Middle Eocene rodents from Peruvian Amazonia reveal the pattern and timing of caviomorph origins and biogeography
2011/10/12 by Pierre-Olivier Antoine, Pierre‐Olivier Antoine, Laurent Marivaux +16 · 315 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · Psychology · #Amazon rainforest #Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies #Biogeography #Biological dispersal #Biology #Biota #Cenozoic #Ecology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Geography #Mammal #Paleontology #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Rodent #Vertebrate
paper · doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.1732
published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 279(1732), 1319-1326 (Royal Society)
openalex publication_date 2011/10/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Abstract
The long-term isolation of South America during most of the Cenozoic produced a highly peculiar terrestrial vertebrate biota, with a wide array of mammal groups, among which caviomorph rodents and platyrrhine primates are Mid-Cenozoic immigrants. In the absence of indisputable pre-Oligocene South American rodents or primates, the mode, timing and biogeography of these extraordinary dispersals remained debated. Here, we describe South America's oldest known rodents, based on a new diverse caviomorph assemblage from the late Middle Eocene (approx. 41 Ma) of Peru, including five small rodents with three stem caviomorphs. Instead of being tied to the Eocene/Oligocene global cooling and drying episode (approx. 34 Ma), as previously considered, the arrival of caviomorphs and their initial radiation in South America probably occurred under much warmer and wetter conditions, around the Mid-Eocene Climatic Optimum. Our phylogenetic results reaffirm the African origin of South American rodents and support a trans-Atlantic dispersal of these mammals during Middle Eocene times. This discovery further extends the gap (approx. 15 Myr) between first appearances of rodents and primates in South America.
Cited by
- A new chronology for middle Eocene-early Miocene South American Land Mammal Ages
- Decoupled diversity and disparity after faunistic turnover in caviomorph rodents
- Patterns in research and data sharing for the study of form and function in caviomorph rodents
- Paleogene Xenarthra and the evolution of South American mammals
- Diversification patterns and size evolution in caviomorph rodents
- Effects of size, phylogeny and locomotor habits on the pelvic and femoral morphology of South American spiny rats (Rodentia: Echimyidae)
- Evaluating migration hypotheses for the extinct Glyptotherium using ecological niche modeling
- An eosimiid primate of South Asian affinities in the Paleogene of Western Amazonia and the origin of New World monkeys
- Across ancient oceans: Eocene dispersal routes of Asian terrestrial mammals to Europe, Afro-Arabia and South America
- The virtual brain endocast of Incamys bolivianus: insight from the neurosensory system into the adaptive radiation of South American rodents
- Unveiling the neuroanatomy of Josephoartigasia monesi and the evolution of encephalization in caviomorph rodents
- A new early Miocene bat (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from Panama confirms middle Cenozoic chiropteran dispersal between the Americas
- Cenozoic batoids from Contamana (Peruvian Amazonia) with focus on freshwater potamotrygonins and their paleoenvironmental significance
- Unexpected larger distribution of paleogene stem-rollers (AVES, CORACII): new evidence from the Eocene of Patagonia, Argentina
- An emerging consensus in the evolution, phylogeny, and systematics of marsupials and their fossil relatives (Metatheria)
- Paleontology, Evolution and Systematics of Capybara
- First virtual endocast description of an early Miocene representative of Pan-Octodontoidea (Caviomorpha, Hystricognathi) and considerations on the early encephalic evolution in South American rodents
- The Miocene mammal Necrolestes demonstrates the survival of a Mesozoic nontherian lineage into the late Cenozoic of South America
- Deep time diversity of metatherian mammals: implications for evolutionary history and fossil-record quality
- Earliest and first Northern Hemispheric hoatzin fossils substantiate Old World origin of a “Neotropic endemic”
- A new species of Hystrix (Rodentia: Hystricidae) from the Pliocene site of Węże 1 in southern Poland
- Total evidence phylogeny of platyrrhine primates and a comparison of undated and tip-dating approaches
- Cavioids, Chinchilloids, and Erethizontoids (Hystricognathi, Rodentia, Mammalia) of the Early Miocene Pampa Castillo Fauna, Chile
- Identifying tooth position of isolated teeth of sparassodonts (Mammalia: Metatheria) using geometric morphometrics
- The high taxonomic diversity of the Palaeogene hystricognath rodents (Caviomorpha) from Santa Rosa (Peru, South America) framed within a new geochronological context
- New insight of the genus Cephalomyopsis (Caviomorpha, Cephalomyidae): Systematic revision and paleobiogeographical implications
- Contrasting Phylogenetic and Diversity Patterns in Octodontoid Rodents and a New Definition of the Family Abrocomidae
- Eocene primates of South America and the African origins of New World monkeys
- Primates in the Eocene
- Late Middle Eocene primate from Myanmar and the initial anthropoid colonization of Africa
- A parapithecid stem anthropoid of African origin in the Paleogene of South America
- Western Amazonia as a Hotspot of Mammalian Biodiversity Throughout the Cenozoic
- A Nearly Complete Juvenile Skull of the Marsupial Sparassocynus derivatus from the Pliocene of Argentina, the Affinities of “Sparassocynids”, and the Diversification of Opossums (Marsupialia; Didelphimorphia; Didelphidae)
- The earliest Caribbean rodents: Oligocene caviomorphs from Puerto Rico
- Extinction of South American sparassodontans (Metatheria): environmental fluctuations or complex ecological processes?
