Recently, Researcher Cristiano Galeazzi from the State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation at Chengdu University of Technology (CDUT), together with an international research team led by Professor Renato Almeida of the University of São Paulo, Brazil, made significant progress in understanding the relationship between geological processes and biological evolution in the Amazon Basin. Their findings were published in Science Advances under the title “Mid-Late Pleistocene Evolution of Fluvial Landscapes in Central Amazonia: Shaping Ecosystems and Areas of Endemism.”
The study focuses on the evolution of river systems in central Amazonia during the Pleistocene and their influence on the origin and distribution of Amazonian biodiversity. By integrating large-scale geomorphological mapping with sedimentological and geochronological data, the researchers reconstructed the evolution of Amazonian landscapes over the past several hundred thousand years. Based on these findings, they proposed a new framework linking fluvial dynamics to the formation of present-day areas of endemism.
The research demonstrates that riverine processes during the Pleistocene continuously reshaped ecological habitat boundaries. The team identified key geomorphic processes, including sediment aggradation, valley incision, and river capture. Together, these processes repeatedly reorganized the lowland landscapes of Amazonia, influencing ecosystem evolution and the development of regions characterized by unique endemic species.
Overall, the study highlights that Amazonian biodiversity cannot be fully understood in isolation from the long-term evolution of the landscape. Large river systems have acted as primary drivers of ecosystem reorganization and biological evolution. The findings provide a new theoretical framework for understanding how Earth surface processes shape biodiversity.
Publication Information:
Cristiano P. Galeazzi, Renato P. Almeida, Carlos, E. Mazoca, Liliane Janikian, Andre O. Sawakuchi, Felipe T. Figueiredo, Camila, C. Ribas, Florian Wittmann, Fabiano F. Pupim. Mid-late Pleistocene evolution of fluvial landscapes in Central Amazonia: Shaping ecosystems and areas of endemism. Science Advances (2026).
Article Link: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aee2085
