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How modern animals replaced the Archaic animals 

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How modern animals replaced the Archaic animals 

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When great forests started to disappear and grasslands started to dominate the landscape, animals had to evolve better ways of digesting food like grass. Animals today like ows have a bigger digestive system to digest grass, and that is a consequence of the Neogene period.

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Foosils found during the Neogene period is Megaladon's yaw.
This foosil shows that sharks under this period were very big compared to sharks today. It makes sense for this sharks to have gone extinct because the Megaladon were not as adaptable to nature due to it´s size. The Megaladons size was it's weakness because smaller fish's could attack it and over time therfore weaken it. It also had to use a lot of energy to move it´s  large body.

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The apex predators in the sea was the megaladon 15 meters long. On land the early humans the genus homo which in the late epoch of the Neogene period learned how to use tools.

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There were no major extinction events, but certain species that could not addapt to the cooler climate and the increasing amount of grasslands died out. Large animals like Mammoths  died out because  their size made it easier for small predators to immobilize these animals.

There was small events like the Messinian Salinity Crisis that were a time when the Mediterranean Sea decreased to very small levels.  The water that was left had a very high salt concentration which meant that many animals died drinking it and other animals migrated to other places like Africa and Europe.

At the end of the Neogene period an ice age began which undoubtedly led to the extinction of many species

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Earthly universe has one writer that is very interested in anything space and dino related. The site is a blog, he have been writing for a living for 10 years which makes him trustworthy.

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23.03 to 2.58 Million Years Ago We're nearing the present day in our epic journey through the history of the Earth. This was a time when the world started to closely resemble that which we know today. A cooling land and greater seasonal variation across the world would lead to the rise of many of the biomes that persist to this day. In Part 14 of my 'Journey through the History of the Earth', we'll be exploring the rise of many common modern mammals as well as the first hominids, our own direct ancestors. Part 1: Hadean Earth - The Violent Creation of Our World Part 2: Archean Earth - Signs of Life Part 3: Proterozoic Earth - The First Animals Part 4: Cambrian Earth - An Explosion of Evolution Part 5: Ordovician Earth - Colonising a Barren Land Part 6: Silurian Earth - The First Breath of Air Part 7: Devonian Earth - The Age of Fishes and Forests Part 8: Carboniferous Earth - The Age Bugs Part 9: Permian Earth - The Age of Amphibians Part 10: Triassic Earth - The Rise of the Dinosaurs Part 11: Jurassic Earth - The Land of Giants Part 12: Cretaceous Earth - The Reign of Tyrants Part 13: Paleogene Earth - The Rise of Mammals Part 14: Neogene Earth - Human Ancestors Part 15: Quaternary Earth - The Age of Man
For 43 million years, mammals had been enjoying their rise to dominance across all the Earth's major ecosystems. Many of the modern mammalian orders were already well-established by the beginning of the Neogene but, as global climates started to change and new environments arose, the animals would change too. As the world was starting to cool, vast swathes of grasslands appeared, giving rise to entirely new environmental niches that had never before been seen on Earth.

By traditional definition, the Neogene Period ended 2.58 million years ago, but this has been the subject of much controversy in recent years. As such, some timescales do not include the present geological time at all, instead including it in the Neogene. However, for the purposes of this series, we'll be sticking with the current definition as outlined by the International Commission on Stratigraphy. Neogene means 'new genesis', owing to the rise of many modern animals during this time.

Highlights

First hominids evolve

Large horses appear

Seasonal variation increases

Insects diversify

Modern Mediterranean forms

Ice Age Begins

Newly Formed Biomes Hail in a New Era of Mammalian Dominance

Whereas the preceding Palaeogene Period was characterised by a relatively warm greenhouse climate with high oxygen levels, the world cooled significantly during the Neogene. The Miocene Epoch is the first of the two epochs that make up the Neogene, and it carries on the trend of increased seasonal variation and global cooling brought in during the preceding Oligocene Epoch.

