The Cenozoic era (“the era of new life”) began 66 million years ago and continues to this day.

This era is the period immediately following the Mesozoic era. There is an assumption that it originates between the Melio - and Paleogene.

Just at this time, the second mass extinction of animals and plants is noted in connection with an unknown catastrophic phenomenon (according to one version, a meteorite fall).

Periods of the Cenozoic Era

• Paleogene (ancient). Duration - 42 million years. Epochs - Paleocene (66 million - 56 million years ago), Eocene (56 million - 34 million years ago), Oligocene (34 million - 23 million years ago)
• Neogene (new). Duration - 21 million years. Epochs - Miocene (23 million - 5 million years ago), Pliocene (5 million - 2.6 million years ago)
• Quaternary (Anthropogenic). Lasts even now. Epochs - Pleistocene (2.6 million - 12 thousand years ago), Holocene (12 thousand years ago and until today).

Processes of the Cenozoic Era

• Alpine tectogenesis, also called neotectonic, begins
• The mountains of the Mediterranean Sea, ridges and islands along the Pacific coast are being formed
• Block movements took place in the areas formed in previous periods.
• The climate is changing, becoming more severe
• Deposits of many minerals are being formed - from gas and oil to gold and platinum.

Characteristics of the Cenozoic era

• At the very beginning of the Cenozoic era, there were two zones of geosynclinal folding - the Mediterranean and the Pacific, within which sedimentary layers were deposited.
• The Gondwana mainland is breaking up.
• The North American continent and the Eurasian one stand out.
• In the middle of the Paleogene, the Tethys Ocean extends to part of modern Europe, Siberia, Central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula and the African continent.
• In the late Paleogene, the sea leaves these platforms.

Life in the Cenozoic Era

After the mass extinction of various species, life on Earth has changed dramatically. The place of lizards is occupied by mammals. Warm-blooded mammals showed the best adaptability to Cenozoic conditions. There is a new form of life - a reasonable person.

Plants of the Cenozoic Era

At high latitudes, angiosperms and conifers begin to predominate. The equator zone was covered with rain forests (palms, sandalwood, ficuses). In the depths of the continental zones, savannahs and rare forests were common. Plants of a tropical type grew in the middle latitudes - breadfruit trees, tree ferns, banana trees, sandalwood.

The Arctic was covered with broad-leaved and coniferous trees. In the Neogene, the flora of the modern Mediterranean Sea begins to develop. There were almost no evergreens in the north. There are taiga, tundra and forest-steppe zones. In place of the savannas, deserts or semi-deserts appear.

Animals of the Cenozoic Era

At the beginning of the Cenozoic era, dominated by:

• small mammals
• proboscis
• Pig-like
• Indicotheric
• Ancestors of horses

The savannas were inhabited by diatryma birds - predators that could not fly. Lions and hyenas spread in the Neogene. The main mammals are:

Chiroptera, rodents, monkeys, cetaceans, etc.

The largest are rhinos, saber-toothed tigers, dinotherium and mastodon. Placental mammals begin to dominate. Periodic periods of cooling and glaciation lead to the fact that many species disappear.

Aromorphoses of the Cenozoic era

• Enlargement of the brain in a human ancestor (epimorphosis);
• Formation of a new geological shell of the earth - the noosphere;
• Distribution of angiosperms;
• Active development of invertebrates. Insects have a tracheal system, a cover of chitin, a central nervous system, unconditioned reflexes develop;
• Evolution of the circulatory system in vertebrates.

Climate of the Cenozoic Era

The climatic conditions of the Paleocene and Eocene were quite mild. In the equatorial zone, the average air temperature is about 28 0 C. At the latitude of the North Sea - about 22-26 0 C. In the area of ​​the modern northern islands, the vegetation corresponded to modern subtropics. Remains of the same type of flora have been found in Antarctica.

A sharp cooling set in during the Oligocene. In the region of the poles, the air temperature dropped to +5 0 C. Signs of glaciation began to appear. Later, the ice sheet of Antarctica appeared. In the Neogene, climatic conditions were warm and humid. A zoning appears, which resembles the modern one.

