Figure F2. Animated illustration of paleogeographic restoration of the plate tectonic evolution of the Cocos and Nazca plates. The restoration is based on the age model of oceanic crust from Meschede et al. (1998). The plate motion is calculated after Tamaki (1997). The location of the Galápagos hotspot is taken as fixed. The evolution of the Central America landbridge is adopted from Coates and Obando (1996). Dotted line = outline of present plate boundary. At 23 Ma: breakup of Farallon plate into Cocos and Nazca plates and formation of CNS-1; 19.5 Ma: formation of CNS-2; and 14.7 Ma: formation of the still-active CNS-3. (For a faster version without explanation titles, click here. For a slower version with explanation titles, click here.)