Resumen

PEREZ-HERNANDEZ, Roger  y  LEW, Daniel. Las clasificaciones e hipótesis biogeográficas para la guayana venezolana. INCI [online]. 2001, vol.26, n.9, pp.373-382. ISSN 0378-1844.

Summary From the publications of the earliest naturalists up until our own day, many attemps have been made to describe, classify and explain the origin and distribution of the Venezuelan flora and fauna. Although these works unleashed great debates deriving from the different hypotheses which are the theoretical basis of biogeography, these efforts have undoubtedly made decisive contributions to the advancement of biogeography as a science. Given their varying perspectives and their greater or lesser degrees of concordance, these different phytogeographical and zoogeographical proposals are providing an ever-clearer picture of Venezuelan biogeography. One point upon which most of these proposals concur is the recognition of the distinct biogeographical identity of the Guayanan Region, whose outstanding biology, geography and geological history have resulted in more biogeographical proposals and theories than for any other part of the country. In this work, we present a compilation of the different phyto- and zoogeographic classifications that have been proposed for the Venezuelan Guayana Region, and we detail and discuss the hypotheses that have tried to explain the origin and current distribution of the organisms of this area.

Palabras clave : Biogeografía; Guayana Venezolana; Pantepui.