Knowra Great American Biotic Interchange Great American Biotic Interchange The exchange of terrestrial and freshwater organisms between North and South America, especially after the Isthmus of Panama formed and connected the continents.
Isthmus of Panama : The narrow land bridge connecting Central and South America, formed through the closure of the Central American Seaway. Its emergence created the principal terrestrial route for interchange.
North American carnivores in South America : Carnivoran mammals that entered South America from North America during the Great American Biotic Interchange. This successful southward movement included cats, canids, bears, and mustelids.
Panamanian Isthmus formation : The geological emergence and closure of the land connection between North and South America. Its gradual formation set the changing timetable for terrestrial interchange.
South American megafaunal extinction : The late Pleistocene disappearance of many large-bodied animals from South America. Its causes are debated, and it followed millions of years of faunal exchange.
Central American Seaway : A marine passage that once connected the tropical Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea between North and South America. Its closure marked the transition from ocean barrier to land corridor.
South American ungulates : Hoofed mammals native to South America, including extinct lineages such as litopterns and notoungulates. Several distinctive native groups declined after northern mammals reached the continent.
Central American Volcanic Arc : A chain of volcanoes formed by subduction along the western margin of the Caribbean Plate. Volcanic islands and uplift helped build the terrain that preceded the continuous land bridge.
Pleistocene megafauna : Large animals that lived during the Pleistocene, including mammoths, giant ground sloths, and glyptodonts. Interchange shaped the continental ranges of many Pleistocene giants.
Dispersal : The movement of organisms away from their place of origin to new locations. Interchange depended on populations crossing the new corridor.
Ground sloths : Extinct terrestrial sloths that ranged from small forms to elephant-sized herbivores. Some ground sloths dispersed northward, reaching North America during the interchange.
Show all 23