Hominoid evolution and environmental change in the Neogene of Europe: a European Science Foundation Network

The later Neogene (the period between 14 and 2.4 m.y.a.) is crucial to understanding the present state of the terrestrial ecosystems. It was during this phase that the middle Miocene subtropical forests were replaced by more open habitats that still prevail in warm–temperate areas. In the late Neogene the first climatic shifts preceding the great Pleistocene glaciations took place. Regional geological changes occurred, leading to the present physical configuration of the Old World. For the land mammals, this was a time of intense faunal interchange coupled with regional differentiation and accelerating evolution.