Paleogene

The name and its history

Carl Friedrich Naumann · 1866

What does the word literally mean?

The ‘old’ is relative to Neogene, not a revival of Primary geology; the suffix is scientific Greek-derived nomenclature, not an exact ancient phrase.

What did the original author mean?

‘Old-born’ or ‘older generated’ contrasts with the Neogene in a post-Tertiary twofold framework.

Why was the name needed?

Naumann and contemporaries sought to subdivide heterogeneous Tertiary successions at a higher rank.

What evidence supported the original concept?

Nineteenth-century European fossil and basin comparisons provided the division; earliest printed sense requires closer inspection.

How has geology changed the concept?

The present Paleogene is a formal period containing Paleocene, Eocene and Oligocene, not an all-purpose old-Tertiary facies.

Further historical context

Carl Friedrich Naumann’s 1866 Paläogen contrasted with Moriz Hörnes’s earlier Neogen (1853). This expressed an effort to group Cenozoic formations in light of fossil assemblages and European basin stratigraphy.

Under the current ICS chart, Paleogene ends at the base of the Miocene (23.04 Ma), rather than belonging to a single formal period called Tertiary.

Editorial qualification

The source-language is German; the Greek roots are the older building blocks, not an assertion that the word was borrowed from ancient Greek.

Related names

Neogene · Cenozoic · Tertiary · Fossil · Stratigraphy · Facies

Sources

1. ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart, 2026/06 — Current name, rank and numerical boundaries
2. Scottish Geology Trust: historical nomenclature of the Tertiary — Hoernes, Naumann, Lyell and palaeontological divisions
3. Berggren et al. (2008), The Neogene: origin, adoption, evolution, and controversy — Historiography of Hörnes and Neogene–Quaternary dispute