High Mountains of Andes and Other South American Ranges Harbor More Diversity, New Study Reveals

With the aid of stable hydrogen isotopes in volcanic glass, an international research team, including Senckenberg geoscientist Prof. Dr. Andreas Mulch, has studied the uplift history of the Andes Plateau. In their study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), they show that individual sections of today's biodiversity hotspot rose to their current elevation only 13 to 9 million years ago. The formation of the Andes is considered decisive for the development of biodiversity in South America.