The Monkey's Voyage

by Alan de Queiroz

  For help obtaining or modifying photos or other images I thank Bob Drewes, Isabel Sanmartín, Andreas Fleischmann, John Measey, Susanne Renner, Gary Nelson, Miguel Vences, Kenneth Miller, Chris Burridge, Don Jellyman, Chris Feldman, Hernán Sosa, Nathan Muchhala, Gary Nafis, and Martin Meyers (sorry Martin, I couldn’t quite find a place for the bedraggled nuthatch stranded on the boat). I obtained virtually all of the references I needed through the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center and the DeLaMare (Earth Sciences) Library, both at the University of Nevada at Reno.

  As I described in the Introduction, a research project on garter snakes is what originally drew me into the subject of biogeography in general and oceanic dispersal in particular. That project and, thus, this book, would not have happened without my herpetological collaborators, Robin Lawson and Julio Lemos-Espinal. My interest in and knowledge of biogeography has been deepened by another research project, an ongoing set of studies of jumping bristletails in collaboration with John Gatesy, Cheryl Hayashi, Laura Baldo, Marshal Hedin, Rob Meredith, Eric Stiner, and Jim Liebherr. Several mud-splattered bristletail trips to Hawaii with my friends John and Cheryl, in particular, gave me a greater appreciation for and knowledge of the colonization of oceanic islands.

  My longtime friends Carol Yoon and Merrill Peterson did me a great favor by providing detailed and extremely constructive feedback on the proposal that gave rise to this book. I’d also like to thank my no-­nonsense literary agent, Russ Galen, for efficiently selling the project to a publisher. T. J. Kelleher, my editor at Basic Books, is very knowledgeable about science and has a great sense of the big picture; I’m grateful to him for improving this book in ways small and large. For helping turn the manuscript into an actual book, I’d also like to thank other members of the team at Basic Books, especially Tisse Takagi, Collin Tracy, Kathy Streckfus, and Jack Lenzo.

  My immediate and extended family provided moral and material support, and, more importantly, often helped take my mind off of writing. In particular, I want to thank Kristine de Queiroz; Richard and Chizuko de Queiroz; Sean and Karen de Queiroz; Janice Harvey; Jim Forbis; Robyn, Hernán, Gabriela, and Natalia Sosa; Tess, Matt, and Sammy Gallegos; Jerome Salador; Eric Saijo, Mari Rose Taruc, Sidhartha Taruc, and Kawayan Saijo-Taruc; Rani Saijo; and Lee Saijo.

  My wife, Tara—fellow naturalist, gardener, lover of the Great Basin, and writer—deserves special thanks. She was there at the beginning (in Baja California, collecting garter snakes with surprising goodwill), and her love and support (and, at times, salary) has bolstered me through this entire, sometimes seemingly interminable project. I cannot thank her enough; she made this book possible. She is also a great mother to our children, Hana and Eiji, and our family journey in these past few years has been a life-changing experience. It was especially gratifying that, toward the end, Hana, a bookworm almost from birth, could appreciate what I was doing, even if she seemed to have doubts about the subject matter compared to a project I had put aside. Finding me at my desk once, she asked earnestly, “Dad, are you ever going to write that book about eyes?”

  FIGURE CREDITS

  For images obtained from Wikimedia Commons, the title of the image is given, followed by a URL that provides the image and a link to the associated license.

  Geologic timescale: Ages are from the International Chronostratigraphic Chart (version of January, 2013) constructed by the International Commission on Stratigraphy (www .stratigraphy.org).

  I.1: CaliforniaHerps.com (www.californiaherps.com)

  3.3: White-faced Heron, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:White-faced_Heron.jpg

  5.1: Kary Mullis at TED, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kary_Mullis_at_TED.jpg

  9.1: Mabuia Noronha Skink, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mabuia_Noronha_Skink.jpg

  9.3: Amphisbaena alba03, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amphisbaena_alba03.jpg

  9.5: Lémur catta, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lémur_catta.jpg; Tarsier Tarsius sp., http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tarsier_Tarsius_sp._.jpg; Golden-headed-­Lion-Tamarins, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Golden-headed-Lion-Tamarins .jpg; Papio ursinus 2, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Papio_ursinus_2.jpg

  10.4: Black Robin on Rangatira Island, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black_Robin_on_Rangatira_Island.jpg; NZ North Island Robin-3, http://commons.wikimedia .org/wiki/File:NZ_North_Island_Robin-3.jpg

  Figure after Chapter 11: Nube de langostas en el Sáhara Occidental (1944), http://commons .wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nube_de_langostas_en_el_Sáhara_Occidental_(1944).jpg

  12.3: Leaflitter toad Rhinella alata, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leaflitter_toad_Rhinella_alata.jpg

  NOTES

  Introduction: Of Garter Snakes and Gondwana

  1“Science must begin with myths . . . ”: Popper (1965), 66.