• In the Cenozoic era, primates and the first man appear;
• The most recent glaciation was 20,000 years ago, i.e. relatively recently. The total area of ​​glaciers was more than 23 million km 2, and the thickness of the ice was almost 1.5 km;
• Many species of fauna and flora at the beginning and middle of the Cenozoic era are the ancestors of modern ones. At the end of the period, the outlines of the oceans and continents become similar to modern ones.

Results

Continents take on a modern look. The animal and plant world familiar to modern understanding is being formed. Dinosaurs are completely gone. Mammals (placental) develop and angiosperms spread. Animals develop a central nervous system. Alpine folding begins to form and the main mineral deposits appear.

The Quaternary period began 2.6 million years ago and continues to the present. It is one of three periods (66 million years ago - to the present) and follows (23-2.6 million years ago). Anthropogene is divided into two epochs:

• Pleistocene epoch, or Pleistocene (2.6 million - 11.7 thousand years ago);
• Holocene epoch, or Holocene (11.7 thousand years ago - up to the present).

Geography

Major geographic changes that occurred during this time period included the formation of the Bosporus and Skagerrak straits during the ice ages, which respectively turned the Black and Baltic Seas into seas, and then their flooding (and the return of salt water) by rising sea levels; periodic flooding of the English Channel, the creation of a land bridge between Great Britain and the European part of the world; the periodic appearance of the land-based Isthmus of Beringia, forming a bridge between Asia and North America; and periodic flash flooding of the skablende of the American northwest with glacial water.

The current extent of the Hudson Bay, the Great Lakes, and other large lakes of North America is a consequence of the rebuilding of the Canadian Shield since the last ice age; during the Quaternary, the coastlines were constantly changing.

Climate

Throughout the Quaternary period, the planet revolved around the Sun. Small shifts caused ice ages. About 800,000 years ago, a cyclic pattern emerged: an ice age lasted about 100,000 years, followed by warmer interglacials of 10,000 to 15,000 years each. The last ice age ended about 10,000 years ago. Sea levels rose rapidly and the continents reached their current outlines.

As temperatures dropped, ice sheets spread from the poles and covered much of North America and Europe, parts of Asia and South America, and all of Antarctica. With so much water locked up in glaciers, sea levels are dropping.

Animal world

Birds

During the Quaternary, birds continued to evolve throughout the world and inhabited a variety of habitats. However, many giant flightless birds have become extinct, including the dodo, or Mauritian dodo. Large flying birds have also disappeared, including the teratornis merriama, which had a wingspan of more than 3.5 m and a weight of about 15 kg.

Reptiles and amphibians

Extinct reptiles, lizards, and turtles were larger than extant ones, and crocodiles were smaller, while snakes did not tend to a certain body size.

Body size played a complex role in the extinction of the Late Quaternary reptiles. Larger species of lizards and turtles have been clearly affected by extinction mechanisms such as overexploitation and the introduction of invasive species, leading to the predominance of large-sized animals among extinct taxa.

marine fauna

From the very beginning of the Quaternary period, whales and sharks dominated the seas, and were at the top, above the otters, seals, dugongs, fish, squid, hedgehogs and microscopic plankton that fill the lower trophic level.

Man

In fact, the Quaternary is often considered the "age of the people". Homo erectus ( Homo erectus) appeared in Africa at the beginning of this period and developed larger brains and higher intelligence. The first modern humans evolved in Africa about 190,000 years ago and dispersed to Europe and Asia, and then to Australia and America. Our species has greatly changed land and sea life, and now, according to scientists, humanity is causing global climate change.

Vegetable world

Despite the significant climatic differences between the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs, most of it has not changed. The Pleistocene epoch had two main climatic conditions: glacial and interglacial. During the Ice Age, most of the land was covered with ice, and the vegetation was mostly tundra, which included mosses, sedges, shrubs, lichens, and stunted grasses; however, during the interglacial period, or the time when most of the soil was not covered by ice, woodlands and coniferous forests existed. The occurrence occurred during the beginning of the Holocene. This habitat has allowed many animals and plants to thrive. During this period, coniferous and deciduous forests developed, as well as savannahs, where herbivores grazed and flourished.

The Cenozoic Ice Age (30 million years ago - present) is a recently begun ice age.

