NEOGENE PERIOD ~ 23.03–2.588 million years ago

Scene featuring Miocene (Early Neogene) fauna

The Neogene covers about 20 million years. During this period, mammals and birds continued to evolve into roughly modern forms, while other groups of life remained relatively unchanged. Early hominids, the ancestors of humans, appeared in Africa. Some continental movement took place, the most significant event being the connection of North and South America at the Isthmus of Panama, late in the Pliocene. This cut off the warm ocean currents from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean, leaving only the Gulf Stream to transfer heat to the Arctic Ocean. The global climate cooled considerably over the course of the Neogene, culminating in a series of continental glaciations in the Quaternary Period that follows.

Marine and continental flora and fauna were fairly modern at this time. Mammals and birds continued to be the dominant terrestrial vertebrates, and took many forms as they adapted to various habitats. The first hominids, the ancestors of humans, appeared in Africa and spread into Eurasia.

In response to the cooler, seasonal climate, tropical plant species gave way to deciduous ones and grasslands replaced many forests. Grasses therefore greatly diversified, and herbivorous mammals evolved alongside it, creating the many grazing animals of today such as horses, antelope, and bison.


MINES BILINA, CZECH REPUBLIC, EUROPE, GEOLOGICAL TIME: TERTIARY

ACER

 ACER TRICUSPIDATUM

Acer tricuspidatum is an extinct species of tree of the genus Acer, belonging to the family Aceraceae.

FOSSIL LEAVES FROM A FORGOTTEN FOREST

INCLUDES FOSSIL LEAF:

ALNUS JULIANIFORMIS [extinct species]

TAXODIUM DUBIUM [extinct species]

ULMUS PYRAMIDALIS [?]

ACER TRICUSPIDATUM [extinct species]

SALIX HAIDINGERI [extinct species]

LIQUIDAMBAR EUROPAEA [extinct species]