Geology 105: History of Life
Lecture Notes
Introduction and Overview
Fossils 1
Fossils 2
Geologic Principles
Relative Time
Absolute Time
Diversity of Life
Evolution
Evolution and Diversity
Rates of Evolution
Extinction
Plate Tectonics
Origin of the Earth
Origin of Life
Early Precambrian (Archean) Life
Late Precambrian (Proterozoic) Life
The Cambrian Explosion
Early Paleozoic Life
Late Paleozoic Marine Life
The Invasion of Land 1
The Invasion of Land 2
The Permo-Triassic Extinctions
Mesozoic Marine Life
Mesozoic Terrestrial Life
Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinctions
Cenozoic Life

Cenozoic Life

Lecture 26
5/13/98

Introduction
 Today we have a quick overview of the Cenozoic Era. This era covers 65 million years and record the development of modern faunas and features on the earth.
Key Points
 The extinction of the dinosaurs opened up opportunities for the mammals to radiate.
 The fossil record for the Cenozoic is much better than earlier eras, allowing us to see evolution of live and the planet in much greater detail.
Cenozoic Paleogeography
 continental positions
 North America & Europe connected
 South America, Africa, Australia separate
 continental movements
 closing of Tethys
 connecting Africa and Europe
 connecting North America and South America
Important Events
 Radiation of mammals
 number of families increases from 8 to 70
 Evolution of grasses
 Miocene (23 Ma)
 (savanna environments)
 plants that thrive with grazing
 co-evolution
 Animal migrations
 North American faunas to South America (& vice versa)
 European & Asian faunas to Africa ( & vice versa)
 Australian faunas
 Glaciations
 At least 17 times in the last 2 million years
 Sheets of ice extending over the continents
 generate many of the land forms that we see today
 Extinction of large Mammals in North America
 occur around the time that man shows up on the continent
 possibly related to ice ages