Cenozoic era (65 m.y. to today)

The Cenozoic Era is divided into two periods:

• Tertiary (65 m.y. to 2.6 m.y.).
• Quaternary (2.6 m.y. to the present).

The main events of the Cenozoic were:

• The continents that had been fragmented from Pangea continued their separation to their current position.
• When the fragmented continents of Pangea collided, mountain ranges such as the Alps, Pyrenees, and Himalayas were formed. The Alpine orogeny was developed .
  
• The Atlantic Ocean continues to expand.
• Climate cooling. In the Quaternary there were four glaciations that alternated with other warmer interglacial periods.
• Diversification of mammals. They are spread all over the Earth.
• Appearance of hominids and the human species.

Life in the Cenozoic

During the Cenozoic there was a great diversification of birds, which appeared from theropods, a type of dinosaurs.

The mammals also diversified, occupying ecological niches left by the dinosaurs were extinct.

The nummulites are a type of protozoa characteristic of the Tertiary.

Flowering plants were developed.

The hominids and the human species appeared, with which the Quaternary would begin.

Nummulites.Hugo.soria at the French language Wikipedia [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Mesohippus, was an ancestor of the horse, lived in North America about 30 my

By H. Zell (User:Llez) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11633334

Smilodon, felines known as "saber teeth" lived in America between 2.5 million and 10,000 years ago.

By Boris Dimitrov (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Tertiary Period (65 to 1.8 ma) 

Quaternary Period (1.8 m to the present)

• The diversification of the genus Homo (Homo erectus, Homo antecessor, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapiens) occurred.
• Man conquers all continents.
• Produced glaciation (the last, about 10000 years ago).

Cenozoic fossil gallery.

Interactive activity: Put these Cenozoic events in chronological order.

Interactive activity: Put each fact in its corresponding aeon or era.