Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The Paleogene Period (IPA: / ˈ p eɪ l i. ə dʒ iː n,-l i. oʊ-, ˈ p æ l i-/ PAY-lee-ə-jeen, -lee-oh-, PAL-ee-; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period 66 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period 23.04 Ma.
The Oligocene (IPA: / ˈ ɒ l ɪ ɡ ə s iː n,-ɡ oʊ-/ OL-ə-gə-seen, -goh-) [4] is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present (33.9 ± 0.1 to 23.03 ± 0.05 Ma). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...
The extinction event produced major changes in Paleogene insect communities. Many groups of ants were present in the Cretaceous, but in the Eocene ants became dominant and diverse, with larger colonies. Butterflies diversified as well, perhaps to take the place of leaf-eating insects wiped out by the extinction.
It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek παλαιός palaiós meaning "old" and the Eocene Epoch (which succeeds the Paleocene), translating to "the old part of the Eocene". The epoch is bracketed by two major events in Earth's history.
Artist's depiction of the end-Cretaceous impact eventSince the 19th century, a significant amount of research has been conducted on the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, the mass extinction that ended the dinosaur-dominated Mesozoic Era and set the stage for the Age of Mammals, or Cenozoic Era.
Paleogene: Eocene–Oligocene extinction event: 33.9 Ma: Multiple causes including global cooling, polar glaciation, falling sea levels, and the Popigai impactor [12] Cretaceous: Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event: 66 Ma Chicxulub impactor; the volcanism which resulted in the formation of the Deccan Traps may have contributed. [13]
c. 66.038 ± 0.011 Ma – Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous Period marks the end of the Mesozoic era and the age of the dinosaurs; start of the Paleogene Period and the current Cenozoic era.
The most recent and best-known, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which occurred approximately 66 Ma (million years ago), was a large-scale mass extinction of animal and plant species in a geologically short period of time. [72]