Belong to: Tertiary Period
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The Oligocene epoch is part of the Tertiary Period in the Cenozoic Era, and lasted from about 38 to 23 million years ago (mya). The Oligocene is thus a relatively short span of time, though a number of major changes occurred during this time. These include the appearance of the first elephants with trunks, early horses, and the appearance of many grasses -- plants that would produce vast tracts of grasslands in the following epoch, the Miocene.