User:Abyssal/Portal:Neogene/Introduction

The Neogene covers about 20 million years. During this period, mammals and birds continued to evolve into roughly modern forms, while other groups of life remained relatively unchanged. Earlyhominids, the ancestors of humans, appeared in Africa. Some continental movement took place, the most significant event being the connection of North and South America at the Isthmus of Panama, late in the Pliocene. This cut off ocean currents between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, causing climate changes and creating the Gulf Stream. The global climate cooled considerably over the course of the Neogene, culminating in a series of continental glaciations in the Quaternary Period that follows. (See more…)