Relating to the most recent geological era, spanning from about 66 million years ago to the present, when mammals and modern life forms developed.
From Greek 'kainos' (recent) and 'zoion' (animal), coined in 1840 by British geologist John Phillips to describe the era of 'recent life' following the extinction of dinosaurs.
The Cenozoic is sometimes called 'The Age of Mammals' because after dinosaurs disappeared, mammals evolved to fill every ecological niche on Earth—from whales in oceans to bats in the sky to humans on land.
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