The Lauraceae are a large family of about 50 genera and over 2500 species, with a mainly pantropical distribution. Within Australia, there are 8 genera and 130 species. One genus (Cassytha, 23 species) consists of virtually leafless semiparasitic lianes. The others are leafy trees or shrubs, confined mainly to forest communities. This book provides, for the first time, a complete description and illustration of the venation and cuticle characters of the leafy members of the family of Australia. The Lauraceae are strongly represented in suites of fossil leaves from the early (Eocene) and Middle (Miocene) Tertiary of Australia. Many of these fossils are currently unnamed, and this book should provide a most useful tool for palaeobotanists wishing to place fossils in context with modern taxa. The book provides an independent suite of characters that will complement the descriptions of the gross morphology and reproductive structures of the family in Flora of Australia Volume 2.

This multidisciplinary book focuses on the relationships and interactions between palaeobiogeography, biogeography, dispersal, vicariance, migrations and evolution of organisms in the SE Asia-Australasian region. The book investigates biogeographic links between SE Asia and Australasia which go back more than 500 million years. It also focuses on the links between geological evolution and biological migrations and evolution in the region. It was in the SE Asian region that Alfred Russell Wallace established his biogeographic line, now known as Wallace's Line, which was the beginning of biogeography. Wallace also independently developed his theory of evolution based on his work in this area.;The book brings together, for the first time, geologists, palaeontologists, zoologists, botanists, entomologists, evolutionary biologists and archaeologists, in the one volume, to relate the region's geological past to its present biological peculiarities. The book is organized into six sections. Section 1 Paleobiogeographic Background provides overviews of the geological and tectonic evolution of SE Asia-Australasia, and changing patterns of land and sea for the last 540 million years. Section 2 Palaeozoic and Mesozoic Geology and Biogeography discusses Palaeozoic and Mesozoic biogeography of conodonts, brachiopods, plants, dinosaurs and radiolarians and the recognition of ancient biogeographic boundaries or Wallace Lines in the region. Section 3 Wallace's Line focuses on the biogeographic boundary established by Wallace, including the history of its establishment, its significance to biogeography in general and its applicability in the context of modern biogeography.;Section 4 Plant biogeography and evolution includes discussion on primitive angiosperms, the diaspora of the southern rushes, and environmental, climatic and evolutionary implications of plants and palynomorphs in the region. The biogeography and migration of insects, butterflies, birds, rodents and other non-primate mammals is discussed in section 5, Non Primates. The final section 6 Primates focuses on the biogeographic radiation, migration and evolution of primates and includes papers on the occurrence and migration of early hominids and the requirements for human colonization of Australia.

150 genera and 869 accepted species and infraspecific taxa of liverworts and hornworts are listed from the eight States and mainland Territories of Australia. Genera and species are listed alphabetically, and c. 1100 synonyms that have been applied to Australian specimens are inserted under the appropriate species name. Nomina nuda, names of uncertain application and those reported in error from Australia are appended. Each species entry is accompanied by a list of post-1982 literature that provides locality details, descriptions, identification keys and/or habitat information. This completes a modern trio of catalogues on the Australian lichen and bryophyte floras, together comprising more than 5,000 taxa and representing a significant component of the national biota.

Many libraries hold a number of titles in this series although only 6 have 1st ed. of this introduction to the works.