León Croizat and the panbiogeography, never a serious scientist
Morrone JJ. 2000. Between the taunt and the eulogy: Leon Croizat and the panbiogeography. INTERCIENCIA 25: (1) 41-47.
Abstract:
The Italian botanist Leon Croizat (1894-1982) is a controversial figure in the most recent
history of biogeography. Based on the metaphor that "life and earth evolve
together" -which means that geographic barriers and biotas coevolve- Croizat
developed a new biogeographic methodology, which he named 'panbiogeography '. This method
was basically to plot distributions of organisms on maps and connect the disjunct
distribution areas or collection localities together with lines called tracks. Croizat
found that individual tracks for unrelated groups of organisms were repetitive, and
considered the resulting summary lines as generalized tracks which indicated the
preexistence of ancestral biotas, subsequently fragmented by tectonic and/or climatic
changes. Some authors, mainly those belonging to the dispersalist establishment, have
dismissed Croizat's contributions, considering him as idiosyncratic, or a member of a
lunatic fringe. Others have considered Croizat as one of the most original thinkers of
modern comparative biology, whose contributions advanced the foundations of a new
synthesis between earth and life sciences. Following its synthesis with phylogenetic
systematics, Croizat's panbiogeography has emerged as being central to vicariance or
cladistic biogeography. In spite of this synthesis, some authors currently agree in the
distinction between Croizat's panbiogeography and cladistic biogeography.
Addresses:
Morrone JJ, Natl Autonomous Univ Mexico, Fac Ciencias, Museum Zool, Apdo Postal 70-399,
Mexico City 04510, DF, Mexico. Natl Autonomous Univ Mexico, Fac Ciencias, Museum Zool,
Mexico City 04510, DF, Mexico.