Abstract

PATTERSON, Bruce D.. ON DRIVERS OF NEOTROPICAL MAMMAL DIVERSIFICATIONSobre factores de diversificación de mamíferos neotropicales. Mastozool. neotrop. [online]. 2020, vol.27, pp.15-26. ISSN 0327-9383.

The extraordinary diversity of Neotropical biotas needs explanation, and this overview purports to frame extrinsic factors involved in the diversification of Neotropical mammals. The immensity of this topic prompted a rather stark, conceptual approach. I first consider the various environmental and intrinsic factors involved in evolutionary divergence, then the prominent and influential roles of both dispersal and vicariance in biogeographic explanations, and then identify ecological opportunity as a potent but elusive underlying driver. I end the perspective with a series of questions focused on organisms and their landscapes that will likely engage me and other evolutionary biologists for the foreseeable future.

Keywords : oportunidad ecológica; dispersión; Mammalia; Región Neotropical; vicarianza.