Historical and Current Diversity Patterns of Mediterranean Marine Species

<p>The Mediterranean Sea is a semi-enclosed basin which experienced different natural and anthropogenic phenomena causes of community or intra-species changes over time. The Mediterranean Sea went through dramatic changes in its biota through the last 6 million years and more quickly in the recent century. All the events left a footprint on the gene pool of marine species on their morpho-anatomical features and on the loss or expansion of the geographical range extent. Nowadays the Mediterranean basin is changing its physical and ecological characteristics. The changes in its environmental</p><p>conditions are followed by changes in its species composition and have been recorded in historical museum collections. In this book the biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea is described at a synchronic or diachronic level highlighting the past two centuries for which museum collections can provide overlooked information.</p>