Throughout the Neogene, in fact, the global climate was quite similar to what we know today. Oxygen levels eventually dropped to their current levels, and CO2 levels dropped to some of their lowest ever levels since the appearance of multicellular life on Earth. By the end of the period, they had reached about 280 parts per million, remaining relatively stable until the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

Thanks to the reduced effect of global warming, the world cooled, forming environments and greater seasonal variation. When we look at, for example, the humid, tropical and thoroughly alien world of the Carboniferous some 360 million years ago, there's little to compare with the Neogene and the closely related modern world. Now was a completely different time and an unrecognisably different world where entirely new biomes could thrive.

The Miocene world is characterised by the appearance of two completely new biomes in fact. Grasslands expanded to form steppes and savannahs much like those found today in places like Mongolia or South Africa respectively. This new biome gave rise to whole new families of grazing animals, including the first horses, rhinoceroses and giraffes. New carnivores came along to prey upon these herbivorous grazers, such as cats, bear-dogs and hyenas. At the same time, almost all the modern plant genera that persist to this day appeared.

Kelp forests formed another never-seen-before biome in coastal regions of the Earth's oceans. These vast underwater forests of brown algae proliferated greatly, supporting entirely new species of fish and aquatic mammals such as otters. They also thrived, as they do today, in more temperate areas of the world, rather than replacing the coral groves and seagrass beds of tropical regions.

Modern Animals Replace Archaic Groups

While many archaic mammals looked very different to their modern counterparts, many modern mammalian orders continued to evolve during the Miocene, replacing many of the older groups in the process. Birds also followed the same trend, with most modern genera also appearing during the Miocene. Hyracodonts, a once extremely successful family of mammals that included the titanic paraceratherium, disappeared during the early Miocene. Oreodonts and entelodonts also declined throughout the Miocene, giving way to newer and more successful taxons.

Horses were just one family that underwent a major change in their evolution during the Miocene. No longer were they the tiny dog-sized creatures that there were some 50 million years ago. By the late Miocene, some 8 to 10 million years ago, they already grew as large as modern ponies and closely resembled their current, domesticated counterparts. Numerous other taxons joined them in their evolutionary march forward, including the direct predecessors to modern antelopes, elephants and countless other species.

Although the first true cats had appeared towards the end of Oligocene, the Miocene saw them spread and diversify across much of the globe. The related feliforms, known as nimravids, also known as false sabre-toothed cats, started to decline, eventually going extinct in the Late Neogene. Around 20 million years ago, pseudaelurus evolved, the first species of which was only about the size of a domestic cat. However, this animal, dubbed 'almost a cat', is now believed to be the direct common ancestor of lions, tigers and leopards, as well as the now extinct smilodons.

Early canines, another member of the carnivoran order, also enjoyed great success during the Miocene as the direct ancestors to foxes and wolves appeared. Other carnivorans, such as mustelids (weasels, badgers, otters and ferrets etc.), bears and civets, also thrived throughout the epoch. The now extinct amphicyons, also known as bear-dogs, continued their role as apex predators throughout the Neogene and even well into the current Quaternary Period until their disappearance 1.8 million years ago.

Human Ancestors Arise from Primates

Primates first appeared some 55 million years ago, but these archaic primates were relatively small arboreal creatures including early lemurs, monkeys and tarsiers. However, our very own human ancestors also appeared in the beginning of the Neogene Period, evolving rapidly throughout the Miocene. These were the first hominids, the taxonomic family we share with orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees.

To this day, we share around 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees, one of the most intelligent species of the animal kingdom. It remains our closest living relative, but that doesn't mean we have as much in common as some people think.

Chimpanzees and humans turned down separate evolutionary paths between 5 and 7 million years ago, nearing the end of the Miocene Epoch. At this time, two of the hominid genera, pan (chimpanzees) and homo (humans) drifted apart, although there may have been a degree of hybridisation between the two until as recently as 4 million years ago.

Around 4.5 million years ago, during the early Pliocene Epoch, australopithecus evolved, the genus from which, it is believed, modern humans ultimately arose. What is most fascinating about these animals is that they were very much the missing link between apes and humans. While they shared various characteristics with modern humans, such as walking on two legs, they had significantly smaller brain sizes and are not believed to have mastered the use of tools beyond an extremely basic level.

