Extinction IV: The Pleistocene Ice Age

In contrast, the end of the Pliocene Epoch (5 million to 1.8 million years ago) also witnessed an extinction event of many species of South American mammals, including many marsupials. This mass extinction appears to have been caused by the appearance of a land connection between North and South America which would have allowed placental mammals to move southward into South America. The placental mammals would have likely been able to out-compete the marsupials.

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