Danian

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The Danian (also known as the Montian) is the first stage of the Paleocene Epoch, making up the Early Paleocene sub-epoch. The beginning of the stage is defined by the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event 65.5 ± 0.3 Ma (million years ago). The stage ended 61.7 ± 0.2 Ma. Though the non-avian dinosaurs were gone, the mammals, and other land animals remained small, none bigger than a large domestic cat. But most of the mammals' orders already had appeared. Numerous lineages of modern birds also survived, particularly in the area around Australia but also elsewhere, e.g. Scaniornis of the North Sea region. The oceans remained much the same as the Late Cretaceous seas, only that there was less life, no marine reptiles, and other lesser known animals.