By the final stage of the of the Pliocene, the second and last epoch of the Neogene Period, the genus of homo evolved, probably from the australopithecines. Exactly which species of australopithecine early humans arose from remains unknown. Nonetheless, the genus homo is partly defined as the first hominids to use stone tools, which occurred during the last stage of the Neogene.

Great Migrations Redefine Evolutionary Paths

The Pliocene is the last of two epochs that make up the Neogene Period. It ended with the arrival of the current geological period 2.58 million years ago. As is the case with the names of most geological times, the name Pliocene comes from Greek, roughly meaning a continuation of the recent. With most modern genera in place and an increasingly modern climate, the Pliocene world was more like the one we live in today than any before it.

The Pliocene was a time of abundant migration as sea levels continued to fall as they had done throughout the Miocene. This led to the formation of new land bridges, including one crossing the Bering Strait between Asia and North America. Many ancestors of common modern mammals, including the early horse hipparion, crossed over into the Americas during the Pliocene.

South America had long been isolated from the rest of the world until the Late Pliocene, when tectonic activity formed the volcanic isthmus of Panama. As such, many North American and Eurasian orders invaded that continent. However, the same also happened in reverse, making for a major event known as the Great American Interchange. Until this time, South America had spent tens of millions of years in isolation, allowing unique groups of animals to appear, much as was the case with Australia.

The Great American Interchange saw many iconic species, both fossil and current, move between the two continents. Others, however, failed to survive the onslaught, which had catastrophic effects on many species, particularly the endemic South American marsupials. One of the most famous of these casualties were the carnivorous sparassodonts, which had evolved shortly after the extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Though these peculiar animals looked superficially like sabre-tooth cats, they were in fact metatherians, making them a sister taxon to the marsupials.

Some famous examples of Pliocene animal migration include that of early horses, giant ground sloths (megatherium) and giant armadillos (glyptodonts). Camelids are a particularly interesting case, however. This group, which now includes llamas, alpacas and camels, were originally endemic to North America, but used the newly formed land bridges to migrate to South America and Eurasia. Oddly, their modern distribution is virtually the opposite of their area of origin, for no camelids alive today are native to North America.

Life in and around the Mediterranean Sea also changed dramatically during the Late Neogene. Between the Miocene and Pliocene Epochs, much of the Mediterranean Sea dried up, and what was left had a much higher salt content. Known as the Messinian Salinity Crisis, the event had a devastating effect on local ecosystems, while also presenting new migratory opportunities to various species. As such, early elephants and hippopotami migrated into the newly formed valleys between Africa and Europe, and there was an increased interchange between species of both continents. However, by the end of the Neogene, the Atlantic Ocean reclaimed the area, forming the modern Mediterranean Sea.

Conclusion

We have now travelled through near 4.7 billion years of Earth's history to arrive at the border between the old and the new, the boundary between the last geological period and our own. 2.58 million years ago, the Neogene drew to an end as the world cooled and the Ice Age began. The series of glaciations that followed would greatly influence the path of evolution, but it would also be the time when mankind rose to dominance. Next week, we'll be exploring the rise of modern man in the final instalment of the series.

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Neogene Earth - Human Ancestors - Earthly Universe

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23.03 to 2.58 Million Years Ago We're nearing the present day in our epic journey through the history of the Earth. This was a time when the world started to closely resemble that which we know today. A cooling land and greater seasonal variation across the world would lead to the rise of many of the biomes that persist to this day.

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The person who wrote this article Kim Ann Zimmermann, the article was last updated june 8 2016.
I was on the article 28/1 2019
Live science is trustworthy because the people on the site have academic degree's on mostly biology and technology.

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(Image: © Public domain.)

The Cenozoic era, which began about 65 million years ago and continues into the present, is the third documented era in the history of Earth. The current locations of the continents and their modern-day inhabitants, including humans, can be traced to this period.

The era began on a big down note, catching the tail end of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event at the close of the Cretaceous period that wiped out the remaining non-avian dinosaurs.

