CENOZOIC ERA EXPANDED
Cenozoic era extends from 65 m.y.a. to present and it is divided into
Tertiary and Quaternary periods:
| millions of years ago |
era | period | epoch |
|
65 + Cenozoic Tertiary Palaeocene Mammals become abundant
| . . . after extinction of
| . . . dinosaurs and large
| . . . reptiles; by the
| beginning of the Eocene
60 + rodents and primates
| have evolved
|
|
|
55 +
| Eocene Mammals dominant:
| . rodents, artiodactyls,
| . carnivores, perisso-
| . dactyls (including
50 + horses); whales make
| their first appearance
|
|
|
45 +
|
|
|
|
40 +
|
| Oligocene Continued rise of
| . mammals: pigs,
| . rhinoceroses, and
35 + . tapirs make their
| appearance
|
|
|
30 +
|
|
|
| Miocene More and more modern
25 + . mammals: horses, dogs
| . and bears, modern
| . whales, South American
| monkeys; modern birds,
| apes present in
20 + southern Europe,
| Ramapithecus appears
|
|
|
15 +
|
|
|
|
10 +
|
|
| Pliocene Mammals similar to
| . modern forms evolve;
5 + . australopithecines
| . appear, the forerunners
| of humanity, appear
| Quarternary Pleistocene (1.8) Ice ages; Homo-
| . . sapiens evolves
PRESENT + . Holocene (0.01) Human history