Selandian

The Selandian is a specific time period in Earth's history called a stage, which is part of the larger Paleocene epoch. It lasted from about 61.66 million years ago to 59.24 million years ago. This stage comes after the Danian stage and is followed by the Thanetian stage.

When scientists look at the Paleocene, they sometimes split it into smaller parts, and the Selandian is known as the middle part of this early time period. Understanding the Selandian helps us learn about how life on Earth was changing right after the time of the dinosaurs.

Stratigraphic definition

The Selandian was introduced in scientific literature by Danish geologist Alfred Rosenkrantz in 1924. It is named after the Danish island of Zealand (Danish: Sjælland), where it is commonly found.

The Selandian is a time period in Earth's history, close to the boundary between certain types of tiny, ancient plants called biozones. It marks a time when new types of tiny ocean creatures, called nanoplankton, began to appear. The official point that marks the start of the Selandian was set at a location in Spain, at the beach of Itzurun in the Basque Country.

Fauna and Flora

The Selandian period had many interesting animals, including giant snakes called Titanoboa, crocodiles, champsosaurs, large bird-like creatures known as Gastornithiformes, and owls. There were also some early mammals, such as mesonychids, pantodonts, relatives of primates called plesiadapids, and multiberculates.

Plants during this time included cacti, ferns, and palm trees. Fossils from this period show that some areas, like Gelinden, Belgium, had many more fossils than places in North America. This suggests that life was returning differently in various parts of the world after the End-Cretaceous mass extinction event.