Cenozoic
Current geological era
The Cenozoic is the current geological era, spanning roughly the last 66 million years—from the extinction of the dinosaurs to the present.
It's often called the Age of Mammals, as mammals diversified to fill ecological niches left vacant.
The era encompasses the rise of grasses, flowering plants, and eventually humans.
Cenozoic fossils reveal gradual cooling of Earth's climate.
Early Cenozoic era division
- QuaternaryLast 2.6 million years
- MiocenePre-Pliocene geological epoch
- PlioceneLate Neogene epoch
Hair-bearing, milk-producing animals
- megafaunaSpecies over 44 kilograms
- marsupialsPouch-bearing mammals
- whalesMassive marine mammals
- horsesLarge domesticated hoofed mammals
primates · saber-toothed cats · mastodons · mammoths · terror birds · hominids · ungulates · cetaceans
Eon before complex life
- ArcheanEarliest geological eon
- PrecambrianEarliest geological eon
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
- epochDistinct historical period
Extended global freeze
- glaciationIce sheet spreading process
- interglacialEpoch between major freezes
- coolingLosing thermal energy
- grasslandsOpen grassy terrain
Paleogene
Early Cenozoic era division
- QuaternaryLast 2.6 million years
- MiocenePre-Pliocene geological epoch
- PlioceneLate Neogene epoch
mammals
Hair-bearing, milk-producing animals
- megafaunaSpecies over 44 kilograms
- marsupialsPouch-bearing mammals
- whalesMassive marine mammals
horses · primates · saber-toothed cats · mastodons · mammoths · terror birds · hominids · ungulates · cetaceans
Proterozoic
Eon before complex life
- ArcheanEarliest geological eon
- PrecambrianEarliest geological eon
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
epoch · period · era · geochronology · sedimentary layers
Ice Age
Extended global freeze
- glaciationIce sheet spreading process
- interglacialEpoch between major freezes
- coolingLosing thermal energy
dinosaur extinction
End of giant reptiles
- flowering plantsSeed-bearing plants with blooms
- erasera, epoch, age, bronze age, period
- time periodsday, year, month, week, hour
- Earth historyice age, geological time, extinction, eons, fossil
- geologic historyCambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous
- geologic timeeons, eon, epochs, era, epoch
- paleontologydinosaurs, fossil, paleontology, fossil record, dinosaur bones
CenozoicPrecambrian
Earliest geological eon
Archean · Mesozoic · Paleozoic · Proterozoic · Cambrian