Part 3/16:
Long before the Amazon’s lush canopy and sprawling waterways, it was a vastly different landscape. Around 21 million years ago, during the Miocene epoch's Aquitanian age, what is now the Amazon basin was primarily a super mega lake—Lake Pabos. This period was characterized by a generally cool and dry climate globally, but the Amazon persisted as a warm, wet environment. Tectonic uplift caused the Andes to rise, creating a basin that trapped water in a large, bowl-shaped depression. This led to the rapid flooding of the region, transforming it into a vast aquatic system.