“So, what do you think about the great american interchange”
As a giant fan of birds (as well as a fan of giant birds) I, for one, am personally offended by the Great American Interchange and would like to know who is claiming responsibility for Panama as I have a strongly-worded letter coming right for them
Photo from Richard Cowen
For those of you unaware of this absolute travesty, the Great American Interchange occurred ~2.5MYA when a land bridge (aka Central America) formed between North and South America, allowing a transfer of species between the two. For a brief period, everything was beautiful and both continents were overrun with phorusrhacids, the feathery incarnation of all of my hopes and dreams.
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
But then, like the jerks we are, mammals had to go and ruin everything by out-competing and eating all the giant flightless birds. Now all we’re left with are dogs and bears and a few weird marsupials and only two species of seriemas. U N B E L I E V A B L E
Photo from Project Noah