Oligocene INFOGRAPHIC

Oligocene Epoch

Kate Ganley

Within the Timeline...

In a nutshell...

The Oligocene Epoch took place about 34-23 million years ago. It started out cool, and gradually warmed to harbor plains and grasslands. Many new species arose during this time after the extinction that took place prior. Tectonic plate shifts continuted to progress and made it easier for living things to move around the Earth

Welcome to the Oligocene Epoch! Feel free to click around and get to know a little more about this time on Earth.

World

Facts

Time

Events

Time

33.9-23 million years ago

• The Oligocene Epoch is the third Epoch in the Cenozoic Era.
• This Epoch lasted about 11 million years.
• This Epoch follows the Eocene Epoch and preceeds the Miocene Epoch.

World

From Ice to Grass

• The Oligocene Epoch started with a cooling and ice sheets forming in the region of Antarctica
• This cooling event lead to a mass extinction (See events) during the Oligocene Epoch
• Most tree dwelling animals died
• Carnivores and Artiodactyls thrived
• Cool and dry areas formed grass lands
• Animals that could digest grass were better off

Events

Extinctions and Changes

• When the Earth cooled, this lead to the extinction event known as the "Grand Coupure" or "Great Break" about 30 Million Years ago
• A split among simians becomes evident, New World Monkeys are present in South America starting 26 million years ago with Old World Monkeys remaining in Africa and Asia

• Many tectonic plates shifted during this time. The uplift of the Tibetan Plateau continues and the moving togeth of the European and Adriatic plates which led to the furthre formation of the Alpine system (Dominique).

Facts

• The Eusmilus, a prehistoric relative of the false saber-toothed cats thrive as a carnivorous animal (Jepson).
• New World monkeys remained small in size and mostly spent time in trees while Old World monkeys began spending more time on the ground.
• The Chesapeake Bay impact crater located beneath the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay is thought to have impacted within this time.
• Althought the "Grande Coupure" is not one of the 6 recorded mass extinctions, it was the biggest between the K-T “Dino Killer” and the present Sixth extinction
• The Oligocene Epoch is divided into two ages with two rock stages: the Rupelian and the Chattian.

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Works Cited

• Dominique K L L Jenny, Reichgelt, T., O'Brien, C.,L., Liu, X., Bijl, P. K., Huber, M., & Sluijs, A. (2024). Climate variability, heat distribution, and polar amplification in the warm unipolar “icehouse” of the Oligocene. Climate of the Past, 20(7), 1627-1657. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1627-2024
• Jepson, G. L. (1933). American eusomiloid sabre-tooth cats of the Oligocene epoch. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society., 72(5). https://doi.org/info:doi/