Editing History of South America (section)

== Prehistory ==
[[File:Amazon CIAT (2).jpg|thumb|right|280px|Aerial view of the Amazon rainforest, near [[Manaus]]]]
{{Main|Settlement of the Americas}}
[[File:Blakey 105Ma - COL.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Paleogeography of northern South America around 105 mya]]
In the [[Paleozoic]] and Early [[Mesozoic]] eras, [[South America]] and [[Africa]] were connected in a landmass called [[Gondwana]], as part of the [[supercontinent]] [[Pangaea]]. In the [[Albian]], around 110 [[mya (unit)|mya]], South America and Africa began to diverge along the southern [[Mid-Atlantic Ridge]], giving rise to a landmass of [[Antarctica]] and South America. During the late [[Eocene]], around 35 [[mya (unit)|mya]], Antarctica and South America separated and South America became a massive, biologically rich island-continent. During approximately 30 million years, the [[biodiversity]] of South America was isolated from the rest of the world, leading to the evolution of species within the continent.<ref name="Marshall1988">{{cite journal |last1=Marshall |first1=Larry |title=Land Mammals and the Great American Interchange |journal=American Scientist |date=July–August 1988 |volume=76 |issue=4 |pages=380–388|bibcode=1988AmSci..76..380M }}</ref>

The [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|event that caused the mass-extinction of dinosaurs 66 Mya]] gave rise to [[Neotropical realm|neotropical]] [[rainforest]] [[biome]]s like the [[Amazonia]], replacing species composition and structure of local forests<!--and temporarily decreased plant [[biodiversity|diversity]] by ~45% beyond causing extinction of its dinosaur inhabitants/roamers-->. During [[Paleocene|~6 million years of recovery]] to former levels of plant [[biodiversity|diversity]], they evolved from widely spaced [[gymnosperm]]-dominated forests to the forests with thick [[Canopy (biology)|canopies]] which block sunlight, prevalent [[flowering plant]]s and high [[Stratification (vegetation)|vertical layering]] as known today.<ref>{{cite news |title=Dinosaur-killing asteroid strike gave rise to Amazon rainforest |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56617409 |access-date=9 May 2021 |work=BBC News |date=2 April 2021}}</ref><ref name="10.1126/science.abf1969">{{cite journal |last1=Carvalho |first1=Mónica R. |last2=Jaramillo |first2=Carlos |last3=Parra |first3=Felipe de la |last4=Caballero-Rodríguez |first4=Dayenari |last5=Herrera |first5=Fabiany |last6=Wing |first6=Scott |last7=Turner |first7=Benjamin L. |last8=D'Apolito |first8=Carlos |last9=Romero-Báez |first9=Millerlandy |last10=Narváez |first10=Paula |last11=Martínez |first11=Camila |last12=Gutierrez |first12=Mauricio |last13=Labandeira |first13=Conrad |last14=Bayona |first14=German |last15=Rueda |first15=Milton |last16=Paez-Reyes |first16=Manuel |last17=Cárdenas |first17=Dairon |last18=Duque |first18=Álvaro |last19=Crowley |first19=James L. |last20=Santos |first20=Carlos |last21=Silvestro |first21=Daniele |title=Extinction at the end-Cretaceous and the origin of modern Neotropical rainforests |journal=Science |date=2 April 2021 |volume=372 |issue=6537 |pages=63–68 |doi=10.1126/science.abf1969 |pmid=33795451 |bibcode=2021Sci...372...63C |s2cid=232484243 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350569900 |access-date=9 May 2021 |language=en |issn=0036-8075}}</ref>

Geological evidence suggests that approximately 3 million years ago, South America became connected to North America when the Bolivar Trough marine barrier disappeared and the Panamanian land bridge formed. The joining of these two land masses led to the [[Great American Interchange]], in which biota from both continents expanded their ranges.<ref name="Marshall1988" /> The first species known to have made the northward migration was ''[[Pliometanastes]]'', a fossil [[ground sloth]] roughly the size of a modern [[American black bear|black bear]].<ref name="Marshall1988" /> Migrations to the Southern Hemisphere were undertaken by several [[North America]]n mammalian carnivores. Fewer species migrated in the opposite direction from south to north. The result of the expansion of a North American fauna was a mass extinction in which hundreds of species disappeared in a relatively short time. About 60% of present-day South American mammals have evolved from North American species.<ref name="Marshall1988" /> Some South American species were able to adapt and spread into North America. Apart from ''Pliometanastes'', during the [[Irvingtonian]] stage of the mammal land stages, around 1.9 [[mya (unit)|mya]], species as ''[[Pampatherium]]'', a giant [[armadillo]], ground sloth ''[[Megatherium]]'', giant [[anteater]] ''[[Myrmecophaga]]'', a Neogene [[capybara]] (''[[Hydrochoerus]]''), ''[[Meizonyx]]'', opossum ''[[Didelphis]]'', and ''[[Mixotoxodon]]'' followed the route north.<ref name="Marshall1988" /> The [[terror bird]] ''[[Titanis]]'', the only large carnivore in South American, dispersed into North America.<ref name="Marshall1988" />