If it is agreed that an understanding of biohistory in some ways is tied to an understanding of geohistory, then one might also agree that what is needed is a precise means of specifying how a given biohistory is explicitly tied to a particular geohistory. The constraint in this type of analysis is the branching diagram, or cladogram, that permits a precise comparison of geographic area cladograms to demonstrate congruence between the cladistic message from biology with the cladistic message

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... m geology. A proposal for identifying these cladistic constraints is given using a comparison of several different historical geologies of the Caribbean region as an example that contrasts with the constraints used by previous biogeographies in which an a priori notion of process, e.g., dispersal or extinction, was used to direct the outcome of biogeographic analysis. I For comments during the work and review of the typescript I thank Drs.