Paleogene Animals & Early Mammal Diversity

296Cenozoic

A broad hollow nasal ram rose from the skull of this immense brontothere.

319Cenozoic

Schools of herring-like fish were sealed into fine lake sediments.

337Cenozoic

A strong flyer belonged near lineages whose living members are mostly flightless.

341Cenozoic

Deep jaws and slicing teeth suggest an ancient kangaroo relative that ate meat.

379Cenozoic

Tiny ear canals in the forelegs show that it heard ultrasonic calls.

451Cenozoic

A shell nearly two meters long came from hot wetlands soon after the dinosaur extinction.

461Cenozoic

A one-and-a-half-meter penguin lived near the equator with a spear-like beak.

462Cenozoic

At almost 1.8 meters, it was a giant diver on a warmer Antarctic coast.

468Cenozoic

Three pairs of skull bosses and long canines crowned a rhino-sized herbivore.

469Cenozoic

A short face, tusk-like canines and grinding cheeks marked a herd-forming artiodactyl relative.

492Cenozoic

Long jaws and a powerful tail let choristoderes retain a crocodile-like niche after the dinosaurs.

497Cenozoic

A near-six-meter wingspan and bony pseudoteeth armed a giant seabird.

498Cenozoic

This fox-sized perissodactyl was a palaeothere relative, not a direct horse ancestor.

499Cenozoic

Short legs, a broad body and high-set eyes adapted a hornless rhinoceros relative to semiaquatic life.

540Cenozoic

Long legs and a strong beak belonged to a terrestrial bird with little or no flight.

544Cenozoic

Robust leg bones belonged to a giant flightless African bird whose skull remains unknown.

545Cenozoic

Five-toed feet and generalized teeth record an early radiation of hoofed-mammal relatives.

546Cenozoic

A short trunk and upper and lower tusks mark an early stage of proboscidean evolution.

547Cenozoic

A bear-sized heavy body and five-toed feet belonged to a pantodont herbivore.

549Cenozoic

A small hornless body combined traits near the early split of rhinos and tapirs.

550Cenozoic

A barrel body, short legs and large canines marked one of the first widespread large mammals.

566Cenozoic

A near-human-height diving bird preserves feathers and melanosomes that opened direct study of ancient penguin color.

567Cenozoic

A slender trunk, long bill and large flippers produced a taller silhouette than modern penguins.

568Cenozoic

A short face, low-crowned teeth and three-toed feet belonged to a European herbivore near horse relatives.