Mountains rise

The Past reaches for the Present

At the end of the preceding Oligocene, the climate was relatively cold, and Antarctica was covered in ice. At the beginning of the Miocene, about 25 million years ago, the climate warmed up again, and the disappearance of the ice at the North and South Poles also caused the sea level to rise significantly.

Large parts of southern Europe, which had risen from the sea only a few million years ago, were flooded. In the early Miocene, a warm to subtropical climate prevailed up to northern latitudes. Antarctica was not only ice-free, but also partly covered with lush vegetation. And in Alaska, oaks, walnut trees, and even magnolias grew.

The alternation between rainy and dry seasons developed. Grasslands continued to spread, and herbivores had to develop new teeth and digestive systems to be able to use this food source efficiently.

Parallel to the grasslands, vast steppes developed during the Miocene. The animal kingdom was already beginning to look a lot like today's ecosystems. The land bridge between North and South America did not yet exist, so the South American fauna continued to be isolated. On all other continents, however, the ancestors of today's wolves, cats, horses, deer, and camels spread out.

The land masses of our planet continued their migration. As a result of the continental plates pushing into each other, many of the mountains we know today rose up: the Alps, the Rocky Mountains, the Himalayas, or the Andes. The latter two, by the way, became so high that they still influence the air currents and climate of the earth today.