Neogene Period
23.03 – 2.58 million years ago · Cenozoic Era
In the Neogene the world began to look familiar. Continents approached their modern positions, grasslands spread across the continents, and early hominins appeared in Africa.
At a glance
- Began
- 23.03 Ma
- Ended
- 2.58 Ma
- Duration
- 20.45 million years
- Era
- Cenozoic
- Climate state
- Icehouse (polar ice sheets)
- Land above sea level (PaleoDEM)
- ~35.2%
- Dinosaurs on our map
- 0
The world in the Neogene
Open the interactive map at 10 Ma → Elevation view
What Earth was like
The Isthmus of Panama formed, connecting North and South America and rerouting ocean currents. Africa pushed into Europe, and around 6 million years ago the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and largely evaporated in the Messinian salinity crisis. The Alps, Andes and Himalayas continued to rise.
Climate
After the warm Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum, the climate cooled and dried. Antarctica’s ice sheet grew, and by the end of the period ice sheets were also forming in the northern hemisphere.
Life
Grasses spread widely, and grazing mammals like horses evolved teeth for eating them. The megatooth shark Otodus megalodon hunted in the oceans. In Africa, the human lineage split from that of chimpanzees, and upright-walking hominins such as Australopithecus appeared.
Dinosaurs of the Neogene
Non-avian dinosaurs were already gone, wiped out 66 million years ago. Their living descendants are birds.
How it ended
The Neogene ended at 2.58 million years ago, when the ice ages of the Quaternary began in earnest.
Key facts
- The Mediterranean nearly dried out about 6 million years ago.
- The Great American Biotic Interchange followed the formation of Panama.
- "Lucy" (Australopithecus afarensis) lived about 3.2 million years ago.
Data: land and sea
Across the Neogene, an average of 35.2% of Earth’s surface stood above reconstructed sea level (range 34.5–35.9%). Today the same model gives 31.8%.
Where this data comes from
- Continent positions: GPlates Web Service, Müller et al. (2019) plate model, covering 0–250 Ma.
- Elevation and shorelines: PALEOMAP PaleoDEMs, Scotese & Wright (2018), doi:10.5281/zenodo.5460860, CC BY 4.0.
- Period boundaries: ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart (2023/09).
These are scientific reconstructions, not observations. Uncertainty grows the further back in time you go. About & data sources
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- About & data sourcesWhere the reconstructions and fossil data come from.