- Rafting on a wide and wild ocean
- The bizarre ‘metatherians’GroeberiaandPatagonia, late surviving members of gondwanatherian mammals
- Phylogenetic tree of Litopterna and Perissodactyla indicates a complex early history of hoofed mammals
- Tropical ancient DNA reveals relationships of the extinct Bahamian giant tortoiseChelonoidis alburyorum
- Tropical Fossil Caviomorph Rodents from the Southwestern Brazilian Amazonia in the Context of the South American Faunas: Systematics, Biochronology, and Paleobiogeography
- A New Carodnia Simpson, 1935 (Mammalia, Xenungulata) from the Early Eocene of Northwestern Peru and a Phylogeny of Xenungulates at Species Level
- History, taxonomy and palaeobiology of giant fossil rodents (Hystricognathi, Dinomyidae)
- Great American Interchange [wikipedia]
- Hystricomorpha [wikipedia]
- Major radiations in the evolution of Caviid rodents: reconciling fossils, ghost lineages, and relaxed molecular clocks. [europepmc]
- Phylogeny and chronology of the major lineages of New World hystricognath rodents: insights on the biogeography of the Eocene/Oligocene arrival of mammals in South America. [europepmc]
- Transitions between Andean and Amazonian centers of endemism in the radiation of some arboreal rodents. [europepmc]
- Parvovirus-derived endogenous viral elements in two South American rodent genomes. [europepmc]
- Adaptations to a subterranean environment and longevity revealed by the analysis of mole rat genomes. [europepmc]
- Neotropical mammal diversity and the Great American Biotic Interchange: spatial and temporal variation in South America's fossil record. [europepmc]
- Ecological Diversity in South American Mammals: Their Geographical Distribution Shows Variable Associations with Phylogenetic Diversity and Does Not Follow the Latitudinal Richness Gradient. [europepmc]
- New phiomorph rodents from the latest Eocene of Egypt, and the impact of Bayesian "clock"-based phylogenetic methods on estimates of basal hystricognath relationships and biochronology. [europepmc]
- Oceanic dispersal, vicariance and human introduction shaped the modern distribution of the termites Reticulitermes, Heterotermes and Coptotermes. [europepmc]
- Ecomorphological analysis of the astragalo-calcaneal complex in rodents and inferences of locomotor behaviours in extinct rodent species. [europepmc]
- Tropical ancient DNA reveals relationships of the extinct Bahamian giant tortoise Chelonoidis alburyorum. [europepmc]
- Inactivation of thermogenic UCP1 as a historical contingency in multiple placental mammal clades. [europepmc]
- The latitudinal diversity gradient in South American mammals revisited using a regional analysis approach: The importance of climate at extra-tropical latitudes and history towards the tropics. [europepmc]
- A phylogenomic rodent tree reveals the repeated evolution of masseter architectures. [europepmc]
- Sciuromorphy outside rodents reveals an ecomorphological convergence between squirrels and extinct South American ungulates. [europepmc]
- Patterns in research and data sharing for the study of form and function in caviomorph rodents. [europepmc]
- Phylogenetic tree of Litopterna and Perissodactyla indicates a complex early history of hoofed mammals. [europepmc]
- Tarsal morphology of ischyromyid rodents from the middle Eocene of China gives an insight into the group's diversity in Central Asia. [europepmc]
- Two Functional Epithelial Sodium Channel Isoforms Are Present in Rodents despite Pronounced Evolutionary Pseudogenization and Exon Fusion. [europepmc]
- An Early Oligocene age for the oldest known monkeys and rodents of South America. [europepmc]
- A Pliocene-Pleistocene continental biota from Venezuela. [europepmc]
- Late middle Miocene caviomorph rodents from Tarapoto, Peruvian Amazonia. [europepmc]
- Computational Modeling of Gluteus Medius Muscle Moment Arm in Caviomorph Rodents Reveals Ecomorphological Specializations. [europepmc]
- Caviomorph rodents from the Pampean region (Argentina) in the historical Santiago Roth Collection in Switzerland. [europepmc]
- ENHYDROSS: A New Mechanistic Model Supports the Trans-Oceanic Dispersal Capability of Terrestrial Vertebrates. [europepmc]
Related