Age of the Mammals

65 million years
or 16 meters to today

Geolo­gical era: Ceno­zoic / Palaeogene

At the end of the Creta­ceous period a cosmic cata­strophe occurred. A meteor­ite smashed into Cent­ral Amer­ica and, prob­ably due to contin­ental drift, enorm­ous volcanic erup­tions occur in India (Deccan-Trapp). This is followed by a dramatic drop in temper­at­ure with contin­ental icing and a drop in sea level. In the sixth mass extinc­tion triggered by this, the dino­saurs disap­pear — with the excep­tion of the birds. The versat­ile mammals conquer the entire planet.

The climate is about 4 °C warmer than today, i.e. subtrop­ical. The sea level is much higher than today, as are the oxygen and CO₂ content of the air. The flora and fauna spread over a new land bridge between Africa and Eurasia. In Australia, anim­als and plants develop completely differently.