Is the present time the Holocene that has begun? 10,000 years ago, characterized as a relatively warm period after the Pleistocene ice age, often qualified as an interglacial. Ice sheets exist in the high latitudes of the northern (Greenland) and southern (Antarctica) hemispheres; at the same time, in the northern hemisphere, the Greenland ice cover extends south to 60 ° north latitude (i.e., to the latitude of St. Petersburg), fragments of the sea ice cover - to 46--43 ° north latitude (i.e. Crimea), and permafrost up to 52--47 ° north latitude. In the southern hemisphere, the continental part of Antarctica is covered by an ice sheet with a thickness of 2500–2800 m (up to 4800 m in some areas of East Antarctica), while ice shelves make up ? 10% of the area of ​​the continent that rises above sea level. In the Cenozoic Ice Age, the Pleistocene Ice Age is the strongest: a decrease in temperature led to glaciation of the Arctic Ocean and the northern regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, while the glaciation boundary passed 1500-1700 km south of the modern one.

Geologists divide the Cenozoic into two periods: Tertiary (65 - 2 million years ago) and Quaternary (2 million years ago - our time), which in turn are divided into epochs. Of these, the first is much longer than the second, but the second - Quaternary - has a number of unique features; this is the time of the ice ages and the final formation of the modern face of the Earth.

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*34 million years ago - the birth of the Antarctic ice sheet

*25 million years ago -- its abbreviation

* 13 million years ago -- its re-growth

* about 3 million years ago - the beginning of the Pleistocene ice age, the repeated appearance and disappearance of ice sheets in the northern regions of the Earth

Tertiary period

The Tertiary period consists of epochs:

Paleocene

Oligocene

Pliocene

Paleocene epoch (from 65 to 55 million years ago)

Geography and climate: The Paleocene marked the beginning of the Cenozoic era. At that time, the continents were still in motion, as the "great southern continent" Gondwana continued to break apart. South America was now completely cut off from the rest of the world and turned into a kind of floating "ark" with a unique fauna of early mammals. Africa, India and Australia have moved further apart. Throughout the Paleocene, Australia was located near Antarctica. Sea levels have dropped and new landmasses have appeared in many parts of the world.

Fauna: On land, the age of mammals began. Rodents and insectivores appeared. Among them were large animals, both predatory and herbivorous. In the seas, marine reptiles have been replaced by new species of predatory bony fish and sharks. New varieties of bivalves and foraminifera emerged.

Flora: New species of flowering plants and the insects that pollinated them continued to spread.

Eocene epoch (from 55 to 38 million years ago)

Geography and climate: In the Eocene, the main land masses began to gradually assume a position close to that which they occupy today. A large part of the land was still divided into a kind of giant islands, as the huge continents continued to move away from each other. South America has lost contact with Antarctica, and India has moved closer to Asia. At the beginning of the Eocene, Antarctica and Australia were still located nearby, but later they began to diverge. North America and Europe also split apart, creating new mountain ranges. The sea flooded part of the land. The climate was generally warm or temperate. Most of it was covered with lush tropical vegetation, and vast areas were overgrown with dense swampy forests.

Fauna: Bats, lemurs, tarsiers appeared on land; the ancestors of today's elephants, horses, cows, pigs, tapirs, rhinos and deer; other large herbivores. Other mammals, such as whales and sirens, have returned to the aquatic environment. The number of species of freshwater bony fish has increased. Other groups of animals also evolved, including ants and bees, starlings and penguins, giant flightless birds, moles, camels, rabbits and voles, cats, dogs, and bears.

Flora: In many parts of the world, forests with lush vegetation grew, palm trees grew in temperate latitudes.

Oligocene epoch (from 38 to 25 million years ago)

Geography and climate: In the Oligocene era, India crossed the equator, and Australia finally separated from Antarctica. The climate on Earth became cooler, a huge ice sheet formed over the South Pole. For the formation of such a large amount of ice, no less significant volumes of sea water were required. This led to a decrease in sea levels throughout the planet and the expansion of the territory occupied by land. Widespread cooling caused the disappearance of the lush rainforests of the Eocene in many parts of the globe. Their place was taken by forests, which preferred a more temperate (cool) climate, as well as vast steppes spread over all continents.

