The Miocene: The future of the past

M Steinthorsdottir, HK Coxall… - Paleoceanography …, 2021 - Wiley Online Library
Abstract The Miocene epoch (23.03–5.33 Ma) was a time interval of global warmth, relative
to today. Continental configurations and mountain topography transitioned toward modern …

On the role of tectonics in stimulating the Cretaceous diversification of mammals

LN Weaver, JR Kelson, RM Holder, NA Niemi… - Earth-science …, 2024 - Elsevier
Mammals rose to prominence in terrestrial ecosystems after the Cretaceous–Paleogene
mass extinction, but the mammalian lineages characteristic of Paleogene faunas began their …

Ecometric estimation of present and past climate of North America using crown heights of rodents and lagomorphs

JA Schap, JX Samuels, TA Joyner - Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology …, 2021 - Elsevier
Studies of large herbivorous mammal (ungulate) communities have revealed an association
between increased tooth crown height (hypsodonty) and a shift to more arid environments …

Tectonic extension and paleoelevation influence mammalian diversity dynamics in the Basin and Range Province of western North America

TM Smiley, A Bahadori, ET Rasbury, WE Holt… - Science …, 2024 - science.org
Landscape properties have a profound influence on the diversity and distribution of biota,
with present-day biodiversity hot spots occurring in topographically complex regions …

Drier winters drove Cenozoic open habitat expansion in North America

T Kukla, JKC Rugenstein, DE Ibarra… - AGU …, 2022 - Wiley Online Library
The shift from denser forests to open, grass‐dominated vegetation in west‐central North
America between 26 and 15 million years ago is a major ecological transition with no clear …

Iterative evolution of large-bodied hypercarnivory in canids benefits species but not clades

MA Balisi, B Van Valkenburgh - Communications Biology, 2020 - nature.com
Ecological specialization has costs and benefits at various scales: traits benefitting an
individual may disadvantage its population, species or clade. In particular, large body size …

Vegetation and habitat change in southern California through the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum: paleoenvironmental records from the Barstow Formation, Mojave …

KM Loughney, MT Hren, SY Smith… - GSA …, 2020 - pubs.geoscienceworld.org
Abstract The Barstow Formation (ca. 19–13 Ma) of southern California, USA, is a terrestrial
sequence known for its diverse Miocene mammalian faunas. The formation spans the …

Small-scale spatial resolution of the soil phytolith record in a rainforest and a dry forest in Costa Rica: applications to the deep-time fossil phytolith record

C Crifò, CAE Strömberg - Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology …, 2020 - Elsevier
Phytolith analysis, a well-established tool in archaeology and Quaternary paleoecology, has
become a source of data for deep-time paleoecological studies only in the last 15 years …

Climatic Controls on C4 Grassland Distributions During the Neogene: A Model-Data Comparison

DL Fox, S Pau, L Taylor, CAE Strömberg… - Frontiers in Ecology …, 2018 - frontiersin.org
Grasslands dominated by taxa using the C4 photosynthetic pathway first developed on
several continents during the Neogene and Quaternary, long after C4 photosynthesis first …

Mammalian faunal change of the Miocene Dove Spring Formation, Mojave region, southern California, USA, in relation to tectonic history

FC Hardy, C Badgley - Geological Society of America …, 2024 - pubs.geoscienceworld.org
Tectonic processes drive the evolution of basins through local and regional changes in
topographic relief, which have long-term effects on mammalian richness and distribution …