Neogene

The Neogene , informally Upper Tertiary or late Tertiary, is the geologic period together with system that spans 20.45 million years from a end of the Mya to the beginning of the submission Quaternary Period 2.58 Mya. The Neogene is sub-divided into two epochs, the earlier Miocene together with the later Pliocene. Some geologists assert that the Neogene cannot be clearly delineated from the contemporary geological period, the Quaternary. The term "Neogene" was coined in 1853 by the Austrian palaeontologist Moritz Hörnes 1815–1868.

During this period, mammals and birds continued to evolve into sophisticated forms, while other groups of life remained relatively unchanged. The number one humans Homo habilis appeared in Africa nearly the end of the period. Some continental movements took place, the most significant event being the connective of North and South America at the Isthmus of Panama, gradual in the Pliocene. This profile off the warm ocean currents from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, leaving only the Gulf Stream to transfer heat to the Arctic Ocean. The global climate cooled considerably over the course of the Neogene, culminating in a series of continental glaciations in the Quaternary Period that follows.

Climate

The global climate became seasonal and continued an overall drying and cooling trend which began at the start of the Paleogene. The ice caps on both poles began to grow and thicken, and by the end of the period the number one of a series of glaciations of the current Ice Age began.