Editing Paleogene (section)

==Flora and fauna==
[[File:Palaeotherium medium Life Reconstruction.png|thumb|left|Restoration of ''[[Palaeotherium]]'', which diversified in warmer climates]]
Tropical taxa diversified faster than those at higher latitudes after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, resulting in the development of a significant latitudinal diversity gradient.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Crame |first1=J. Alistair |date=March 2020 |title=Early Cenozoic evolution of the latitudinal diversity gradient |journal=[[Earth-Science Reviews]] |volume=202 |page=103090 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103090 |bibcode=2020ESRv..20203090C |s2cid=214219923 |doi-access=free }}</ref> 

[[Mammal]]s began a rapid [[Biodiversity|diversification]] during this period. After the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which saw the demise of the non-avian [[dinosaur]]s, mammals began to evolve from a few small and generalized forms into most of the modern varieties we see presently. Some of these mammals evolved into large forms that dominated the land, while others became capable of living in [[ocean|marine]], specialized terrestrial, and airborne environments. Those that adapted to the oceans became modern [[cetacean]]s and [[sirenian]]s, while those that adapted to trees became [[primate]]s, the group to which humans belong. 

[[Birds]], extant [[dinosaurs]] which were already well established by the end of the [[Cretaceous]], also experienced [[adaptive radiation]] as they took over the skies left empty by the now extinct [[pterosaur]]s. Some flightless birds such as [[penguin]]s, [[ratites]], and [[terror birds]] also filled niches left by the [[hesperornithes]] and other extinct dinosaurs.

[[Lanternfish|Myctophids]] first appeared in the Late Palaeocene or Early Eocene, and during the Eocene and most of the Oligocene were restricted to shelf seas before expanding their range into the open ocean during the warm climatic interval at the end of the Oligocene.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Schwarzhans |first1=Werner |last2=Carnevale |first2=Giorgio |date=August 2021 |title=The rise to dominance of lanternfishes (Teleostei: Myctophidae) in the oceanic ecosystems: a paleontological perspective |journal=[[Paleobiology (journal)|Paleobiology]] |language=en |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=446–463 |doi=10.1017/pab.2021.2 |issn=0094-8373 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Pronounced cooling in the [[Oligocene]] resulted in a massive floral shift, and many extant modern plants arose during this time. [[Poaceae|Grasses]] and herbs, such as ''[[Artemisia (genus)|Artemisia]]'', began to proliferate, at the expense of tropical plants, which began to decrease. [[Pinophyta|Conifer]] forests developed in mountainous areas. This cooling trend continued, with major fluctuation, until the end of the [[Pleistocene]] period.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Paleopalynology|author=Traverse, Alfred|date=1988|publisher=Unwin Hyman|isbn=978-0-04-561001-3|oclc=17674795}}</ref> This evidence for this floral shift is found in the [[Palynology|palynological]] record.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Muller|first=Jan|date=January 1981|title=Fossil pollen records of extant angiosperms|journal=The Botanical Review|volume=47|issue=1|pages=1–142|doi=10.1007/bf02860537|bibcode=1981BotRv..47....1M |s2cid=10574478|issn=0006-8101}}</ref>