Mountain uplift explains differences in Palaeogene patterns of mammalian evolution and extinction between North America and Europe.

ABSTRACT: Patterns of late Palaeogene mammalian evolution appear to be very different between Eurasia and North America. Around the Eocene-Oligocene (EO) transition global temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere plummet: following this, European mammal faunas undergo a profound extinction event (the Grande Coupure), while in North America they appear to pass through this temperature event unscathed. Here, we investigate the role of surface uplift to environmental change and mammalian evolution through the Palaeogene (66-23 Ma). Palaeogene regional surface uplift in North America caused large-scale reorganization of precipitation patterns, particularly in the continental interior, in accord with our combined stable isotope and ecometric data. Changes in mammalian faunas reflect that these were dry an

SUBMITTER: Eronen JT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4590438 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature