Eon / Era / Period / Epoch / Age
| Preceded by the Proterozoic Eon |
Phanerozoic Eon | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paleozoic Era | Mesozoic Era | Cenozoic Era | ||||||||||
| Cambrian | Ordovician | Silurian | Devonian | Carboniferous | Permian | Triassic | Jurassic | Cretaceous | Paleogene | Neogene | 4ry | |
Precambrian
editSee Timeline of the Precambrian
- Theia strikes Proto-earth.
- Priscoan Eon. To 3.8 Ga. Also called Hadean. Earth and moon form.
- Archean Eon. 3.8 to 2.5 Ga. Earth solidifies.
- Eoarchean Era. 4.0 - 3.6 Ga. Oldest rocks.
- Paleoarchean Era. 3.6 - 3.2 Ga. cyanobacteria
- Mesoarchean Era. 3.2 - 2.8 Ga. Stromatolites. Vaalbara broke up. Ur (continent) assembles.
- Neoarchean Era. 2.8 - 2.5 Ga. Great Oxygenation Event
- Proterozoic Eon. 2.5 Ga to 542 Ma.
- Paleoproterozoic Era. 2.5 - 1.6 Ga. First aerobic life. Oxygen. Oldest surviving mountains. Arctica assembles.
- Mesoproterozoic Era. 1.6 - 1.0 Ga. Sexual reproduction. Rodinia breaks up. Columbia (supercontinent) forms.
- Neoproterozoic Era. 1000 - 542 Ma. Ice sheets reach the equator during the Cryogenian. Pannotia forms.
Phanerozoic
edit
- Phanerozoic Eon. 545 Ma to present.
- Paleozoic Era. 542 - 251 Ma.
- Cambrian Period. 542 - 488 Ma. Explosion of complex aquatic life.
- Ordovician Period. 488 - 444 Ma. Very high sea levels. Land plants.
- Silurian Period. 444 - 416 Ma. Ordovician–Silurian extinction event. Greenhouse effect. Plants diversify.
- Devonian Period. 416 - 359 Ma. Fish emerge on land. Plants have leaves, roots, and seeds.
- Carboniferous Period. 359 - 299 Ma. Glaciation. Coal.
- Permian Period. 299 - 251 Ma. Amniotes diversify into mammals, turtles, lepidosaurs (lizards and snakes), archosaurs (crocs, dinos, pterosaurs).
- Mesozoic Era. 251 - 65 Ma. Also called the Secondary superperiod. Permian–Triassic extinction event.
- Triassic Period. 251 - 200 Ma. Africa joins Pangaea. Pterosaurs.
- Jurassic Period. 200 - 146 Ma. Pangaea breaks into Laurasia and Gondwana. Allosaurus and Stegosaurus.
- Cretaceous Period. 146 - 65 Ma. Marine reptiles, dinosaurs, and flowers. High sea levels.
- Caenozoic Era. 65 Ma to present. See below.
- Tertiary Period. 65.5 - 2.6 Ma. See below
- Quaternary Period. 2.6 Ma to present. See below.
- Paleozoic Era. 542 - 251 Ma.
Last Era of the Phanerozoic Eon
edit
- ... Phanerozoic Eon, 545 Ma to present.
- Cenozoic Era. 65.5 - 0.0 Ma
- Tertiary period. 65.5 - 2.6 Ma: Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene
- Quaternary Period. 2.59 - 0.00 Ma: Pleistocene, Holocene
- Cenozoic Era. 65.5 - 0.0 Ma
- Paleogene Period, or Lower Tertiary. 65.5 - 23.0 Ma: Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene
- Neogene Period, or Upper Tertiary. 23.0 - Present. Sometimes the term Neogene excludes the Quaternary: Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, Holocene
- Paleocene Epoch. 65.5 - 55.9 Ma. Temperate climes at the poles.
- Eocene Epoch. 55.8 - 33.9 Ma. First modern mammals. Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum
- Oligocene Epoch 33.9 - 23.0 Ma. Eocene-Oligocene extinction event.
- Miocene Epoch. 23.0 - 5.3 Ma. Ice Ages.
- Pliocene Epoch. 5.3 - 2.6 Ma. Climate cooled to modern levels.
- Pleistocene Epoch. 2588 - 12 ka. Extinction of megafauna, austrolopitheci, and most homines. Quaternary glaciation.
- Paleolithic Age
- Holocene Epoch. 12 - 0 ka. Interglacial in the current ice age. Homo sapiens dominate.
- Epipaleolithic and Mesolithic Ages. Pre-agriculture.
- Neolithic Age. Agriculture.
- Bronze Age
- Iron Age