Geologic Ages
Cenozoic Era
Topics covered in this section:
Introduction
We now enter a kinder, more gentle era ... sort of, at least. Mammals become the dominant terrestrial life form. And a series of Ice Ages contribute to the planet's global weather patterns. And, incidently, you and I are living in the Cenozoic Era right now.
Cenozoic Era
Tertiary Period
Mammals began to claim their territory.
Paleocene Epoch
During the Paleocene Epoch, 65 million to 55 million years ago, mammals inherited the earth. Chief among the early mammals were marsupials, lemuroids, insectivores, primitive hoofed animals, and creodonts (the carnivorous ancestors of all cats and dogs).
Eocene Epoch
A number of mammals appeared simultaneously in Europe and North America during the Eocene Epoch, 55 million to 38 million years ago. Ancestral forms of the horse, rhinoceros, and camel appeared. Modern groups such as primates, bats, and squirrel-like rodents appeared. Mammals began to adapt to marine life.
Oligocene Epoch
During the Oligocene Epoch, 38 million to 24 million years ago, the rhino ranked as the largest land mammal of any age. Also making their debut were elephants, cats and dogs, monkeys, and great apes.
Miocene Epoch
In the Miocene Epoch, 24 million to 5 million years ago, the global climate cooled, fostering the establishment of the Antartic ice sheet. Raccoons and weasels made their initial debut. Large apes roamed across Africa and southern Europe.
Pliocene Epoch
During the Pliocene Epoch, 5 million to 1.6 million years ago, the climate became cooler and drier. Mammals were well-established as the dominant terrestrial life form. The rapid evolution of one group of mammals, the primates, produced several species considered the direct ancestors of modern humans.
Quaternary Period
The Quaternary Period was a period of continual advances and declines of Ice Ages, followed by the present day.
Pleistocene Epoch
The Pleistocene Epoch extended from 1.6 million years ago to the most recent Ice Age of 10,000 years ago. Glacial ice spread over more than one-fourth of the Earth's land surface, drastically dropping the ocean levels. Modern humans made their debut and began their migrations.
This is such an important epoch that we decided to cover it in more detail. See the next document for more details on the Pleistocene Epoch.
Holocene Epoch
Today we are currently in the Holocene Epoch, which began 10,000 years ago and extends to the present.
The global climate moderated as the last of the continental ice sheets rapidly retreated from Europe and North America. Sea levels rose.
All of recorded human history, including that of Romania, occurs during the Holocene Epoch.
Go Elsewhere
At this point, you have a couple of options:
- Return to the History Department to choose another timeframe.
- Rewind to the previous section, the Introduction Section.
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- Select a specific section topic (shown in preferred reading order):
- Precambrian Era
- Paleozoic Era
- Mesozoic Era
- Cenozoic Era
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- Pleistocene Epoch
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