The origin of the name Panama, or Panama in Spanish, is unclear.

The word is likely the Hispanization of a word from an indigenous language, and tradition has

it that the original word meant something like abundance. One story holds that early Spanish explorers were impressed by the number and variety of butterflies

in Panama, and that the name alludes to their abundance.

Another story suggests that Panama City was founded at the site of an indigenous fishing village

named for the abundance of fish in its

waters. Whatever the details, it's fair to take the name Panama as signifying an abundance of wildlife.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

Music Welcome to the history of abundant wildlife.

20 million years ago, North America and South America were separate continents.

Between them, water flowed freely between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. But beneath the Earth's surface, the Pacific plate was sliding under the Caribbean plate,

lifting the ladder and generating heat which created volcanoes.

By 15 million years ago, the waters between the two continents

were becoming shallower as a chain of volcanic islands began to rise above sea level. This slowed the

flow of water between the oceans, depositing sediment, most of which originated in the erosion of rock and soil from North and South America.

Over the passage of millions of years, the gaps between the volcanic islands gradually filled in.

By three million years ago, a continuous land bridge, an Isthmus, now linked North America to South America.

The creation of this Isthmus was the most important development in the history of our planet

since the meteorite strike that killed off the dinosaurs more than 60 million years earlier.

It rerouted the world's ocean and atmospheric currents, causing climate changes around the planet.

The Atlantic Ocean became saltier, and waters warmed by the sun in the shallow Caribbean Sea now flowed north and east toward Europe,

significantly moderating winter temperatures there.

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