Cenozoic Era Geology and Primate Evolution Facts

Cenozoic Era Periods

The periods of the Cenozoic Era, in order from oldest to youngest, are Paleogene, Neogene, Quaternary.

Plate Tectonics and Orogenies

Convergent and Transform Margins

• What is an example of a continental-continental convergent plate margin? Himalayas
• What is an example of a transform plate margin? San Andreas Fault

North American and Alpine Orogenies

• The orogenic event of the North American Cordillera, which began in the Late Cretaceous and extended into the Cenozoic, is the Laramide Orogeny.
• The Alpine orogeny resulted in the formation of which mountains? Alps, Atlas, and Pyrenees.
• The rapid northward movement of India resulted in the formation of the Himalayan mountains.
• How did orogens in the Pacific region differ from the Himalayan orogeny? The Pacific orogenies resulted from subduction.
• In the Cenozoic, the western margin of North America changed from a subduction zone to a transform boundary.

Volcanism and Basin Formation

• The Columbia River volcanic field can be described as voluminous basalt lava flows.
• The Columbia River volcanic field is related to Miocene lava flows.
• Formation of Basin and Range mountains is a result of normal faulting.
• The Basin and Range Province, located in the western United States, is characterized by normal faults.
• One possible reason for present-day geothermal activity at Yellowstone National Park and the extensive flood basalts of the Columbia River plateau is a hot spot.

Oceanic Changes and Appalachian Features

• The Panthalassa Ocean eventually became the present-day Pacific Ocean.
• The present-day distribution of oceans and continents is due to the continuation of Mesozoic rifting of Pangaea.
• The present topography of the Appalachian mountains is due to Cenozoic uplift and erosion.
• As you move from the Appalachian mountains towards the Atlantic Ocean, the depositional layers of sediments beneath you gradually become thicker.
• Sedimentary facies of the Gulf Coastal plain developed primarily in response to regression of the Tejas sea.
• Which plate is a remnant of the Farallon plate? Juan de Fuca plate.

Primate and Hominin Evolution

Primate Classification

• The order of mammals that includes prosimians (lemurs and tarsiers), monkeys, apes, and humans is primates.
• Any member of the primate suborder Anthropoidea, which includes New World and Old World monkeys, apes, and humans, is an anthropoid.
• Anthropoids evolved from prosimians sometime during the Late Eocene.
• Which type of primate is a baboon? An Old World monkey.
• While in South America, you discover a fossil with a prehensile tail and flat face. Which type of primate is this fossil most likely to be? A New World monkey.
• The first primates were prosimians.
• Primates are difficult to characterize as an order because they lack strong specializations.

Hominin Development

• Hominins originated in Africa.
• Humans are most closely related to Chimpanzees.
• The earliest Homo species was Homo habilis.
• In addition to humans, the Homininae include what other two tribes? Chimpanzees and gorillas.
• Features of hominins, such as large brain size and bipedalism, developed in response to warming climate.
• Which evolutionary event happened first? The hominoids separated from anthropoids.

Human Species and Hypotheses

• Which family includes bipedal primates such as Australopithecus and Homo? Hominidae.
• Which race of Homo sapiens lived mostly in Europe from 35,000 to 10,000 years ago? Cro-Magnon.
• Which type of human inhabited the Near East and Europe from 200,000 to 30,000 years ago and may have been a subspecies of Homo sapiens or a separate species? Neanderthals.
• Which hypothesis proposes that early modern humans established separate populations throughout Eurasia, and had occasional interbreeding between populations? The multiregional hypothesis.
• What has been the trend in human evolution since the appearance of the Cro-Magnons? Evolution has become cultural rather than biological.

Other Mammalian Facts

Mammalian Diets and Groups

• Any animal that eats tender shoots, twigs, and leaves is a browser.
• Any cud-chewing placental mammal with a complex three- or four-chambered stomach, such as deer, cattle, antelope, or camels is a ruminant.
• Which phytoplankton flourished in the Miocene, probably because of increased volcanism? Diatoms.
• Which mammals have been hugely successful, partly because they can eat almost anything? Rodents.
• The ancestor of all living carnivores is a miacid.
• The vast majority of mammals belong to the Placental order.