Editing Prehistory (section)

===Cenozoic Period===
*'''66 million years ago to now'''
Mammals crawl out from the ashes and repopulate the earth fairly quickly. They don't get as big as the dinosaurs, but they fill most niches rapidly from herd dwelling herbivores to predators to flying bats and whales to replace the lost giant marine reptiles. This has been a time of considerable change, with several cycles happening in which new clades of mammals rise to prominence and die off, replaced by newer groups which fill the same niches. It used to be the case that a major group of predators were hooved ungulates with bone crushing jaws.

In particular one strand of Arboreal mammals develops unusually keen eyesight, large brains and dexterous hands well suited to navigating their canopy homes and picking fruit, but also using tools. Eventually they loose their tails, come down from the trees, walk upright and begin to speak and use fire, but their story [[Stone Age|continues elsewhere]].