Late Cretaceous/Paleogene West Antarctica Terrestrial Biota and its Intercontinental Affinities

Abstract

One of the most intriguing paleobiogeographical phenomena related to the final stage of Gondwanan breakup is the close similarities and, in most cases, inferred sister-group relationships, of a number of terrestrial and marine/coastal vertebrate taxa recovered from Paleogene deposits of West Antarctica with those from other continents (South America, Australia). These continents are today separated by large and deep ocean floors, which was not the case in the geological past. However, the inferred timing of continental separation does not always match with the inferred time of vertebrate dispersals.