Fauna: With the spread of the steppes, the rapid flowering of herbivorous mammals began. Among them, new species of rabbits, hares, giant sloths, rhinos and other ungulates arose. The first ruminants appeared.

Flora: Tropical forests have shrunk and begun to give way to temperate forests, and vast steppes have appeared. New herbs spread rapidly, new types of herbivores developed.

Miocene epoch (from 25 to 5 million years ago)

Geography and climate: During the Miocene, the continents were still "on the march", and during their collisions a number of grandiose cataclysms occurred. Africa "crashed" into Europe and Asia, resulting in the emergence of the Alps. When India and Asia collided, the Himalayan mountains shot up. At the same time, the Rocky Mountains and the Andes formed as other giant plates continued to shift and pile on top of each other.

However, Austria and South America still remained isolated from the rest of the world, and each of these continents continued to develop its own unique fauna and flora. The ice sheet in the southern hemisphere spread to the whole of Antarctica, which led to further cooling of the climate.

Fauna: Mammals migrated from mainland to mainland along the newly formed land bridges, which dramatically accelerated evolutionary processes. Elephants from Africa moved to Eurasia, while cats, giraffes, pigs and buffaloes moved in the opposite direction. Saber-toothed cats and monkeys appeared, including anthropoids. In Australia, cut off from the outside world, monotremes and marsupials continued to develop.

Flora: Inland regions became colder and drier, and steppes spread more and more in them.

Pliocene epoch (from 5 to 2 million years ago)

Geography and Climate: A space traveler looking down on the Earth at the beginning of the Pliocene would find the continents in almost the same places as they are today. The gaze of a galactic visitor would open up giant ice caps in the northern hemisphere and the huge ice sheet of Antarctica. Because of all this mass of ice, the climate of the Earth became even cooler, and it became much colder on the surface of the continents and oceans of our planet. Most of the forests that survived in the Miocene disappeared, giving way to vast steppes that spread all over the world.

Fauna: Herbivorous hoofed mammals continued to multiply and evolve rapidly. Toward the end of the period, a land bridge connected South and North America, which led to a grand "exchange" of animals between the two continents. It is believed that the intensified interspecific competition caused the extinction of many ancient animals. Rats entered Australia, and the first humanoid creatures appeared in Africa.

Flora: As the climate cools, steppes have replaced forests.

Fig.5

Quaternary period

Consists of epochs:

Pleistocene

Holocene

Pleistocene epoch (from 2 to 0.01 million years ago)

Geography and climate: At the beginning of the Pleistocene, most of the continents occupied the same position as today, and some of them needed to cross half the globe to do this. A narrow land "bridge" connected North and South America. Australia was located on the opposite side of the Earth from Britain. Giant ice sheets were creeping into the northern hemisphere. It was the era of the great glaciation with alternating periods of cooling and warming and fluctuations in sea level. This ice age continues to this day.

Animals: Some animals have managed to adapt to the increased cold by acquiring thick wool: for example, woolly mammoths and rhinos. Of the predators, saber-toothed cats and cave lions are the most common. This was the age of the giant marsupials in Australia and the huge flightless birds, such as the moa or epiornis, that lived in many parts of the southern hemisphere. The first people appeared, and many large mammals began to disappear from the face of the Earth.

Flora: Ice gradually crept from the poles, and coniferous forests gave way to tundra. Farther from the edge of the glaciers, deciduous forests gave way to coniferous ones. In the warmer regions of the globe, there are vast steppes.

Holocene epoch (from 0.01 million years to the present day)

Geography and climate: The Holocene began 10,000 years ago. During the entire Holocene, the continents occupied practically the same places as today, the climate was also similar to the modern one, becoming either warmer or colder every few millennia. Today we are experiencing one of the periods of warming. As the ice sheets decreased, the sea level slowly rose. The beginning of the time of the human race.

Fauna: At the beginning of the period, many species of animals became extinct, mainly due to the general warming of the climate, but, perhaps, increased human hunting for them also affected. Later, they may have fallen victim to competition from new animal species introduced by people from other places. Human civilization has become more advanced and spread all over the world.

Flora: With the advent of agriculture, the peasants destroyed more and more wild plants in order to clear areas for crops and pastures. In addition, plants brought by people to areas new to them sometimes crowded out indigenous vegetation.

