Panama emerged gradually as islands grew and seaways narrowed over millions of years. Multiple lines of evidence place the final continuous land bridge near 2.8 million years ago, restricting exchange between the Caribbean and Pacific. Animal migrations between the Americas had already begun, then accelerated as the connection became established.
Annual surface temperature from CESM (T): a model estimate, not a direct observation of the past.
0 Ma: pre-industrial climate/CO₂; modern sea-level and O₂ references.
Glacial-interglacial cycles with 120m+ sea level swings. Homo sapiens spread from Africa across the globe, and most megafauna went extinct.
Annual model means · 0 Ma: pre-industrial
Mapped sample / window records · not abundance
0–2.5 Ma
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API records whose numeric ages miss the queried window are excluded from the map and counts, with exclusions retained in provenance.
Plate boundaries are a separate model comparison. Their reference frame differs from PALEOMAP terrain and coordinates; coastlines may not align.
· 0 Ma
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