The Late Quaternary is characterized by a series of climatic cycles of alternating interglacial and glacial periods that has shaped the biogeographic histories of plants and animals, including those of our species. In Southeast Asia, these cycles have dramatically influenced the region’s paleogeography, with some islands being connected to the mainland in periods of low sea level. This in turn affected floral and faunal evolutionary histories: patterns of endemism, island evolution, extinctions and extirpations. Although much progress has been done in the last three decades, for instance the establishment of detailed faunal biochronologies for certain islands, other areas remain understudied. Likewise, although recent research points to evolving physiography possibly fostering Quaternary biodiversification across Southeast Asia, new data could help fine tune our understanding of the paleoecology/paleoenvironment in the region. In this session, we want to bring papers from a wide range of discipline in quaternary science, including paleontology, archaeology, palynology, geology, etc., that would add to our knowledge of the Late Quaternary plant and animal fossil record of Southeast Asia.
We will accept presentations dealing with any materials from Southeast Asian sites (i.e., palaeontological assemblages) as well as analyses of existing data (i.e. meta-analyses of paleoenvironmental records). The session ultimately would want to showcase the current status of Southeast Asian paleogeographic and paleoecological/paleoenvironmental research.
For inquiries and submissions, please contact:
Thomas Sutikna, National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia – thomasutikna@gmail.com
Noel Amano, Max-Planck-Institute für Geoanthropologie, Germany – amano@gea.mpg.de