  3The enormous supercontinent of Gondwana: For reviews of the sequence of Gondwanan breakup, see McLoughlin (2001); Sanmartín and Ronquist (2004). For Gondwanan breakup as the iconic tale of historical biogeography, see Raven and Axelrod (1972); Hallam (1994); Gibbs (2006); and McCarthy (2009), among many others.

  6Its geologic history is reminiscent: For the geologic history of Baja California, Carreño and Helenes (2002); de Queiroz and Lawson (2008); and references in both.

  7We collected T. validus specimens: For the Baja California garter-snake study, de Queiroz and Lawson (2008).

  9–12Continental Southeast Asia . . . was inundated: Inger and Voris (2001).

  13The rise of the Isthmus of Panama: Lessios (2008).

  14Often has been called a scientific revolution: Funk (2004); de Queiroz (2005). This topic is discussed in detail in Chapters Two and Three.

  14The papers arguing for ocean crossings: For tortoises, Caccone et al. (1999); for plants between Tasmania and New Zealand, Jordan (2001); for southern beeches, Cook and Crisp (2005), Knapp et al. (2005); for baobabs, Baum et al. (1998); for rodents, Poux et al. (2006).

  16“The nearest approach to life on another planet”: Gibbs (2006), 7.

  17Field guide to the trees of New Zealand: Metcalf (2002).

  19Aldabra giant tortoise: Gerlach et al. (2006).

  Chapter One: From Noah’s Ark to New York: The Roots of the Story

  23Croizat, an Italian botanist: For background on Croizat and panbiogeography, see the notes for Chapter Three.

  24Darwin was aware of the other natural: For Darwin’s distrust of land-bridge explanations, Browne (1983).

  25Darwin did believe that lands had risen and fallen: Darwin (1839); Browne (1983).

  25“It shocks my philosophy to create land . . . ”: Darwin letter to J. D. Hooker, June 5, 1855, from Burkhardt and Smith (1989), vol. 5, 344.

  25Hooker . . . was equally skeptical: Browne (1983).

  25A whole series of experiments: Darwin (1859), in the chapters on geographical distribution.

  26“It is quite surprising that the Radishes . . . ”: Darwin letter to J. D. Hooker, April 19, 1855, from Burkhardt and Smith (1989), vol. 5, 308.

  26“When I wrote last . . . ”: Darwin letter to J. D. Hooker, April 13, 1855, from Burkhardt and Smith (1989), vol. 5, 305.

  26“I am more reconciled to Iceberg transport . . . ”: J. D. Hooker letter to Darwin, November 9, 1856, from the website of the Darwin Correspondence Project, www .darwinproject.ac.uk/home.

  27Noah’s Ark at face value: Browne (1983).

  27Darwin had come to accept as fact: Browne (1995).

  28“Deep time”: John McPhee coined the term “deep time” in Basin and Range (1981).

  28Alfred Russel Wallace: For general biographical information on Wallace, Shermer (2002); Quammen (1996).

  29“Towards solving the problem of the origin of species”: Shermer (2002), 58.

  29Writing a theoretical paper: For Wallace’s
Sarawak and Ternate (survival of the fittest) papers, Wallace (1891).

  30“Nothing very new” and “It all seems creation with him”: Shermer (2002), 89.

  30Sent the manuscript to . . . Charles Darwin: Quammen (2006); Shermer (2002).

  30Were read at a meeting of the Linnean Society: For the reactions of Lyell and Darwin to Wallace’s Sarawak paper, Browne (1983); Shermer (2002); Quammen (2006).

  31Take the work of Edward Forbes: For general biographical information on Forbes, Browne (1983).

  31“An acute and subtle thinker”: Browne (1983), 114.

  31Finding molluscs in the Aegean Sea: Browne (1983).

  32The landmark for this new biogeography: Darwin (1859).

  33Wallace would write a two-volume work: For Wallace’s later biogeographic work, Shermer (2002).

  33Another belief in common: For the belief in the fixity of continents by Darwin and Wallace, Darwin (1859); Shermer (2002).

