South American ecosystems suffered one of the greatest biogeographical events after the
establishment of the Panamian land bridge called the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI).
This refers to the exchange in several phases of land mammals between the Americas this
event started during the late Miocene with the appearance of the Holartic Procyonidae
(Huayquerian Age) in South America and continues today. The major phases of mammalian dispersal
occurred from the Latest Pliocene (Marplatan Age) to the Late Pleistocene (Lujanian Age). The
most important and richest localities of Late Miocene-Holocene fossil vertebrates of South
America are those of the Pampean region of Argentina. There are also several Late Miocene and
Pliocene localities in western Argentina and Bolivia. Other important fossils have been
collected in localities of Pleistocene age outside Argentina: Tarija (Bolivia) karstic caves
of Lagoa Santa and the recently explored caves of Tocantins (Brasil) Talara (Perú) La
Carolina (Ecuador) Muaco (Venezuela) and Cueva del Milodon (Chile) among others. The book
discusses basic information for interpreting the GABI such as taxonomic composition
(incorporating the latest revisions) at classical and new localities for each stage addressing
climate environments and time boundaries for each stage. It includes the chronology and
dynamics of the GABI the integration of South American mammalian faunas through time the
Quaternary mammalian extinctions and the composition of recent mammalian fauna of the
continent.
