Equator India 65 mya 35 mya 65 million years ago mya 55 34 PALEOCENE PALEOGENE Terror birds 55 mya global warming India collides with The Azolla event rule the world raises the Earth's Asia 55 to 45 49 mуa brings see pages 8 9 temperature by 11°F 6°C million years ago long term cooling The Cenozoic Era The era began in the wake of the Cretaceous Paleogene extinction event K Pg event at the end of the Cretaceous that saw the extinction of the dinosaurs The Cenozoic era is also known as the Age of Mammals because the extinction of many animal groups allowed mammals to diversify The Cenozoic era is divided into three periods the Paleogene Neogene and Quaternary These are further divided into seven epochs the Paleocene Eocene Oligocene Miocene Pliocene Pleistocene and
Equator Equator Isthmus of Panama 20 miya 0 65 mya 24 2 5 0 15 Today OUIGOCENE MIOCENE PLIOCENE PLEISTOCENE HOLOCENE NEOGENE QUATERNARY A global expansion of South America joins North Ice Age begins grasslands and a regression America through the Isthmus of 2 58 mya of tropical broadleaf forests Panama during the Pliocene LIFE DURING THE CENozoic ERA In the earlier part of the Cenozoic era the world was dominated by the giant terror birds and terrestrial crocodiles As the forests began to recede and the climate began to cool mammals took over The Cenozoic Era is full of giant mammals including chalicotheres creodonts entelodonts saber toothed cats mastodons mammoths and rhinoceros like Indricotheriums The oceans were also home to giant mammals and fish such as Megalodon a shark that grew to 98 feet 30
Paleogene Period 60 mya South America Giant Snakes The Titanoboa was the largest longest and heaviest snake ever to have lived The warmer climate of Earth during the Paleocene era allowed cold blooded snakes to grow to much larger sizes than modern snakes Unlike modern constrictors that suffocate their prey scientists think Titanoboa hunted by getting close to its prey while submerged in the water before suddenly leaping out and grabbing it in its massive jaws Titanoboa would have preyed on the crocodile like Cerrejonisuchus
A Titanoboa 1 slithers across a tropical swampy landscape Nearby an Acherontisuchus 2 is unaware of the giant predator as it waits patiently for prey such as lungfish 3 A giant turtle the size of a small car Carbonemys 4 pokes its head above the water and Acherontisuchus Some of these crocodylomorphs could grow up to 21 feet 6 4 m It may also have encountered a giant turtle called Carbonemys This giant's shell measured 5 feet 1 5 m long It had large powerful jaws that were capable of devouring crocodylomorphs Titanoboa reached a maximum length of 50 feet 15 2 m and weighed about 2 500 pounds 1 134
