The Stage is Set
The Stage is Set
The Papagaios Archipelago formed during the mid-Eocene epoch, a time of change. Just a few million years earlier was a period known as the Eocene Thermal Maximum – the hottest the Earth had been since the before the time of the dinosaurs – yet the temperature was now dropping rapidly as the continents moved and Antarctica developed ice sheets for the first time. From the end of the Eocene Thermal Maximum (50mya) to the time Papagaios was settled by vertebrate life (35mya), average global temperatures dropped by over 15°C.
As a subtropical archipelago far from the continents, the Papagaios are more resistant to temperature variation, and the island ecosystems still finding its footing. And as the Eocene gave way to the Oligocene, the previous drastic cooling reverses somewhat; Antarctica undergoes partial melting, releasing water and leading to a small increase in temperature and humidity.
The stage is now set to return to Papagaios in the late Oligocene – 25 million years ago – and discover what has become of our fledgling ecosystem.
Papagotitans - Giant Lizards of the Oligocene
Clinker Shrubs and their Symbionts
Palusodon - The Mystery of the Chisel-Toothed Lizards
Giant Insects of Papagaios - Past and Present
Kingrays (Part One) - An Explosion of Radiation
Kingrays (Part Two) - Rhynchothrix and the Race to Gigantism
The Flying Berries of the Cliff Juniper
Poison, Partnerships and Parasites in the Walnut Meadows
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