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Ice Age Tertiary Quaternary

Cenozoic era (Cenozoic)

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Cenozoic era represents the current era, which began 66 million years ago, going immediately after the Mesozoic. Specifically, it originates on the border of the Cretaceous and Paleogene, when the second largest catastrophic extinction of species occurred on Earth. This era is significant for the development of mammals that replaced dinosaurs and other reptiles, which almost completely died out at the turn of these eras. In the process of development of mammals, a genus of primates stood out, from which humans later arose. If we translate the concept Cenozoic” from Greek, it will look like “New Life”.

Periods of the Cenozoic era, paleography and climate

Main periods of the Cenozoic era- Paleogene, consisting of the Paleocene (66 - 56 million years ago), Eocene (56 - 34 million years ago) and Oligocene (40 - 23 million years ago), Neogene, the sections of which are Miocene ( 23 - 5 million years ago) and the Pliocene (5 - 2.5 million years ago) and the current Quaternary, dividing into the Pleistocene (2.5 million years ago - about 12 thousand years ago .) and the Holocene, originating about 12 thousand years ago. n. and lasting to this day.

During the Cenozoic era, the geographical outlines of the continents acquired the form that exists today. The North American continent moved further and further away from the remaining Laurasian, and now the Eurasian part of the global northern continent, and the South American segment moved further and further away from the African segment of southern Gondwana. Australia and Antarctica retreated more and more to the south, while the Indian segment was more and more “squeezed out” to the north, until, finally, it joined the South Asian part of the future Eurasia, causing the rise of the Caucasian mainland, and also largely contributing to the rise from the water and the rest of the current part of the European continent.

The climate of the Cenozoic era constantly harsh. The cooling was not absolutely sharp, but still not all groups of animal and plant species had time to get used to it. It was during the Cenozoic that the upper and southern ice caps were formed in the region of the poles, and the climatic map of the earth acquired the zonality that we have today. It is a pronounced equatorial belt along the earth's equator, and further in order of distance to the poles - subequatorial, tropical, subtropical, temperate, and beyond the polar circles, respectively, the arctic and antarctic climatic zones.

Let's take a closer look at the periods of the Cenozoic era.

Paleogene

Throughout almost all Paleogene period In the Cenozoic era, the climate was warm and humid, although a constant trend towards cooling could be traced throughout its length. The average temperature in the North Sea area was kept within 22-26°C. But by the end of the Paleogene, it began to get colder and sharper, and at the turn of the Neogene, the northern and southern ice caps were already formed. And if in the case of the northern sea these were separate areas of alternately formed and melting wandering ice, then in the case of Antarctica, a persistent ice sheet began to form here, which still exists today. The average annual temperature in the region of the current polar circles has dropped to 5°C.

But until the first frosts hit the poles, renewed life, both in the sea and ocean depths and on the continents, flourished. Due to the extinction of dinosaurs, mammals completely populated all continental spaces. During the first two Paleogene divisions, mammals diverged and evolved into many different forms. Many different proboscis animals arose, indicothere (rhino), tapir and pig-like. Most of them were chained to some kind of water bodies, but many species of rodents also appeared, which also felt excellent in the depths of the continents. Some of them gave rise to the first ancestors of horses and other one and artiodactyls. The first predators (creodonts) began to appear. New species of birds arose, and vast areas of the savannas were inhabited by diatryms - a variety of flightless bird species.

Insects multiplied unusually. In the seas, cephalopods and bivalve molluscs multiplied everywhere. Corals grew very strongly, new varieties of crustaceans appeared, but bony fish received the greatest flourishing.

The most widespread in the Paleogene were such plants of the Cenozoic era, like tree-like ferns, all kinds of sandalwood, banana and breadfruit trees. Closer to the equator, chestnut, laurel, oak, sequoia, araucaria, cypress, and myrtle trees grew. In the first period of the Cenozoic, dense vegetation was also widespread far beyond the polar circles. These were mostly mixed forests, but coniferous and deciduous broad-leaved plants prevailed here, the prosperity of which was absolutely no obstacle to the polar nights.