  34Flemish cartographer Abraham Ortelius: Lawrence (2002).

  34French geographer . . . Antonio Snider-Pelligrini: Lawrence (2002); McCoy (2006).

  34Frank Bursley Taylor: Lawrence (2002); McCoy (2006).

  34Intense man named Alfred Wegener: Most of the biographical information on Wegener is from McCoy (2006). When I used other sources, those are indicated below.

  35“Fine features and penetrating blue-gray eyes”: German geologist Hans Cloos, quoted in Hughes (1994).

  35Seven-hundred-mile trek: Lawrence (2002).

  36“Please look at a map . . . ”: Lawrence (2002), 34.

  36“If it turns out that sense and meaning . . . ”: Yount (2009), 34.

  36An obvious initial goal was to figure out: The description of Wegener’s ­theory is based on Wegener (1924), which is the third edition of his book on continental movement and the first one translated into English, and on the summaries in Lawrence (2002) and McCoy (2006).

  39“Wegener’s hypothesis in general is of the foot-loose type . . . ”: Chamberlin (1928), 87.

  39“A beautiful dream, the dream of a poet”: P. Termier, quoted in Schuchert (1928), 140.

  39“Ending in a state of auto-intoxication . . . ”: E. Berry, quoted in Oreskes (1988), 336.

  39Very inconsistent from place to place: Oreskes (1988); McCoy (2006).

  39Rejection and ridicule: Oreskes (1988).

  41“If we are to believe Wegener’s hypothesis . . . ”: Oreskes (1988), 336.

  42“A great loss to geophysical science”: Oreskes (1988), 332.

  42“The expression on his face was calm . . . ”: McCoy (2006), 133.

  42Adamantly used Wegener’s theory: du Toit (1937). Frankel (1981) discussed others, mostly paleobotanists, who supported Wegener’s theory.

  42In the terminology of . . . Thomas Kuhn: Kuhn (1970).

  43Had the upper hand: On the dominance of the land-bridge “school,” Mayr (1982). Gadow (1913) includes a series of maps depicting extensive land bridges at various times starting from the Lower Triassic. Schuchert (1932) reviews evidence for Gondwanan land bridges.

  44William Diller Matthew: For Matthew’s influence and the development of the New York School, Nelson and Ladiges (2001).

  45Take the small number of natural rafts: For the specifics about Matthew’s views on oceanic dispersal, including the raft calculations and the nature of the mammal fauna of Madagascar, Matthew (1915).

  45Matthew’s “disciples”: Karl Schmidt, a herpetologist, was the scientist who referred to himself and others as “disciples” of Matthew and called “Climate and Evolution” a “Holy Writ.” He is quoted in Nelson (1973), 313.

  45“New York School of Zoogeography”: Nelson and Ladiges (2001).

  46“On several occasions, when the vessel . . . ”: Darwin (1839), 148.

  Chapter Two: The Fragmented World

  47In his book The Tipping Point: Gladwell (2000).

  48“A lanky youngster . . . ”: Hull (1988), 144. For biographical information about Nelson, I referred to Hull (1988) and emails from Nelson, April 20 and October 22, 2010.

  48“I’m not about to let Mayr . . . ”: Hull (1988), 145.

  48Picked up a hefty new publication: Hull (1988); email from Nelson to the author, October 22, 2010. The Brundin monograph was Brundin (1966).

  49Brundin had been studying: Brundin (1966).

  49German entomologist Willi Hennig: Hennig (1966). The development of cladism and the “wars” between the cladists and more traditional systematists are described in detail in Hull (1988).

  50River delta diagrams: For other examples of these diagrams, see Simpson (1953), 261; Young (1962), 239.

  54Arthur Holmes, a British geologist: For Holmes’s radiometric dating work, Lewis (2002); Frankel (1978). For his mantle convection theory, Gohau (1990); Frankel (1978).

  55Holmes first published his theory: Holmes (1928, 1944). For lack of acceptance of Holmes’s theory, Frankel (1978); Lawrence (2002).

  55“I have never succeeded in freeing myself . . . ”: Quoted in Bryson (2003), 177.

  56Hess, a Princeton geologist: For biographical information, James (1973); Lawrence (2002). Hess’s discovery of guyots is from those references and Hess (1946).

  56“Have been able to get about a dozen . . . ”: Lawrence (2002), 157.

  56An explosion of new information: McCoy (2006); Lawrence (2002).

