The vast mammal diversity of the Neotropics is the result of a long evolutionary history. During most of the Cenozoic, South America was an island continent with an endemic mammalian fauna. This isolation ceased during the late Neogene after the formation of the Isthmus of Panama, resulting in an event known as the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI). In this study, we investigate biogeogr...

We describe Lutreolina tonnii sp. nov. (Mammalia, Metatheria, Marsupialia, Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae), recovered from Early (or Early–Middle) Pleistocene deposits of the coastal cliffs near Necochea City in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Its holotype, a right maxillary with M1-3, indicates that it belongs to largest species genus, including extinct and extant species. It also differs othe...

The West Siberian Basin (WSB) is one of the largest intracratonic Meso-Cenozoic basins in world. Its evolution has been studied over recent decades; however, some fundamental questions regarding tectonic WSB remain unresolved or unconfirmed by analytical data. A complete understanding during Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras requires insights into cooling history basement rocks as determined low-tempe...

To justify faunistic comparisons of ambers that differ botanically, geographically and by age, we need to determine that resins sampled uniformly. Our pluralistic approach, analysing size distributions of 671 fossilized spider species from different behavioural guilds, demonstrates that ecological information about the communities of two well-studied ambers is retained. Several lines of evidenc...

Large-bodied, semiaquatic herbivorous mammals have been a recurring component of most continental ecosystems throughout the Cenozoic. Identification of these species in the fossil record has largely been based on the morphological similarities with present-day hippopotamids, leading to the designation of this pairing of body type and ecological niche as the hippo ecomorph. These morphological c...

Himalayacetus subathuensis is a new pakicetid archaeocete from the Subathu Formation of northern India. The type dentary has a small mandibular canal indicating a lack of auditory specializations seen in more advanced cetaceans, and it has Pakicetus-like molar teeth suggesting that it fed on fish. Himalayacetus is significant because it is the oldest archaeocete known and because it was found i...

Non-marine Oligocene ostracods from Tremembé Formation (Taubaté Basin, Southeast Brazil) are studied for the first time. The study reveals rich assemblages which are probably composed of many new taxa, two of which are described here. The sixteen ostracod species registered are classified in the generaCypretta Vávra, Strandesia Stuhlmann,Potamocypris Brady, Heterocypris Claus,Eucypris Vávra, He...

Comparisons of the physiognomy of leaves from modern vegetation of known climates with that of Eocene and Oligocene fossil leaf assemblages from middle latitudes of western North America indicate paleoaltitudes comparable or higher than those at present. Using canonical correspondence analysis, a multivariate statistical approach that includes nonlinear relationships between characters and envi...

The Plio-Quaternary Ait Chaib basin occupies the northwestern part of Skoura Syncline, which is northern Middle Atlas Folded Zone. This intracontinental was formed probably in Pliocene after Tortono-Messinian regression sea. deposits are bound by fluvial conglomerates and continental carbonates. They consist barrage travertines; travertine limestones oncholitic silts sands upstream downstream d...

India's northward flight and collision with Asia was a major driver of global tectonics in the Cenozoic and, we argue, of atmospheric CO(2) concentration (pCO(2)) and thus global climate. Subduction of Tethyan oceanic crust with a carpet of carbonate-rich pelagic sediments deposited during transit beneath the high-productivity equatorial belt resulted in a component flux of CO(2) delivery to th...