References

45

Table 5.1 (continued)

Name

DurationSuperscript normal a^a

Features

New or dominant life

Cenozoic era (tertiary period)Superscript normal c^c

Palaeocene

65–56

Volcanoes; warm spike Mammals

Eocene

56–34

Separation of Eurasia

High diversity

Oligocene

34–23

Cooling

Low diversity

Miocene

23–5.3

Continental collisions

Expansion of

grasslands

Pliocene

5.3–2.6

Himalayas, Alps

Elephants,

Australopicethus

Cenozoic era (quaternary period)Superscript normal c^c

Pleistocene

2.6–0.01

Last ice age

Woolly mammoth; H.

sapiens

Holocene

0.01–present

–

H. sapiens

Superscript normal a^a In millions of years before present

Superscript normal b^b Mass extinction

Superscript normal c^c Phanerozoic aeon

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