The Paleogene and Neogene world (65 – 2.5 million years ago)
Entelodon is a genus of Entelodontidae endemic to Europe, Eurasia, Asia from the early Eocene through Oligocene living 37.2—28.4 million years ago.
The Mesozoic Era, the age of the dinosaurs, had come to a dramatic end. Mass extinction had devastated life on Earth. All dinosaurs except birds had disappeared. The Mesozoic Era had ended, and the Cenozoic Era—the age of mammals—had begun. Strange animals, both familiar and unfamiliar were rummaging the Meadow during this time.
- Deinotherium (“terrible beast”), also called the Hoe tusker, was a gigantic prehistoric relative of modern-day elephants. In life it probably resembled modern elephants, except that its trunk was shorter, and it had downward curving tusks attached to the lower jaw.
The Paleogene and Neogene periods are most notable as being the time in which mammals evolved from relatively small, simple forms into a plethora of diverse animals we know today.
Paleogene is among the best known ancient “greenhouse” climate intervals-times when Earth’s average temperature was significantly higher than they are today. The Meadow was probably covered by the subtropical vegetation with crocodiles swimming in its streams and early primates evolving in its tropical palm forests.
