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Macdonald-Ross please be careful when you revert
[[File:Blakey 20moll.jpg|thumb|right||The Miocene]]
The '''Miocene''' is the first [[Epoch (geology)|epoch]] of the [[Neogene]] period of the [[Cainozoic]]. It started about 23 million years ago and ended about 5.33 million years ago. The rock beds that mark the start and end are well known, but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are uncertain. The [[biota]] becomes 'modern'.
The Miocene was named by Sir [[Charles Lyell]]. Its name comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] words {{lang|grc|μείων}} (''{{lang|grc-Latn|meiōn}}'', “less”) and {{lang|grc|καινός}} (''{{lang|grc-Latn|kainos}}'', “new”) and means "less recent", because it has 18% fewer modern sea [[invertebrates]] than the [[Pliocene]].
As the earth cooled, it went from the Oligocene epoch, through the Miocene, and into the Pliocene. The Miocene boundaries are not set at any particular world wide event. They are set at regional boundaries between the warmer Oligocene and the cooler Pliocene epochs.
The plants and animals of the Miocene were fairly modern. Modern families of [[mammal]]s and birds existed. Whales, seals, and kelp spread. Modern sharks appeared, including the huge ''[[Megalodon]]''. [[Grass]]lands became more common. Mammalian [[browser]]s became less common, and [[grazer]] species became more common. About 100 species of [[ape]] lived at that time, and [[cetacea]]ns were very common in the seas.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=Alton C. Dooley Jr., Nicholas C. Fraser & Zhe-Xi Luo |year=2004 |title=The earliest known member of the rorqual–gray whale clade (Mammalia, Cetacea) |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=453–463 |url=http://www.seaturtle.org/PDF/Dooley_2004_JVertPaleo.pdf |format=[[Portable Document Format|PDF]] |doi=10.1671/2401}}</ref> The giganic shark ''[[Carcharodon megalodon]]'' may have preyed on them.
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Geologic History}}
[[Category:Cainozoic]]
The '''Miocene''' is the first [[Epoch (geology)|epoch]] of the [[Neogene]] period of the [[Cainozoic]]. It started about 23 million years ago and ended about 5.33 million years ago. The rock beds that mark the start and end are well known, but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are uncertain. The [[biota]] becomes 'modern'.
The Miocene was named by Sir [[Charles Lyell]]. Its name comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] words {{lang|grc|μείων}} (''{{lang|grc-Latn|meiōn}}'', “less”) and {{lang|grc|καινός}} (''{{lang|grc-Latn|kainos}}'', “new”) and means "less recent", because it has 18% fewer modern sea [[invertebrates]] than the [[Pliocene]].
As the earth cooled, it went from the Oligocene epoch, through the Miocene, and into the Pliocene. The Miocene boundaries are not set at any particular world wide event. They are set at regional boundaries between the warmer Oligocene and the cooler Pliocene epochs.
The plants and animals of the Miocene were fairly modern. Modern families of [[mammal]]s and birds existed. Whales, seals, and kelp spread. Modern sharks appeared, including the huge ''[[Megalodon]]''. [[Grass]]lands became more common. Mammalian [[browser]]s became less common, and [[grazer]] species became more common. About 100 species of [[ape]] lived at that time, and [[cetacea]]ns were very common in the seas.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=Alton C. Dooley Jr., Nicholas C. Fraser & Zhe-Xi Luo |year=2004 |title=The earliest known member of the rorqual–gray whale clade (Mammalia, Cetacea) |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=453–463 |url=http://www.seaturtle.org/PDF/Dooley_2004_JVertPaleo.pdf |format=[[Portable Document Format|PDF]] |doi=10.1671/2401}}</ref> The giganic shark ''[[Carcharodon megalodon]]'' may have preyed on them.
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Geologic History}}
[[Category:Cainozoic]]