The term Cenozoic, first spelled "Kainozoic," was originally used in an 1840 entry in the Penny Cyclopedia encyclopedia in an article written by British geologist John Phillips. The name is derived from the Greek phrase meaning "recent life."

The Cenozoic era is divided into three periods:

Paleogene period (65-23 million years ago), which consists of the Paleocene, Eocene and Oligocene epochs);

Neogene period (23-2.6 million years ago), which includes the Miocene and Pliocene epochs);

Quaternary period (2.6 million years ago to the present), consisting of the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs). While it is widely accepted that we are still in the Holocene epoch, some scientists argue that we have entered the Anthropocene epoch. In a 2010 article in the scientific journal Environmental Science & Technology, scientists made the case for a new epoch, blaming humans for causing a drastic shift in conditions.

Climate and geography

The global climate of the early portion of the Cenozoic period was much warmer than it is today, and the overall climate of the Earth was much more consistent regardless of proximity to the equator.

The most significant period of global warming, known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, took place of 55.8 million years ago. It was followed by a long cool, dry period. The current global warming event has been set off primarily by human activity.

Each segment of the Cenozoic experienced different climates. During the Paleogene period, most of the Earth's climate was tropical. The Neogene period saw a drastic cooling, which continued into the Pleistocene epoch of the Quaternary period.

As for the changing landscape, the continents drifted apart during the Paleogene period, creating vast stretches of oceans. This had a significant impact on the climate and marine life surrounding each continent.

During the Pleistocene epoch, glaciers covered central North America, extending as far east as New York, south to Kansas and Nebraska and west to the northern West Coast. The Great Lakes were formed as the glaciers receded.

Several of the world's foremost mountain ranges, including the Alps, Himalayas and the Rocky Mountains, were formed during the Cenozoic era.

Life during the Cenozoic Era

The Cenozoic era is also known as the Age of Mammals because the extinction of many groups of giant mammals, allowing smaller species to thrive and diversify because their predators no longer existed. Due to the large span of time covered by the period, it is beneficial to discuss the animal population by the milestone of the era rather than in generalities.

The beginning of the Paleogene period was a time for the mammals that survived from the Cretaceous period. Later in this period, rodents and small horses, such as Hyracotherium, are common and rhinoceroses and elephants appear. As the period ends, dogs, cats and pigs become commonplace. Other than a few birds that were classified as dinosaurs, most notable the Titanis, the dinosaurs were gone. Large flightless birds, such as the Diatryma, thrived.

The Neogene period gives rise to early primates, including early humans. Bovids, including cattle, sheep, goats, antelope and gazelle, flourish during this period.

Cave lions, sabre-toothed cats, cave bears, giant deer, woolly rhinoceroses, and woolly mammoths were prevailing species of the Quaternary period.

Without the dinosaurs, plant life had an opportunity to flourish during the Cenozoic era. Nearly every plant living today had its roots in the Cenozoic era. During the early part of the era, forests overran most of North America. However, as the climate cooled forests died off, creating open land.

Due to the widening of the oceans, sharks, whales and other marine life proliferated. The Great Lakes that formed in the western United States during the Eocene epoch were the perfect home for bass, trout and other fresh-water species.

As the forests thinned, grasses began to spread out over the plains of North America and savannas covered the land in the middle of the continent. Among the common plant life were pines, mosses, oaks and grasses. Flowering plants and edible crops dominate the landscape in the later part of this era as humans cultivate the land.

Other time periods
Precambrian: Facts About the Beginning of Time Paleozoic Era: Facts & Information Mesozoic Era: Age of the Dinosaurs Cenozoic Era: Facts About Climate, Animals & Plants

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Kim Ann Zimmermann - Live Science Contributor

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Cenozoic Era: Facts About Climate, Animals & Plants

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(Image: © Public domain.) The Cenozoic era, which began about 65 million years ago and continues into the present, is the third documented era in the history of Earth. The current locations of the continents and their modern-day inhabitants, including humans, can be traced to this period.

