The close of the Cretaceous Period marked a major transition in Earth's history. Ammonoids and marine reptiles disappeared from the sea. Marine taxa that persist as familiar inhabitants of modern ocean, among them bottom dwelling molluscs. On the land, the flowering plants of the Paleogene resembled those of latest Cretaceous time in many ways, but animal life changed dramatically. Taking the place of dinosaurs were the mammals, which were universally small and inconspicuous at the start of the Paleogene interval but in many ways resembled modern mammals by the period's end.

The most profound geographic change during Paleogene time was a refrigeration of Earth's polar regions, which resulted in a chilling of the deep sea and, later in the Cenozoic Era, in widespread glaciation. Paleogene mountain-building events in western North America foreshadowed Neogene uplifts of such ranges as the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains.

During the Neogene, the modern world took shape. The global ecosystems acquired their present configuration and prominent topographic

Plant life in the Oligocene was similar to flora patterns in other Paleogene epochs. Tropical forests diminished, and grasslands spread around the earth.

The more grassland there was, the more herbivores roamed the earth. Ruminant herbivores had developed a strategy against the carnivorous mammals that were evolving. They were able to store large " spare" amounts of food inside themselves. In doing this, they could run away from any predator, and feast on their reserve of food in a safer place. Many other safeguards were developed by these herbivores during the Miocene epoch.

features assumed the forms we are familiar with today.

New species included some birds: parrots, woodpeckers, pigeons, and pelicans, falcons, and crows. Mammal newcomers were mice, rats, porcupines, and guinea pigs. Mammal migration between Africa and Asia occurred. Apes also evolved during the Miocene. Their history was found in monkeys, which had evolved since the Paleocene. African primates developed into apes, and eventually into Humans.

The Paleocene was different climatically from the Mesozoic. For one, it was more temperate around the globe. Secondly it was a lot colder near the poles. Continental drift had slowed down greatly since the Mesozoic, and large seas disappeared off of the continents. The average global temperature was rising and reached a peak in the early Eocene, which was the highest, experienced in the Cenozoic; even the deep seas briefly became warm. Both surface and deep-sea waters near the Antarctic were warmed by about 18 degrees within less than 3000 years. One casualty of these increasing temperatures was the deep-sea species of foraminifera. About 70% became extinct, because the warming terminated the descending cool waters, which provided a vital oxygen supply. New globigerina and star shaped coccolithophores appeared. Mammals diversified and expanded a lot during this Epoch. One of them was Glyptodon, a mammal oddity that evolved in South America. In the seas, sea urchins evolved. F

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Approximate Word count = 1355
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)