Cenozoic
Sign in to saveThe Cenozoic Era (also known as the Caenozoic, Kainozoic, or Neozoic Era; ; ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon, preceded by the Mesozoic and Paleozoic. The Cenozoic started with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, when many species, including the non-avian dinosaurs, became extinct in an event attributed by most experts to the impact of a large asteroid or other c
AI overview
The Cenozoic Era is Earth's current geological period, spanning the last 66 million years since a massive asteroid impact wiped out the dinosaurs and many other species. It is defined by the rise and dominance of mammals, birds, insects, and flowering plants, making it the age in which modern life as we know it developed.
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Key facts
- Geologic timespan.name
- Cenozoic
- Geologic timespan.color
- Cenozoic
- Geologic timespan.top_bar
- phanerozoic
- Geologic timespan.time_start
- 66.0
- Geologic timespan.time_end
- 0
- Geologic timespan.image_outcrop
- File:Torre Sant'Andrea.jpg
- Geologic timespan.caption_outcrop
- Rock deposits from the Cenozoic Era (Torre Sant'Andrea, Salento, Italy)
- Geologic timespan.timeline
- Cenozoic
- Geologic timespan.name_formality
- Formal
- Geologic timespan.nicknames
- Age of Mammals
- Geologic timespan.celestial_body
- Earth
- Geologic timespan.usage
- Global (ICS)
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Nomenclature
- Divisions
- Paleogene
- Neogene
- Quaternary
- Tectonics
- Climate
- Life
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
The Cenozoic Era (also known as the Caenozoic, Kainozoic, or Neozoic Era; ; ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon, preceded by the Mesozoic and Paleozoic. The Cenozoic started with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, when many species, including the non-avian dinosaurs, became extinct in an event attributed by most experts to the impact of a large asteroid or other celestial body, the Chicxulub impactor.
The Cenozoic is commonly known as the Age of Mammals because the terrestrial animals that dominated both hemispheres were mammalsthe eutherians (placentals) in the Northern Hemisphere and the metatherians (marsupials, now mainly restricted to Australia and to some extent South America) in the Southern Hemisphere. The extinction of many groups allowed mammals and birds to greatly diversify so that large mammals and birds dominated life on Earth. The continents also moved into their current positions during this era.