Paleogene Period

What happened during this time?

Geophysical

• Climate cools during the middle to late Paleogene

• Carbon dioxide levels begin around 900 ppm, increase to 1,000 ppm at the PETM, and then start to drop to 500 ppm by the end of the period

• Oxygen levels start at 23% and hover around 21.5%, close to modern levels

• Continents in similar geography to today

Biological

Flora

• The Paleogene is a time of recovery from the Cretaceous extinction

• Many extant modern plants arose during this time.

• As the Earth cools and dries, many wet, tropical plants are replaced by coll-adapted, dry-adapted plants

• Conifers, retreat to mountainous areas due to angiosperm competition

Fauna

• Animals recover from the Cretaceous extinction

• This is the rise of mammals in which they begin to fill the niches left empty by dinosaur extinction