Act Two - Rising Action
Act Two - Rising Action
The major endemic groups of the Papagaios Archipelago including the marquinhet, cavador and kingray bird groups, the papagotitan lizards, and plant groups including clinker bromeliads, were well established by the end of the Oligocene epoch 25 million years ago. The islands’ ecosystems were now stable, providing many niches to exploit.
As one epoch gave way to another, cold ocean currents around Antarctica and the increase in glaciation caused the warm global temperatures of the Oligocene to come to an end. Through the Miocene epoch and into the Pliocene, global temperatures decreased – some estimates say that temperatures in the topics decreased by 5oC – though average temperatures were still 2-3oC higher than today.
Though the Papagaios’ mid-ocean placement negated the worst impacts of this global cooling, the reduction in temperature and air moisture was felt most by the trees. The treeline moved lower down the mountain slopes, with grasses and scrubby plants rushing in to fill the gaps. However, the decreasing sea levels caused by Antarctic glaciation led to more land being exposed at lower altitudes and much of this was in time filled with forests meaning that by the end late Pliocene there was more forest, by area, than in earlier, warmer times.
Many of the older volcanoes on islands such as Vulcão, Milagres and Santuário cooled and went extinct, but many more were born. The islands of Ninho, Verde, and Crepúsculo formed during the Miocene.
More land, pleasant temperatures, a variety of ecosystems and most importantly, time, has led to the Papagaios becoming an ark of tenacious, charismatic and at times down right strange organisms.
We return to the islands to explore the groups which arose in the late Pliocene – three million years ago. There is a period for much greater cooling around the corner when ice will dominate the Pleistocene, but let us cast those thoughts aside in favour of exploring a time when diversity was at its height.
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In storytelling, Act Two is defined by Conflict and Rising Complexity. This too is true in the story of Papagaios. Partnerships and rivalries will develop over the years, and what better place to return to the islands than with the relationship that in many ways defines the Papagaios: lizard versus bird.
Four Marquinhets of the Pliocene
The Mock Rock and the Beach Octopus
Little Nobreza: The Long-Lived Lord of Porto Branco
Complex Clinker Shrubs and Social Crabs
The Grande Ponte Reef
Part Three: The Swimming, Running, Flying Fish