Paleocene Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

This epoch is part of the Tertiary period and the Paleogene subperiod.

Pliocene

Miocene

Oligocene

Eocene

Paleocene

The Paleocene ("early dawn of the recent") is a geologic epoch that extends from about 64 to 58 million years before the present. As with most other older geologic periods, the Sstrata that define the epoch's beginning are well identified, but the exact date of the end is somewhat uncertain. Note the terminology change from "period", used in the Mesozoic, and Palaeozoic erass, to the term "Epoch", used for the shorter subdivisions of the Tertiary era. The name "Paleocene" refers to the "old(er)-new" faunass that arose after the demise of the dinosaurs and prior to the emergence of modern mammalian orders in the Eocene. The Paleocene follows the Cretaceous period and is followed by the Eocene epoch.

The Cretaceous - Paleocene boundary is marked by a major, extensively studied extinction event. It is marked over much of the Earth by a discontinuity with high Iridium levels, and an abrupt change in flora and fauna. There is some evidence that a substantial but very short-lived climatic change may have occurred in the very early decades of the Paleocene. Majority opinion is that the changes are related to the impact of a large extraterrestrial object in the vicinity of Yucatan. The end of the Paleocene is marked by the emergence of modern orders of mammals.

The Paleocene is usually broken into lower and upper subdivisions. The Faunal stages from youngest to oldest are:

1. Danian/Montian/(lower Midway)
2. Thanetian/Selandian/Landenian/Heersian/(Upper Midway)

During the Paleocene, the continents continued to drift toward their present positions. The mid-continent sea receded from North America. Climates remained warm.

On land, plants became quite modern. Cacti and palm trees appeared. Paleocene and later plant fossils are generally attributed to modern genera or to closely related taxa. Marine faunas also came to resemble modern faunas, with only the marine mammals and the Charcharinid sharks missing. The major area of fast faunal evolution was among the land mammals, which, largely freed from competition with reptiless for niches, exploded in size and diversity. Birds also began to diversify and occupy new niches.

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