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Earth looked similar to today under the Neogene period. That is because continents began crashing in to each other this was also how mountains were created. India continued its slow collision with Asia. when India crashed into Asia the Himalaya Mountains was born, that continues today. South America moved North (South America was part of Africa) and merged with North America, forming the Isthums of Panama. the sea levels continued to decrease and giving  rise to land bridges that connected continents.

Italy pushed into Europe, giving rise to the alps. Spain pushed France and the Pyrenees mountains rose.
Stretching and lifting created the parts of the rocky, Sierra Nevada, and Cascade mountains in North
America. the high mountains altered the air circulation and weather patterns contributing to a drier and cooler climate.

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Plant eating animals evolved during this period to eat grass because of the decrease of great forests and the incresing grasslands. Plant eating animals started to stick togehter in herds. This meant that predators had to evolve to catch their pray on open fields. Asian and African apes diverged and after several million years later, Hominins split from the Chimpanzees. Addapted two foot walking, stopped to climb in trees and started to carry food and tools in their hands. This species destiny were going to alter the planet unlike any other species, in the coming centuries.

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in the oceans kelp a large brown algae appeard under this period and is lashed onto rocks, and corals in shallow waters, creating a new habitat that was favored by sea otters and dugongs a marine mammal related to the Elephant, and the famous Megaladon the biggest shark of all measuring to 15 meters long came to dominate the sea's.

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Many of the great forests started to disapper and transform into grasslands, a habitat more suited for a cooler climate.

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From afar, Earth looked much as it does today when the Neogene period began. But looks are deceiving. Mountains rose, and sea levels fell. The climate cooled and dried. Species were forced to adapt or die.

Mountain Ranges

Though close to where they are today, the continents began the Neogene by crashing into each other. India continued its slow-moving collision with Asia, which had already started the giant push-up of the Himalaya that continues today. Italy pushed into Europe, giving rise to the Alps. Spain butted France, and the Pyrenees rose. Faulting, stretching, thinning, and lifting created parts of the Rocky, Sierra Nevada, and Cascade Mountains in North America. The high mountains altered air circulation and weather patterns, contributing to the drier and cooler climate.

The Arctic ice cap grew and thickened. Snow and ice fell on the high mountains, locking up water far from the oceans. Sea levels plummeted, exposing land bridges between Africa and Eurasia and between Eurasia and North America. Eventually, South America moved north and merged with North America, forming the Isthmus of Panama.

The continental connections gave animals that had evolved in isolation access to new lands. Elephants and apes wandered from Africa to Eurasia. Rabbits, pigs, saber-toothed cats, and rhinos went to Africa. Elephants and rhinos continued across the Bering Strait to North America. Horses went the other way. Ground sloths migrated from South America to North America; raccoons scurried south. Even rodents may have hopped Pacific islands en route to Australia from Southeast Asia.

As the climate changed, many of the great forests that carpeted the continents from shore to shore and from Pole to Pole slowly gave way to grasslands, a habitat more suited to the cooler and drier weather. But that hardiness came with less nutrition. Plant-eating animals had to adapt in order to survive. Horses evolved stronger, enamel-protected teeth and flourished. So too did ruminants such as bison, camels, sheep, and giraffes, whose compartmentalized stomachs are well adapted to digesting grass. Many of the grazers were quick and roamed in herds-new tricks for survival out in the open. Their predators were also forced to adapt.

In the oceans, a new type of large brown algae, called kelp, latched onto rocks and corals in cool shallow waters, establishing a new habitat favored by sea otters and dugongs, a marine mammal related to the elephant. Sharks grew and dominated the seas once again. Megalodon, the biggest shark of all, was nearly 50 feet (15 meters) long.

Meanwhile on land, Asian and African apes diverged and then, several million years later, hominins split from their closest African ape ancestors, the chimpanzees. Adapted to two-footed walking, early hominins dropped out of the trees and started to carry food and tools in their hands. These new species were poised to alter the planet unlike any other in the centuries to come.

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From afar, Earth looked much as it does today when the Neogene period began. But looks are deceiving. Mountains rose, and sea levels fell. The climate cooled and dried. Species were forced to adapt or die. Mountain Ranges Though close to where they are today, the continents began the Neogene by crashing into each other.