Cenozoic Era

Our current Era in the Geologic Time Scale is called the Cenozoic Era. Cenozoic Era, third of
the major eras of Earth’s history, beginning about 66 million years ago and extending to the present.
It was the interval of time during which Earth’s flora and fauna evolved toward those of the present.
It was also the era that the continents, as we know them today, had fully split and drifted into their
current positions. The last of the continents to reach its place was Australia. Since the land masses
were now spread farther apart, climates were now very different meaning new and unique species
could evolve to fill the new niches the climates had available.

The Cenozoic Era is generally divided into three periods: the Paleogene (66 million to 23 million
years ago), the Neogene (23 million to 2.6 million years ago), and the Quaternary (2.6 million years
ago to the present); however, the era has been traditionally divided into the Tertiary and
Quaternary periods.

The first period in the Cenozoic Era is called the Tertiary Period. It began directly after the
K-T Mass Extinction (the “T” in “K-T” stands for “Tertiary”). At the very beginning of the time
period, the climate was much hotter and more humid than our current climate. In fact, tropical
regions were most likely too hot to support the various forms of life we would find there today. As
the Tertiary Period wore on, the Earth’s climate overall became much cooler and drier.

Flowering plants dominated the land, except for in the coldest climates. Much of the Earth
was covered in grasslands. The animals on land evolved into many species over a short period of
time. Mammals, especially, radiated in different directions very quickly. Even though the continents
were separated, there were thought to be several “land bridges” that connected them so land animals
could migrate easily between the different land masses. This allowed new species to evolve in each
climate and fill the available niches.

We are currently living the Quaternary Period. There was no mass extinction event that ended
the Tertiary Period and started the Quaternary Period. Instead, the division between the two
periods is somewhat ambiguous and often argued by scientists.

The climate rapidly changed at the very beginning of the Quaternary Period. It was a time of
rapid cooling in the Earth’s history. Several ice ages happened during the first half of this period
which caused glaciers to spread in the higher and lower latitudes. This forced most of the life on
Earth to concentrate its numbers around the equator. The last of these glaciers receded off of the
northern latitudes within the last 15,000 years. This means any life in these areas, including much
of Canada and the Northern United States, has only been in the area for a few thousand years as
the land began to once again be colonized as the climate changed to be more temperate.

The primate lineage also diverged in the early Quaternary Period to form the hominids or early
human ancestors. Eventually, this lineage split into the one that formed Homo sapiens, or the modern
human being. Many species have gone extinct, thanks to humans hunting them and destroying
habitats. Many large birds and mammals went extinct very soon after humans came into existence.
Many people think we are in a period of mass extinction right now due to human interference.