  57Hess had put all the facts together: Hess (1962).

  57“I shall consider this paper an essay . . . ”: Hess (1962), 599.

  57“If it . . . were accepted . . . ”: Hess (1962), 607.

  58Explained Hess’s guyots: For the importance of guyots to Hess’s theory, Hess (1962); Lawrence (2002).

  59His theory was mostly just ignored: Bryson (2003).

  59The textbook version: This version of the influence of the magnetic anomaly work of Vine and Matthews and of Morley is given in, for example, Gohau (1990); Macdougall (1996); Bryson (2003).

  59He saw Hess give a talk: Lawrence (2002). For description of the Vine-­Matthews-Morley hypothesis, Vine and Matthews (1963); Lawrence (2002).

  60“It was the classic lead balloon . . . ”: Lawrence (2002), 212.

  60If people didn’t believe: Lawrence (2002).

  60The conversion was not far off: For additional evidence that accumulated after the Vine and Matthews paper and the description of the 1966 symposium in New York, McCoy (2006); Lawrence (2002).

  62A heavy drinker and smoker: Lawrence (2002).

  63“Not the slightest evidence of chance dispersal . . . ”: Brundin (1966), 451.

  65“No one denies . . . ”: Brundin (1966), 439.

  65“Several troubled biogeographers . . . ”: This and the following two quotations are from Brundin (1966), 51.

  66“Biogeography has a great future . . . ”: Brundin (1966), 5.

  66Nelson had a chance to meet him: Hull (1988); emails from Nelson to the author, October 22 and 23, 2010. Nelson discussed Brundin’s lasting influence on him in emails to the author on April 20 and 21, 2010; October 22, 2010.

  66His first stop: For Nelson’s conversion of scientists at the British Museum of Natural History and the American Museum of Natural History, Hull (1988); Nelson, “Cladistics at an Earlier Time” (unpublished manuscript). Where these accounts are in conflict, I have followed Nelson’s version. For indications of the prior, noncladistic views of Greenwood and Patterson, see Patterson (1997); Nelson (2000).

  67“The Hennigian methodology . . . ”: Mayr (1982), 620.

  67“I have therefore become a Wegenerian . . . ”: Giller et al. (2004), 274.

  68Looking at two groups of these fishes: Rosen (1978, 1979).

  69A young ornithologist: For the exam
ples of ratites and Nothofagus, Cracraft (1974) and Cracraft (1975), respectively.

  70“We were sitting at a place . . . ”: Donoghue, telephone conversation with the author, September 3, 2010.

  70Bold and bullying: The attitude of the cladists is described in detail in Hull (1988) and more briefly and engagingly in Yoon (2009).

  70Stevie Wonder lyric: Nelson (1978b).

  70“Central attitude is one of self-conscious superiority”: Darlington (1970), 16.

  70“Shouting at meetings . . . ”: Email from John Briggs to the author, August 25, 2010.

  72Anoles, the common arboreal lizards: The distribution of Norops sagrei is from Williams (1969); Norval et al. (2002); and Tan and Lim (2012). The anole experiment is from Schoener and Schoener (1984).

  Chapter Three: Over the Edge of Reason

  73Submarine volcano, named Lo‘ihi: Ziegler (2002); Tilling et al. (2010).

  74Essentially a mythological process: For Heads’s arguments against long-distance dispersal, Heads (2009, 2011).

  74“The taxa that colonized Hawaii . . . ”: Email from Heads to the author, August 5, 2010.

  74The hotspot that created the current islands: Sharp and Clague (2006).

  75Molecular evidence indicates: Price and Clague (2002); Baldwin and Wagner (2010).

  75Subspecies of more widespread species: On birds, Hawaiian Audubon Society (2005). On the hoary bat, Jacobs (1994). On the beach strawberry and oval-leaf clustervine, Wagner et al. (1999). On the Boston swordfern, Palmer (2003).

  77Then there was Léon Croizat: For biographical information about Croizat, Croizat (1982); Hull (1988, 2009); Colacino and Grehan (2003).

  78“Gone forever are the days . . . ”: Croizat, vol. 1 (1958), xii–xiii.

  79“Centres of origin” and “means of dispersal”: Darwin (1859); Matthew (1915).

  80Looking for facts that supported it: Croizat (1962), 637.

  80Baconian view: Croizat (1962).

  80Distributional line that he called a track: For succinct descriptions of Croizat’s method, Croizat et al. (1974); Craw et al. (1999).