Which animals migrated from South America into North America during the Great American Interchange?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Cenozoic migration routes — Cenozoic Era Principal Cenozoic faunal migration routes and barriers.

During the Great American Interchange, which occurred when the Isthmus of Panama formed a land bridge in the mid-to-late Pliocene, several animal groups migrated from South America into North America. These South American migrants included:

Opossums
Porcupines
Armadillos
Ground sloths
Glyptodonts

While these animals moved north, a much larger wave of mammals migrated from North America into South America, including dogs and wolves, raccoons, cats, horses, tapirs, llamas, peccaries, and mastodons. This faunal exchange significantly altered the biodiversity of both continents.123