Seagrass mollusks as a model group for paleoecological and paleodiversity studies = Weekdieren van het zeegras als modelgroep voor paleomilieu en biodiversiteit studies = Seegrass Mollusken als Modelgruppe für Studien der Paläoökologie und Paläodiversität

Today’s global marine diversity hotspot, or center of maximum biodiversity, is located in the Indo-West Pacific (IWP), namely in the Indo-Malayan region, including Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea (Hoeksma, 2007; Renema et al., 2010). Numerous groups of marine organisms, for instance foraminifera, mollusks, and corals contribute to the high taxonomic richness (e.g., Bellwood et al., 2005; Hoeksema, 2007; Kohn, 1990; Wilson and Rosen, 1998). The exceptional biodiversity in the region is thought to have originated in the Early Neogene with the diversification of scleractinian coral reefs and associated organisms (e.g., Wilson and Rosen, 1998; Chapter 6). Because the available fossil data to document patterns of diversification of marine organisms in the Cenozoic of SE-Asia are comparatively sparse, the collection of new data is needed in order to document the timing and context of diversification. To perform this task, the Marie-Curie Initial Training Network (ITN) Throughflow was formed in 2010, focusing on Miocene fossils and their paleohabitats of East Kalimantan, Indonesia. This thesis represents one of eleven projects of the Throughflow program.

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