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Cenozoic Life
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Lecture 26
5/13/98
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| | Today we have a quick overview of the Cenozoic Era. This era covers 65 million years and record the development of modern faunas and features on the earth. |
| | The extinction of the dinosaurs opened up opportunities for the mammals to radiate. |
| | The fossil record for the Cenozoic is much better than earlier eras, allowing us to see evolution of live and the planet in much greater detail. |
| | North America & Europe connected |
| | South America, Africa, Australia separate |
| | connecting Africa and Europe |
| | connecting North America and South America |
| | number of families increases from 8 to 70 |
| | plants that thrive with grazing |
| | North American faunas to South America (& vice versa) |
| | European & Asian faunas to Africa ( & vice versa) |
| | At least 17 times in the last 2 million years |
| | Sheets of ice extending over the continents |
| | generate many of the land forms that we see today |
| | Extinction of large Mammals in North America |
| | occur around the time that man shows up on the continent |
| | possibly related to ice ages |
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