Fauna
Both marine and continental faunas were essentially modern, although continental faunas were a bit more primitive than today. The first recognizable hominins, the australopithecines, appeared in the Pliocene.
The land mass collisions meant great migration and mixing of previously isolated species, such as in the Great American Interchange. Herbivores got bigger, as did specialized predators.
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The gastropod Oliva sayana, from the Pliocene of Florida.
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The coral Cladocora from the Pliocene of Cyprus.
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A gastropod and attached serpulid wormtube from the Pliocene of Cyprus.
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The gastropod Turritella carinata from the Pliocene of Cyprus.
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The thorny oysterSpondylus right and left valve interiors from the Pliocene of Cyprus.
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Articulated Spondylus from the Pliocene of Cyprus.
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The limpet Diodora italica from the Pliocene of Cyprus.
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The scaphopod Dentalium from the Pliocene of Cyprus.
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The gastropod Aporrhais from the Pliocene of Cyprus.
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The arcid bivalve Anadara from the Pliocene of Cyprus.
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The pectenid bivalve Ammusium cristatum from the Pliocene of Cyprus.
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Tube of a serpulid worm attached to a branch of the coral Cladocora from the Pliocene of Cyprus.
Read more about this topic: Pliocene
Famous quotes containing the word fauna:
“The whole fauna of human fantasies, their marine vegetation, drifts and luxuriates in the dimly lit zones of human activity, as though plaiting thick tresses of darkness. Here, too, appear the lighthouses of the mind, with their outward resemblance to less pure symbols. The gateway to mystery swings open at the touch of human weakness and we have entered the realms of darkness. One false step, one slurred syllable together reveal a man’s thoughts.”
—Louis Aragon (1897–1982)