Paleogene
Cenozoic Era 65-23 MYA
Paleogene Period: Consists of the Paleocene, Eocene and Oligocene Epochs
Life in the Paleogene Period
The evolution of mammals, birds and reptiles was very decisive.
The new species and organisms were able to roam wherever they please after the passing of the dinosaurs.
Climate and Geography of the Paleogene Period
During this period, most of Earth's climate was tropical.
The landscape of earth changed drastically. The continents drifted apart creating vast stretches of oceans
Species
Rodents and small horses like Hyracotherium are common and rhinoceroses and elephants started to show up. At the end of the period, dogs, cats, and pigs become more common and appear more often. Most birds that appear other than a few were classified as dinosaurs. Birds became known but they were flightless, like the Diatryma.
Hyracotherium
They are ancestors to the modern horse. Its also called the Dawn Horse. It lived about 50 MYA. They were present in what is now Europe and North America. It was about the size of a Fox Terrior Also 1.5 ft in length. It had a more complex set of teeth than a modern horse. It had three toes on the hind feet and four toes on the fore feet. Its feet where more like a dogs than a horse.
Diatryma
It lived 55 MYA. Was found in Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, New Jersey, Ellesmere Island (In Canada), France, and Germany. The total height was 7ft. The skull was 1.5 ft. in length. weight was 385 lbs. The habitat was Lowland Floodplains. It resemble a Tyrannosaurus rex which means it had a similar lifestyle and diet. It was a carnivore. It was first discovered in 1876 by Edward Drinker Cope in Wyoming. The name which is Greek means "through a hole".
Apidium
They appear to be diurnal. They ate fruits and insects. They adapted to life in tropical forest of North Africa but now the Sahara desert. The males were bigger than the females. They lived in small groups. The males had large canine teeth. They used their teeth to fight on another over mating rights and the right to control a particular group of females.
The Paleogene period is most notable as being the time in which mammals evolved from small, simple forms into diverse animals in the wake of the mass extinction that ended the preceding Cretaceous period.