Editing Miocene (section)

====Oceanic====
In the oceans, [[brown algae]], called [[kelp]], proliferated, supporting new species of sea life, including [[otter]]s, [[fish]] and various [[invertebrate]]s.

Corals suffered a significant local decline along the northeastern coast of Australia during the Tortonian, most likely due to warming seawater.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Petrick |first1=Benjamin |last2=Reuning |first2=Lars |last3=Auer |first3=Gerald |last4=Zhang |first4=Yige |last5=Pfeiffer |first5=Miriam |last6=Schwark |first6=Lorenz |date=10 March 2023 |title=Warm, not cold temperatures contributed to a Late Miocene reef decline in the Coral Sea |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |language=en |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=4015 |doi=10.1038/s41598-023-31034-8 |pmid=36899047 |pmc=10006184 |bibcode=2023NatSR..13.4015P |issn=2045-2322 }}</ref>

[[Cetaceans]] attained their greatest diversity during the Miocene,<ref name="G">{{Cite book
 |author1       = Peter Klimley
 |author2       = David Ainley
 |name-list-style = amp
 |title         = Great White Sharks: the Biology of ''Carcharodon carcharias''
 |year          = 1996
 |publisher     = Academic Press
 |url           = http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.cws_home/673659/description#description
 |isbn          = 0-12-415031-4
 |access-date   = 2011-08-12
 |archive-url   = https://web.archive.org/web/20121012190507/http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.cws_home/673659/description#description
 |archive-date  = 2012-10-12
 }}</ref> with over 20 recognized genera of [[baleen whale]]s in comparison to only six living genera.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dooley |first1=Alton C. |last2=Fraser |first2=Nicholas C. |last3=Luo |first3=Zhe-Xi |year=2004 |title=The earliest known member of the rorqual—gray whale clade (Mammalia, Cetacea) |url=https://www.academia.edu/7488679 |journal=[[Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology]] |language=en |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=453–463 |bibcode=2004JVPal..24..453D |doi=10.1671/2401 |issn=0272-4634 |s2cid=84970052}}</ref> This diversification correlates with emergence of gigantic macro-predators such as megatoothed sharks and raptorial [[sperm whale]]s.<ref name="LV">{{Cite journal
 |author1=Olivier Lambert |author2=Giovanni Bianucci |author3=Klaas Post |author4=Christian de Muizon |author5=Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi |author6=Mario Urbina |author7=Jelle Reumer |title=The giant bite of a new raptorial sperm whale from the Miocene epoch of Peru
 |year=2010 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=466 |issue=7302 |pages=105–108
 |pmid=20596020 |doi=10.1038/nature09067|bibcode = 2010Natur.466..105L |s2cid=4369352 }}</ref> Prominent examples are ''[[Megalodon|O. megalodon]]'' and ''[[Livyatan|L. melvillei]]''.<ref name="LV" /> Other notable large sharks were ''[[Otodus chubutensis|O. chubutensis]]'', ''Isurus hastalis'', and ''[[Hemipristis serra]]''.

Crocodilians also showed signs of diversification during the Miocene. The largest form among them was a gigantic [[caiman]] ''[[Purussaurus]]'' which inhabited South America.<ref>{{cite journal
 |author      = Orangel A. Aguilera, Douglas Riff & Jean Bocquentin-Villanueva
 |title       = A new giant ''Pusussaurus'' (Crocodyliformes, Alligatoridae) from the Upper Miocene Urumaco Formation, Venezuela
 |year        = 2006
 |journal     = [[Journal of Systematic Palaeontology]]
 |volume      = 4
 |issue       = 3
 |pages       = 221–232
 |url         = http://www.paleovertebrados.museunacional.ufrj.br/publicacoes/douglas_riff/purussaurusmirandai.pdf
 |doi         = 10.1017/S147720190600188X
 |bibcode = 2006JSPal...4..221A
 |s2cid = 85950121
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20120329034001/http://www.paleovertebrados.museunacional.ufrj.br/publicacoes/douglas_riff/purussaurusmirandai.pdf
 |archive-date = 2012-03-29
}}</ref> Another gigantic form was a [[false gharial]] ''[[Rhamphosuchus]]'', which inhabited modern age [[India]]. A strange form, ''[[Mourasuchus]]'' also thrived alongside ''Purussaurus''. This species developed a specialized filter-feeding mechanism, and it likely preyed upon small fauna despite its gigantic size.<ref name=":1" />

The youngest members of [[Sebecidae]], a clade of large terrestrial predatory [[crocodyliformes]] distantly related to modern crocodilians, from which they likely diverged over 180 million years ago, are known from the Miocene of South America.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Cidade|first1=Giovanne M.|last2=Fortier|first2=Daniel|last3=Hsiou|first3=Annie Schmaltz|date=March 2019|title=The crocodylomorph fauna of the Cenozoic of South America and its evolutionary history: a review|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0895981118303699|journal=Journal of South American Earth Sciences|language=en|volume=90|pages=392–411|doi=10.1016/j.jsames.2018.12.026|bibcode=2019JSAES..90..392C|s2cid=134902094}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wilberg |first1=Eric W. |last2=Turner |first2=Alan H. |last3=Brochu |first3=Christopher A. |date=2019-01-24 |title=Evolutionary structure and timing of major habitat shifts in Crocodylomorpha |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=514 |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-36795-1 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=6346023 |pmid=30679529|bibcode=2019NatSR...9..514W }}</ref>

The last [[Desmostylians]] thrived during this period before becoming the only extinct marine mammal order.

The [[pinniped]]s, which appeared near the end of the Oligocene, became more aquatic. A prominent genus was ''[[Allodesmus]]''.<ref>{{cite journal
 |author1=Lawrence G. Barnes |author2=Kiyoharu Hirota
 |name-list-style=amp |title=Miocene pinnipeds of the otariid subfamily Allodesminae in the North Pacific Ocean: systematics and relationships
 |year=1994 |journal=[[Island Arc]] |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=329–360
 |doi=10.1111/j.1440-1738.1994.tb00119.x|bibcode=1994IsArc...3..329B
 }}</ref> A ferocious [[walrus]], ''[[Pelagiarctos]]'' may have preyed upon other species of pinnipeds including ''Allodesmus''.

Furthermore, [[South America]]n waters witnessed the arrival of ''[[Megapiranha|Megapiranha paranensis]]'', which were considerably larger than modern age [[piranha]]s.

[[New Zealand]]'s Miocene fossil record is particularly rich. Marine deposits showcase a variety of [[cetaceans]] and [[penguins]], illustrating the evolution of both groups into modern representatives. The early Miocene [[Saint Bathans Fauna]] is the only Cenozoic terrestrial fossil record of the landmass, showcasing a wide variety of not only [[bird]] species, including early representatives of clades such as [[moa]], [[Kiwi (bird)|kiwi]] and [[adzebill]]s, but also a diverse herpetofauna of [[sphenodontia]]ns, [[crocodile]]s and [[turtle]]s as well as a rich terrestrial mammal fauna composed of various species of [[bats]] and the enigmatic [[Saint Bathans Mammal]].

<gallery widths="200" heights="145">
File:Calvert Zone 10 Calvert Co MD.jpg|Miocene fossils from the [[Calvert Formation]], [[Calvert County, Maryland]], US
File:The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis - Miocene crab.jpg|A Miocene crab (''[[Tumidocarcinus giganteus]]'') from the collection of the [[Children's Museum of Indianapolis]]
</gallery>