Neogene

At the initial stage Neogene the climate was still comparatively warm, but a slow cooling trend still persisted. The ice heaps of the northern seas began to melt more and more slowly, until the upper northern shield also began to form. The climate, due to cooling, began to acquire an increasingly pronounced continental color. It was during this period of the Cenozoic era that the continents became most similar to modern ones. South America merged with North America, and just at that time, climatic zoning acquired similar features to modern ones. By the end of the Neogene in the Pliocene, the second wave of sharp cooling hit the globe.

Despite the fact that the Neogene was two times shorter than the Paleogene, it was he who was marked by explosive evolution among mammals. It was placental varieties that dominated everywhere. The main mass of mammals was divided into anchitheria, the ancestors of horse-like and hipparion, also horse-like and three-toed, but gave rise to hyenas, lions and other modern predators. All kinds of rodents were diverse at that time of the Cenozoic era, the first distinct ostrich-like ones began to appear. Due to the cooling and the fact that the climate began to acquire an increasingly continental color, areas of ancient steppes, savannahs and light forests expanded, where the ancestors of modern bison, giraffe-like, deer-like, pigs and other mammals grazed in large numbers, which were constantly hunted by the ancient Cenozoic predators. It was at the end of the Neogene that the first ancestors of humanoid primates began to appear in the forests.

Despite the winters of the polar latitudes, tropical vegetation was still rampant in the equatorial belt of the earth. Broad-leaved woody plants were the most diverse. Consisting of them, as a rule, evergreen forests interspersed and bordered on savannas and shrubs of other woodlands, subsequently it was they who gave diversity to modern Mediterranean flora, namely olive, plane trees, walnuts, boxwood, southern pine and cedar.

The northern forests were also varied. There were no evergreens here, but in the majority chestnut, sequoia and other coniferous-broad-leaved and deciduous trees grew and took root. Later, in connection with the second sharp cooling, vast areas of tundra and forest-steppes formed in the north. The tundras have filled all the zones with the current temperate climate, and the places where until recently tropical forests have grown luxuriantly have turned into deserts and semi-deserts.

Anthropogen (h quaternary period)

AT Anthropogenic period unexpected warmings alternated with equally sharp cold snaps. The boundaries of the glacial zone of the Anthropogen sometimes reached 40° northern latitudes. Under the northern ice cap were North America, Europe up to the Alps, the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Northern Urals, Eastern Siberia. Also, in connection with glaciation and the melting of ice caps, there was either a decline or a re-advance of the sea to land. The periods between glaciations were accompanied by marine regression and a mild climate. At the moment, one of these intervals is taking place, which should be replaced no later than in the next 1000 years by the next stage of icing. It will last approximately 20 thousand years, until it is again replaced by another period of warming. It is worth noting here that the alternation of intervals can occur much faster, or it can be completely disturbed due to human intervention in earthly natural processes. It is likely that the Cenozoic era could be ended by a global ecological catastrophe similar to the one that caused the death of many species in the Permian and Cretaceous periods.

Animals of the Cenozoic Era during the Anthropogen period, together with vegetation, they were pushed to the south by alternately advancing ice from the north. The main role still belonged to mammals, which showed truly miracles of adaptability. With the onset of cold weather, massive woolly animals appeared, such as mammoths, megaloceros, rhinos, etc. All kinds of bears, wolves, deer, lynxes also bred strongly. Due to alternating waves of cooling and warming, animals were forced to constantly migrate. A huge number of species died out, and did not have time to adapt to the onset of cooling.

Against the background of these processes of the Cenozoic era, humanoid primates also developed. They increasingly improved their skills in the possession of all kinds of useful objects and tools. At some point, they began to use these tools for hunting purposes, that is, for the first time, tools of labor acquired the status of weapons. And since then, a real threat of extermination has hung over various species of animals. And many animals, such as mammoths, giant sloths, North American horses, which were considered by primitive people to be commercial, were completely destroyed.

In the zone of alternating glaciations, the tundra and taiga regions alternated with forest-steppe, and tropical and subtropical forests were strongly pushed to the south, but despite this, most plant species survived and adapted to modern conditions. The dominant forests between periods of icing were broad-leaved and coniferous.

