<p>We provide a Plio-Quaternary quantitative temperature record based on the distribution of bacterial membrane lipids; branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) preserved in lake sediment of the Funza-II core in the Sabana de Bogotá (2500 m.a.s.l.), Eastern Cordillera of Colombia (~4°N). Using a refined age model based on 4 new zircon U-Pb dates from ash layers that place the base of the core at around ~4 Ma, we show that Pliocene temperatures were ~2.2 ± 2.0°C warmer than Mid-Late Pleistocene temperatures. If the Pliocene eastern tropical Pacific were as warm as it becomes during major El Niño events today, the teleconnection to the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia could account for a warmer Pliocene than present-day climate by 2°C, without a pantropical change in temperature. These temperature estimates are the only terrestrial tropical record within 5° of the equator for Pliocene time.</p>