Great American Interchange - South American Invasions of North America Exclusive of Central America

South American Invasions of North America Exclusive of Central America

Extant or extinct (†) North American taxa whose ancestors migrated out of South America:

  • Cichlids (Cichlidae: e.g. Herichthys cyanoguttatus) – freshwater fish that often tolerate brackish conditions
  • Bufonid toads (Bufo)
  • Hylid frogs
  • Leptodactylid frogs – as far north as Texas
  • Microhylid frogs
  • Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
  • Armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus, †D. bellus)
  • Pachyarmatherium leiseyi, an enigmatic armored armadillo relative
  • †Pampatheres (Plaina, Holmesina) – large armadillo-like animals
  • †Glyptodontids (Glyptotherium)
  • †Megalonychid ground sloths (Pliometanastes, Megalonyx)
  • †Mylodontid ground sloths (Thinobadistes, Glossotherium, Paramylodon)
  • †Megatheriid ground sloths (Eremotherium, Nothrotheriops)
  • New World porcupines (Erethizon dorsatum, †Erethizon poyeri, †E. kleini)
  • Capybaras (†Neochoerus pinckneyi, †N. aesopi)
  • Vampire bats (†Desmodus stocki, †D. archaeodaptes)
  • Cougar (Puma concolor) – returning from a South American refugium after North American cougars were extirpated in the Pleistocene extinctions
  • †Terror birds (Phorusrhacidae: Titanis walleri)
  • Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
  • Tanagers (Thraupidae) – descended from earlier (perhaps Miocene) North American migrants
  • Tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae)
  • Parrots (Arini: Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha, †Conuropsis carolinensis)
  • Dasypus novemcinctus

  • Glyptotherium

  • The sloth †Eremotherium

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