Editing Neotropical realm (section)

== History ==
{{See also|History of South America}}

South America was originally part of the supercontinent of [[Gondwana]], which included Africa, Australia, India, New Zealand, and Antarctica, and the Neotropic shares many plant and animal lineages with these other continents, including [[marsupial]] mammals and the [[Antarctic flora]].

After the final breakup of the Gondwana about 110 million years ago, South America was separated from Africa and drifted north and west. 66 million years ago, the [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event]] altered local flora and fauna.<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 |publisher=[[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> Much later, about two to three million years ago, South America was joined with North America by the formation of the [[Isthmus of Panama]], which allowed a biotic exchange between the two continents, the [[Great American Interchange]]. South American species like the ancestors of the [[Virginia opossum]] (''Didelphis virginiana'') and the [[armadillo]] moved into North America, and North Americans like the ancestors of South America's [[camelid]]s, including the [[llama]] (''Lama glama''), moved south. The long-term effect of the exchange was the extinction of many South American species, mostly by outcompetition by northern species.