The Miocene is a geologic epoch of the Neogene Period, spanning approximately 23.03 to 5.33 million years ago, characterized by significant tectonic, climatic, and biotic transitions. It saw continued fragmentation of continents and uplift of major mountain ranges, which altered atmospheric circulation and drove long-term global cooling and aridification trends. The Miocene witnessed expansion and diversification of grasslands and associated mammalian faunas, alongside important evolutionary radiations in marine and terrestrial lineages. It also encompasses major developments in ocean circulation patterns, including changes in thermohaline structure that influenced carbon cycling, contributing to the establishment of more modern-style climatic and ecological regimes.
A study by the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP-CERCA) with the involvement of the UAB indicates that between 12.5 and 9 million years ago, in the Vallès-Penedès basin, rainfall was twice as high ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 2, 2026
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A QUT-led study has found how increasing aridity and habitat variation and the subsequent emergence of grasslands shaped the evolution of modern kangaroos and wallabies. The study, published in Molecular Phylogenetics and ...
Evolution
Jan 29, 2026
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A new study suggests the world's oxygen-depleted seas may have a chance of returning to higher oxygen concentrations in the centuries to come, despite our increasingly warming climate.
Earth Sciences
Jan 29, 2026
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The uplift of East Africa during the Miocene epoch dramatically transformed the region's climate and ecosystems, promoting the expansion of grassland and reshaping habitats for mammals and early hominoids. This is revealed ...
Ecology
Oct 15, 2025
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The La Venta fossil site in Colombia is home to a rich fossil record, yielding a particularly diverse set of vertebrate fossil assemblages. The giant terror bird (phorusrhacid) and caiman—a large crocodile-like reptile—were ...
Proteins degrade over time, making their history hard to study. But new research has uncovered ancient proteins in the enamel of the teeth of 18-million-year-old fossilized mammals from Kenya's Rift Valley, opening a window ...
Evolution
Jul 9, 2025
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New research reveals that shifts in plant life played a key role in speeding up major climate changes during the late Miocene, a period spanning 11.6 to 5.3 million years ago.
Earth Sciences
May 2, 2025
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A little over 5 million years ago, water from the Atlantic Ocean found a way through the present-day Strait of Gibraltar. According to this theory, oceanic water rushed faster than a speeding car down a kilometer-high slope ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 14, 2025
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