The Tertiary Period. Paleocene epoch

For a Paleocene epoch it is necessary approximately 7, million years. From its beginning up to now has driven 60 million years.

The sea, started to recede in the end of a Cretaceous, has even more contracted in sizes. Northern - the Atlantic continent incorporated now with risen of sea abyss Europe, but the south of a modern European part of Russia has been filled in still by a sea. The North America has incorporated with Southern. The paleocene climate was equal, warm both damp. Palm trees and treelike ferns in a considerable quantity grew on all northern continents. Evergreen subtropical trees made the main mass of Paleocene woods. There were ancestors of our trees falling down foliage much less often.

In Paleocene seas there were first nummuliteses - largest of unicells. They were so numerous, that seams of powerful nummulitic chalkstones were formed of an accumulation of their cavities. Paleocene corals and sponges are close to the modern. From echinoderm sea hedgehogs used especial distribution. Brachiopods and pearlworts became much less various, than before. From molluscs obviously prevailed folding and the gastropods who have replaced almost disappeared cephalopods. Arthropods were close to the modern.

In a paleocene domination of reptiles has come to an end. Neither on a land, nor on water, on air there were no more giants of a Cretaceous. On the Earth remained to live only turtles of a lizard, a snake and the crocodiles very close to the modern. In air already present, edentate birds at this time flied. The birds who had teeth, have for ever disappeared from the face of the earth.

The mammals occupying rather subordinated position in the nature throughout all Mesozoic age, now all became more numerous and is more various. Their fast prosperity was promoted by extinction of reptiles. In a paleocene still there lived multibunodont mammals. Herbivorous Ptilodus Falling into with last was growth approximately about a cat. Its forward teeth - chisels reminded chisels of a rat. Others multibunodont, were larger than a Ptilodus. They reached the sizes of the beaver. From marsupials of animals especially often there were wood marsupials of a rat - opossums. These small five-fingered small animals, probably, were ancestors of younger marsupials.

The present placentary mammals were already various, but on many features of the organisation they still nearby have left from cretaceous insectivorous ancestors. Ancestors of hedgehogs and animals close to them by the ground ran. On trees clambered insectivorous, similar on modern tree-shrew. These animals on an image of the life and on a structure already came nearer to modern semimonkeys, or lemurs. Here in foliage of trees the remote ancestors of the present monkeys, on a structure reminding a modern tarsier disappeared also. The tarsier is the small, big-eyed animal jumping on hind legs. Before it fall intoed to lemurs, but now on features of a structure of a skull evolve in special group and pull together with monkeys. In a paleocene there were the present bats wood insectivorous mammals were which ancestors. From the last, forming a special branch, in a paleocene have separated plant-eating Taeniodont. These animals on appearance resembled present idlers, but differed from them big enough tailing. Many of them, reached the sizes of a wolf. For the century it there were very large animals.

In a paleocene there were predators - creodontas. They still considerably differed from modern predators and had much in common with the insectivorous. Their brain was small, claws on fingers stupid and are similar to hooves. Paleocene creodontas had sharp canines, but they among molars yet did not have separate big cutting so-called "predatory" teeth. On a way of life and a food creodontas strongly differed among themselves. Tricentes, size from a polecat, armed with sharp claws, it was fed by insects and only sometimes corpses of small mammals or reptiles. Long-tailed, growth, - from a bear cub and, similar to it Cynodont though it was fed with animal food, but did not refuse and from vegetative, like modern bears. The presents herbivorous, ungulate animals came across also. From the last, for example, Euprotogonia, length to 80 sm, belonged to fundamental hoofed animals - Condylarthra. At these hoofed animals was still much in common with predators. At them we find the big canines and on fingers ungulate or even. The present claws. Standing at them on five fingers and longest of them - the third (centre) finger, as at modern imparidigitate (tapirs, rhinoceroses and horses). It is rather probable, that Euprotogonia - a far ancestor of these animals. In a shade of woods there lived large enough, size about a centre dog, representatives of group Amblypoda - Pantolambda. These stocky five-fingered hoofed animals with a massive tailing and strong canines were the remote relatives of elephants (proboscidean animals).