The impactful origin of neotropical rainforests
About 66 million years ago (Ma) , at the boundary of the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K/Pg) period, a sudden mass extinction was triggered by the impact of a bolide, destroying an estimated three-quarters of Earth's plant and animal species. The long-term effects of this event varied across Earth, and little is known about the outcome in low-latitude regions of the world. On page 63 of this issue, Carvalho et al. ([ 1…