種多様性研究と古生物学 : 間隙性貝形虫類を例として(<特集>生物多様性と古生物学)

抄録

Our recognition on species diversity is very limited, because the known species which have the scientific name are probably only 1 to 2% of all the species that inhabit the earth. The interstitial fauna is not well-known in general but it contains more than 20 phyla including interstitial Ostracoda. Although research on interstitial Ostracoda started in the 1930's, only seven species have yet been reported from Japan. The small number of species recognized is merely dependent on the slow progress of research. The lack of recognition of interstitial Ostracoda is so prominent that out of the 19 species identified from two localities by the author, only one species has been reported in the previous literature. This indicates that the interstitial Ostracoda is the least studied fauna in Japan. But the Ostracoda has the potential possibility to estimate the geohistory of interstitial animals because the Ostracoda is only taxon which is preserved as fossil. Understanding of species diversity is one of the main problems we face. Description of species forms the basement of it.