Biota - Lifeforms

As climatic differentiation progressed during the Cenozoic, vegetation became more localized. For example, deciduous angiosperms became dominant in colder regions, while evergreens became dominant in the subtropics and tropics.

In marine life, mollusks (mainly bivalves and gastropods) diversified and reef-building corals developed in the tropics. Planktonic foraminifera experienced two major outbreaks in the Paleocene and Miocene, followed by a prolonged diversity decline in the mid-Cenozoic lasting 15 to 20 million years, linked to global cooling.