AT present day of the Cenozoic era Man reigns everywhere on the planet. He randomly interferes in all sorts of earthly and natural processes. Over the past century, a huge amount of substances have been released into the earth's atmosphere, contributing to the formation of the greenhouse effect and, as a result, faster warming. It is worth noting that the more rapid melting of ice and the rise in the level of the world ocean contributes to the disruption of the general picture of the climatic development of the earth. Due to future changes, undercurrents may be disrupted, and, as a result, the general planetary intra-atmospheric heat exchange, which may lead to even more massive icing of the planet following the warming that has begun at the moment. It is becoming more and more clear that what will be the duration of Cenozoic era, and how it will eventually end, will now depend not on natural and other natural forces, but on the depth and unceremoniousness of human intervention in global natural processes.

More details and details periods of the Cenozoic era will be considered in the following lectures.

The Cenozoic era, or as it is often called Cenozoic, has been going on for 65.5 million years. It began after the extinction of many animal species at the end of the Cretaceous. Note that we live in the Cenozoic to the present time. The name in Greek means "new life". The Cenozoic era includes the following periods: Tertiary and Quaternary. The first, in turn, consists of the Paleocene and Pliocene, and the second - the Pleistocene and Holocene. However, most often in the literature, geologists do not use this division, since the changes in evolution are very small.
In short, the development of life in the Cenozoic era reached a peak in the history of the Earth. This is especially true for marine, flying and terrestrial species. From a geological point of view, it was during this period that our planet acquired its modern appearance. Thus, New Guinea and Australia are now independent, although they were previously annexed to Gondwana. These two territories have shifted closer to Asia. Antarctica, as it has become in its place, and remains on it to this day. The territories of North and South America were connected, but nevertheless today they are divided into two separate continents. The Cenozoic era presentation is located below:

After the threat posed by large dinosaurs disappeared, the Cenozoic era became a time of prosperity for mammals. The first mammals coexisted quite peacefully with birds, common reptiles and invertebrates. Climatic conditions became colder and drier as the continents separated from each other and took up approximately their present-day positions. Some scientists believe that it was at this time that the rise of the Himalayas occurred.

The availability of year-round grazing allowed entire herds of grazing animals to thrive, along with now-extinct side branches of the evolutionary tree. Temperatures continued to drop as the mainland of Antarctica formed. The emergence among mammals of a branch of Homo sapiens occurred in the last few minutes of this era (geologically speaking) along with the use of primitive tools, fire and the invention of the wheel, while the older species died out.

The Cenozoic era originates from the Tertiary period. This name is already a little outdated today, but at the moment it is the largest stage. This period ended 1.8 million years ago, when the ice age began (so far the last in the history of the Earth). This name was given to the stage by the Italian Arduino. At first, he divided all periods of the Cenozoic era in numerical order, starting from the primary and ending with the tertiary. After some time, the Quaternary also entered here. Then, in 1828, the penultimate stage was well studied by the Scottish specialist Charles Lyell. Moreover, he introduced so much information that the tertiary had to be divided into four stages at once. In his teachings, he based himself on fossil molluscs, that is, on their population density. These creatures were not chosen in vain, since their appearance resembles modern species. Epochs gave Greek "names": Eocene, Miocene, as well as the Ancient and New Pliocene. This distribution was well suited for Italy, but the division was not common to other parts of the globe. Subsequently, during research, no one resorted to the help of mollusks, and the epochs underwent changes. Now, according to the new standard, the Tertiary period consists of the Paleogene and the Neogene.
Let's briefly talk about each. The first lasted for 40 million years. It was during this period that life in the Cenozoic era became much brighter and richer. Many representatives of the fauna settled in territories previously occupied by dinosaurs. Some species have undergone changes in the process of evolution. 24.6 million years ago, the period came to an end due to the beginning of the drying of the climate. It is divided into three eras, the names of which are no longer used today.
Then the Cenozoic era moved into a new stage - the Neogene. Its duration was 22 million years. In character, it differs significantly from its predecessor. In this period, the number of mammalian species decreased, but at the same time they began to contact each other more closely. We also note that the climate continues to dry out, while the average air temperature is gradually falling. Thus, the Ice Age began 1.8 million years ago. The Tertiary period is conditionally divided into Miocene and Pliocene.
The Cenozoic era becomes much more interesting in the Quaternary period, often also called the Anthropogen. It is he who is the final stage of the Cenozoic, began 2.6 million years ago. In the era under consideration, this period is the shortest. First of all, it is characterized by the acquisition of a modern type of terrain, and the most important is the appearance of man. By the way, it is difficult for paleontologists to examine the remains, since in this case it is impossible to determine the age using isotopes. There is only one effective method here - radiocarbon analysis. You can apply other methods, the foundation of which is the decay of short-lived isotopes. As you can see, for scientists the Quaternary period is the most specific. It, in turn, contains two epochs: the Pleistocene and the Holocene. It is interesting to know what the shape of the Earth was when the Cenozoic era reigned, the presentation will tell you:

