techniques and Applications. Edited by Ronald L. Austin. British Micropalaeontological Society Series. Ellis Horwood, Chichester, 1987. 422pp. Price: £65.00. This volume is one of two that resulted from the Fourth European Conodont Symposium (ECOS IV) held in Nottingham, England, during July 1985. The other volume is principally concerned with conodont palaeobiology, whereas this one deals with conodont techniques, applications, biostratigraphy, and palaeoecology. There are 23 papers by authors from 11 countries. The first part of the volume is a review of techniques, old and new, by which conodonts are collected, separated from the rock, isolated, and photographed. There are also several papers on uses of conodonts other than the usual biostratigraphical, palaeofacies, and palaeothermal applications. These include conodont electron spin resonance as a function of time and temperature, the relation of palaeotemperatures to conodont diversity, the use of conodont trace elements in correlation, tracking of hot spots by conodont geo-