A debate over when the gap between North and South America closed has opened a rift in the scientific community. Analyzing data from rocks, fossils and genetic studies, researchers have assembled a defense of the conventional view that the Isthmus of Panama formed about 3 million years ago. The work rebuts papers published last year that concluded that the continental connection began millions of years earlier (SN: 5/2/15, p. 10). The authors of the new paper, published August 17 in Science Advances, caution against the "uncritical acceptance" of the older formation date.
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