GSC 111 Chapter 18: Chapter 18
13 Jan 2017
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Chapter 18: The Paleogene World
1. Life of the Paleogene
a. Marine life received
i. Benthic foraminifera, sea urchins, cheilostome bryozoans, crabs, snails,
bivalves, and teleost fish survive in large numbers to assume prominent
ecological positions in the Paleogene sea
ii. Radiation of planktonic foraminfera
iii. Calcareous nannoplankton also rediversified quickly
iv. New organisms
1. Whale
2. Sharks
3. Penguins
4. sea walruses, sea lions, seals
v. Sand dollars and bivalve mollusks expanded to the coast
b. Flowering plants rose to dominance
c. Mammals radiated dramatically in the Paleocene and Eocene
i. Dinosaurs died and gave mammals this chance
ii. Small creatyres
1. Rodents
iii. Generalized in feeding and locomotory adaptation
iv. Ground-dwelling species generally retained a primitive limb structure that
caused the heels of the hind feet and the palms of the front feet to touch
the ground as the animals moved about
v. Later, mammals had diversified to the extent that most of the modern
orders were in existence
vi. Also included were marsupials, rodentlike forms called mltituberculates,
placental mammals called insectivores
vii. Primates evolved before the end of the Paleocene
1. Had grasping hind limbs and forelimbs that were ancestral to our
own hands and feet
viii. Doglike mammalian carnivores
ix. Eocene era
1. Hoofed herbivores
2. Ungulates
a. Odd-toed uungulates
i. Living horses, tapirs, rhinos
b. Even-toed ungulates
i. Cloven-hooved
ii. Cattle, antelopes, sheep, goats, pigs, bison, camels
3. Elephants
4. Rodents diversified as did predatory mammals
d. Early Paleogene birds were large
i. Diatrymas were huge terrestrial predators
1. Flightless
2. Had powerful clawed feet
3. Enormous slicing beaks
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