Paleogene
Earth 45 million years ago: after the dinosaurs, almost our world — but India is still an island racing toward Asia.
Drag to spin — this is what yours looks like folded.
About this globe
The Eocene, 45 million years ago, from the PALEOMAP paleo-elevation models. The dinosaurs are gone and mammals are taking over a world that looks almost — but not quite — like ours: India is closing the last gap before its slow-motion collision with Asia, and Australia is pulling away from Antarctica.
There are no Himalayas yet, and the map rewards close reading: everything is recognizable, and nearly everything is slightly out of place.
How the data was captured
Reconstructed by paleogeographer Christopher Scotese by rewinding plate motions recorded in seafloor magnetism and matching rock formations, then estimating ancient elevations from geology; rendered by us from the published elevation grids.
Data: PALEOMAP PaleoDEMs — Scotese and Wright 2018 (CC BY 4.0) →
Download free — pick your paper size
Print at 100% scale. Cut along solid lines, fold along dashed lines, glue the tabs. Your PDF can take up to a minute to prepare — hang tight after clicking.
In the US? Print the A4 file and choose “fit to page” — it scales cleanly onto Letter paper.
Sharing this globe?
Free for personal use, classrooms, and gifts — not for resale. If you post it on your site or share it online, please credit Folding Globes with a link. Copy-paste blurb:
"Paleogene" folding paper globe — free from Folding Globes, https://foldingglobes.com/globes/paleogene · Data: PALEOMAP PaleoDEMs — Scotese and Wright 2018 (CC BY 4.0)
Make it yours
Every paid shape also lets you pin your own places on the map.