Danian

The Danian is the oldest age or lowest stage of the Paleocene Epoch or Series, of the Paleogene Period or System, and of the Cenozoic Era or Erathem.

[5] The Danian was introduced in scientific literature by German-Swiss geologist Pierre Jean Édouard Desor in 1847 following a study of fossils found in France and Denmark.

[6] The Montian Stage from Belgian stratigraphy (named after the city of Mons) is now known to be roughly equivalent to the Upper Danian and is considered a junior synonym and is no longer in use.

[9] Though the non-avian dinosaurs were gone, the mammals and other land animals remained small, most not even bigger than a sheep; however; a few (like Ankalagon saurognathus) reached the size of a medium-sized bear.

[13] The event, which took place over a 170-230 kyr time interval,[14] is evidenced in the geologic record by two negative carbon isotope excursions and is believed to have led to a 2–3 °C (3.6–5.4 °F) warming of both deep and surface seawater.