Millions of years ago, water once flowed freely between what was slowly becoming North and South America. Over time, the channel between the two continents was slowly closed as the Caribbean, the Cocos, the Nazca, and the South American tectonic plates began to form the isthmus of Panama. Once fully formed, this land bridge helped the Native Americans, animals, and plants (brought by birds and other such creatures) cross into South America. The Pre-Columbians that stayed on the isthmus lived highly adaptive lives because of the hostile environment in which they lived. Not much is known about some of the natives groups that had settled on the isthmus because many like the Coclé and the Cueva were wiped out by diseases brought by the
