What time frame is estimated for the split establishing ancestors of major western *Neotoma* lineages?
Answer
Around 3.5 million years ago
The text specifies that the foundational evolutionary divergence, which established the ancestors of the primary western lineages including *N. fuscipes*, *N. macrotis*, *N. bryanti*, and *N. lepida*, is estimated to have occurred roughly 3.5 million years ago. This significant split took place during the Pliocene epoch, setting the deep evolutionary history for these groups across western North America.
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