During the "reign" of the first, huge glaciations reigned, but at the same time they changed cyclically with interglacials, when the air temperature was acceptable. Already at that time, the climate acquired a modern character, only this does not concern animals at all. As an example, the extinction of the South American pampas. The reason for this phenomenon is the frequent change in climatic conditions; in some cases, animals were exterminated by ancient people. If we completely move to South America, then we note the disappearance from the Earth of the Megatherium sloth, the giant saber-toothed cat and the armadillo doedicurus. Then we move to North America, where the fauna has also undergone changes. In particular, there were no tyrant birds. Perhaps you did not know, but in ancient times, camels also lived across the ocean, which later died out. Note the disappearance of the American horse, deer, bulls and antelopes. In Europe, mammoths, cave bears and lions, as well as woolly rhinos, have disappeared. The misfortune also affected the fate of people, and to be precise, the Neanderthals. It was they who lost to the Cro-Magnons in the struggle for power. Only now it is not known how they disappeared from the planet: they were killed or all the same they were eaten.
We are now moving into the Holocene, which was an ordinary interglacial epoch, but was characterized by a stable climate. The Cenozoic era during this period lost many representatives of the fauna, in this case, the primitive man did not calculate the forces. In the middle of the period, people began to competently use the resources provided, in the process of evolution, civilization gained development. It is in the Holocene that the beginning of the technical development of mankind is marked. There are no significant changes in the appearance of animals. In the past period, the number of Megatheria, Epiornis, Dodos, Steller cows was only about a hundred individuals for each species. However, in the Holocene epoch, these representatives completely ceased to exist. Again, the fault is on the part of the person.
As for the climate, it has become much warmer, so global warming is observed today. Scientists associate these changes with the active industrial activity of people. Subsequently, the rise in temperature collapsed the Eurasian and North American glaciers. The Arctic until recently was one whole, but at one point the ice cover slowly began to disintegrate. Numerous mountain ice sheets have been wiped off the face of the Earth. Today they can only be seen in Greenland and Antarctica, since these territories are located near the polar caps. In the 20th century, specialists gave birth to a doctrine in the field of medicine called genetics. Perhaps in the near future they will be able to breed extinct animals that lived in the Pleistocene. We are now living in the Hologen epoch.

The Cenozoic era has been studied by many researchers for many years. Most of them are on the staff of INQUA. The main activity of this corporation is connected with the study of the Quaternary period, including our time. The organization was founded in 1928. The press service provides a lot of information, and therefore it is not difficult to write an abstract about the Cenozoic era. Starting from this time, with a cyclic period of 4 years, a meeting of scientists is planned, and the venues for the seminars change each time. This once again suggests that the Cenozoic era is very popular among scientists. Russia is a member of INQUA, it represents its commission in this organization. In our country, it is headed by Yu.A. Lavrushin, who is a professor at the Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The Cenozoic era, with the help of world experts, has already been well studied, especially when it comes to animals. After all, technological progress continues to move. Today, the organization devotes more and more time to the issue of conservation of species of flora and fauna, in particular, this concerns deforestation. Although the designers created modern equipment, they could not invent cheap artificial paper.
A total of 18 congresses were held, the last one was held in the capital of Switzerland - Bern. The seminar hall in July 2011 brought together representatives from 75 countries. Scientists themselves claim that it is most difficult for them to study the plant world of the Cenozoic era. After all, this material is poorly preserved to our times, and therefore there are difficulties during the analysis. But today computer models are being created, according to which it is possible to write a whole report about the Cenozoic era.