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Era

Quaternary

Phanerozoic

The current and most recent of the Cenozoic era's three periods, spanning the last 2.58 million years to the present. It is defined by the Quaternary glaciation, the cyclic growth and decay of continental ice sheets tied to Milankovitch orbital cycles, and it is the period during which recognizably modern humans evolved and spread across the planet. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Rank
Period 1
Start (Million Years Ago)
2.58 1
End (Million Years Ago)
0 1
Key Event
Modern humans emerged approximately 315,000 years ago during this period. 1
Connections

Anticipated By

Neogene, Eras

Has Geologic Rank

Geologic Period, Concepts

In Discipline

Geochronology, Disciplines
Sources
1. Quaternary (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    The current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy
  • Article text
    These mammals became extinct when the glacial period ended about 11,700 years ago. Modern humans evolved about 315,000 years ago.
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