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- Extinct mammalian biodiversity of the ancient New World
tropics Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Volume 21, Issue 3, 1
March 2006, Pages 157-165 Bruce J. MacFadden AbstractThe origins
of mammalian biodiversity in the New World tropics extend back
>25 million years, represented by clades that were originally
endemic to South America, North America or Africa. Since then,
these mammalian clades have been greatly affected by climatic,
physiographical and biological changes. The Isthmian land
bridge, which formed ∼4 million years ago between North and
South America, resulted in the maximum diversity of 17 New World
tropical mammalian orders during the Great American Interchange.
This diversity was subsequently reduced to 12 orders as a result
of competition, climate change and human impacts. Here, I
discuss how the fossil record is now providing a rich archive of
past biodiversity, presenti