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The 'Cenozoic Era' (IPA pronunciation: ); sometimes 'Caenozoic Era' or 'Cainozoic Era' (in the United Kingdom), meaning "new life" (Greek (''kainos''), "new", and (''zoe''), "life"), is the most recent of the three classic geological eras. It covers the 65.5 million years since the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous that marked the demise of the last non-avian dinosaurs and the end of the Mesozoic Era. The Cenozoic era is ongoing.

Contents

Subdivision

Tectonics

Climate

Life

See also

References and further reading

Subdivision

The Cenozoic is divided into two periods, the Paleogene and Neogene, and they are in turn divided into epochs. The Paleogene consists of the Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene epochs, and the Neogene consists of the Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene epochs, the last of which is ongoing. Historically, the Cenozoic has been divided into periods (or sub-eras) named the Tertiary (Paleocene through Pliocene) and Quaternary (Pleistocene and Holocene).

Tectonics

Geologically, the Cenozoic is the era when continents moved into their current positions. Australia-New Guinea split from Gondwana and drifted north and, eventually, adjacent to South-east Asia; Antarctica moved into its current position over the South Pole; the Atlantic Ocean widened and, later in the era, South America became attached to North America.

Climate

Early in the Cenozoic the climate was relatively warm until South America and Australia detached from Antarctica, the climate cooled. When South America became attached to North America, the Arctic region cooled, and eventually leading to an ice age.

Life

The Cenozoic is the 'age of new life'. During the Cenozoic, mammals diverged from a few small, simple, generalized forms into a diverse collection of terrestrial, marine, and flying animals. The Cenozoic is just as much the age of savannas, or the age of co-dependent flowering plants and insects. Birds also evolved substantially in the Cenozoic.
Monte Bolca is an important lagerstätte near Verona, Italy, containing excellently preserved fish and other fossils of Eocene age.

See also

★ Geologic Time Scale

References and further reading

★ ''British Caenozoic Fossils'', 1975, The Natural History Museum, London.

★ ''Geologic Time'', by Henry Roberts.