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Life in the Cenozoic

Life in the Cenozoic. Chapter 18 Part 2. Last time. Cenozoic birds Mammals Marine mammals. Cenozoic life. Familiar animals Geographic distribution is different Camels, rhinos in N. America. Cenozoic life. Familiar animals Geographic distribution is different

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Life in the Cenozoic

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  1. Life in the Cenozoic Chapter 18 Part 2

  2. Last time • Cenozoic birds • Mammals • Marine mammals

  3. Cenozoic life • Familiar animals • Geographic distribution is different • Camels, rhinos in N. America

  4. Cenozoic life • Familiar animals • Geographic distribution is different • Camels, rhinos in N. America

  5. Quaternary life • Familiar animals • Geographic distribution is different • Camels, rhinos in N. America

  6. Quaternary life • Mega fauna!!

  7. Quaternary giants • Glyptodonts • Size of small car

  8. Quaternary giants • Giant sloth • 20 feet tall

  9. Quaternary giants • Giant beaver

  10. Quaternary giants • Relatives to rhinos

  11. Phoberomys pattersoni, largest rodent ever

  12. Quaternary giants • Elephants • Appear in early Tertiary • Mastodons and mammoths related

  13. Quaternary animals • Saber tooth cats

  14. Quaternary animals • Why are animals so big? • Adaptation to cooler Temp • Big animals have smaller % surface area • Retain heat better • High oxygen levels? • More oxygen, large animals still maintain oxygen supply to muscles

  15. Where is good place to find Quaternary fossils? • Crude oil (asphalt) is seeping from ground • Animals would get stuck • Predators would eat stuck animals • Bones buried quickly

  16. The La Brea Tar Pits

  17. The LaBrea Tar Pits • Dire wolf in tar pits

  18. Where is good place to find Quaternary fossils? • Siberia and Alaska • Mammoths preserved in permafrost

  19. Quaternary extinctions • Occur 10,000 years ago • End of Pleistocene • Small % killed • High % of megafauna killed • Highest % in Australia & Americas

  20. Quaternary extinctions • What caused them? • Why only large animals gone? • Why most severe in Americas, Australia?

  21. Quaternary extinctions • Climate change cause • Glaciers retreating • Moist areas drying out • Vegetation changing • Problems: • Why didn’t animals migrate with glaciers? • Previous glacier retreats didn’t cause extinctions

  22. Quaternary extinctions • Overkill • Extinction coincided with arrival of humans • New hunters: big change for animals • Problems: • Humans lived in small communities with few hunters • Hunters today focus on smaller animals • Few human artifacts found with animal remains

  23. Quaternary extinctions • Climate change? • Overkill? • Disease? • Virus to jump species • Yet to be resolved

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