The Caenozoic

When: 65 million years ago to 10,000 years ago.

Animals: Mammals and birds become common. Animals that are familiar to us today begin to appear. During the last part of this era, humans begin to live alongside mammoths, bison, lions and bears.

Plants: The plants of forests and grasslands become similar to those we see today.

Firsts: Primates (humans, apes and monkeys) and many other mammals appear.

Lasts: Some groups like mammoths died out towards the end of this period, but as you can see from similar animals and plants alive today, many have survived.

Notes: Ice ages were common in the the last part of this era - animals and plants had to adapt to these conditions.

A group of fossil teeth of a hippopotamus

These are the teeth of a hippopotamus. They were found in Tuscany in Italy and are about one and a half million years old.
It was around this time that animals like the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus lived alongside bears, mammoths, hyenas, and wild horses in England and other parts of Europe.

Do you know what these fossils are?

This is the lower jaw of a rhinoceros. It was found in Tuscany in Italy and is about one and a half million years old. It was around this time that animals like the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus lived alongside bears, mammoths, hyenas, and wild horses in England and other parts of Europe.

These are the lower jaw and tooth of a zebra. They were found in Tuscany in Italy and are about one and a half million years old. It was around this time that animals like the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus lived alongside bears, mammoths, hyenas, and zebra in England and other parts of Europe.

This is a fossil lobster that lived in the sea. It was found in Sheppey in Kent and is about 50 million years old.

This is a fossil maple leaf - just like the maple leaves you can see on trees today. This specimen was found in Switzerland and is about 10 million years old.

It was probably growing on a tree near a lake. When the tree lost its leaves they fell into the mud at the bottom of the lake and became fossilised.

This fossil is a marine gastropod - a snail that lived in the sea. It was found in Hampshire and is about 40 million years old.

This is the lower jaw of a cave hyena. It was found near Maidstone in Kent and is probably only about 25,000 years old. It was around this time that animals like the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus lived alongside bears, mammoths, hyenas, wild horses in England and other parts of Europe.

With its sharp teeth what type of food do you think it ate?

This is the tooth of a woolly mammoth. It was found in Stanton Harcourt in Oxfordshire and is probably only about two hundred thousand years old. Oxfordshire is mainly made up of Jurassic rocks, but in some places these have been covered by much younger sediments.

This specimen is a mass of fossil bivalve molluscs. Each bivalve looks just like a shell you may find on the beach today. They were found in Kent and are probably about 50 million years old.

This is a fossil fish that lived in a shallow lake. It was found in Wyoming in America and is about 50 million years old.

As you can see, this fossil specimen looks just like the skeletons of the fish you see swimming in lakes today.

These are fossilised shark teeth. They were found in Sheppey in Kent and are about 50 million years old.

If you have ever seen the jaw of a modern shark with its rows of teeth, you would know that these fossils look just like the teeth of the sharks we see today.

The Caenozoic

These are the teeth of a hippopotamus. They were found in Tuscany in Italy and are about one and a half million years old. It was around this time that animals like the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus lived alongside bears, mammoths, hyenas, and wild horses in England and other parts of Europe.

Do you know what these fossils are?

About this resource

These are the teeth of a hippopotamus. They were found in Tuscany in Italy and are about one and a half million years old.
It was around this time that animals like the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus lived alongside bears, mammoths, hyenas, and wild horses in England and other parts of Europe.