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Tue, 10 Jun 2003 11:28:26 -0400 |
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The lymnocardiines and dreissenids are, among the bivalves, the most prominent of the Paratethyan groups. Northward movement of Africa, Arabia, and India closed off the Tethys seaway, a tropical ocean extending across the southern edge of Eurasia, in the Miocene. This created giant brackish lakes in Europe and Asia; the Black, Caspian, and Aral seas being present-day remnants. Along with gastropods and other organisms that managed to adjust to the changed salinity, these groups were able to diversify into a wide range of forms. For example, the only known freshwater cave bivalve is a dreissenid in the Balkans.
Dr. David Campbell
Old Seashells
University of Alabama
Biodiversity & Systematics
Dept. Biological Sciences
Box 870345
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0345 USA
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That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa
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