| EON | ERA | PERIOD | EPOCH | DATES | AGE of | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Holocene | 0-2 | Mammals | Humans | ||
| Pleistocene | ||||||||
| Tertiary | Neogene | Pliocene | 2-5 | |||||
| Miocene | 5-24 | |||||||
| Paleogene | Oligocene | 24-37 | ||||||
| Eocene | 37-58 | |||||||
| Paleocene | 58-66 | Extinction of dinosaurs | ||||||
| Mesozoic | Cretaceous | 66-144 | Reptiles | Flowering plants | ||||
| Jurassic | 144-208 | 1st birds/mammals | ||||||
| Triassic | 208-245 | First Dinosaurs | ||||||
| Paleozoic | Permian | 245-286 | Amphibians | Permian extinction End of trilobites | ||||
| Carboniferous | Pennsylvanian | 286-320 | First reptiles | |||||
| Mississippian | 320-360 | Large primitive trees | ||||||
| Devonian | 360-408 | Fishes | Devonian extinction First amphibians | |||||
| Silurian | 408-438 | First land plant fossils | ||||||
| Ordovician | 438-505 | Invertebrates | Ordovician extinction First Fish | |||||
| Cambrian | 505-570 | 4 Cambrian extinctions 1st shells, trilobites dominant | ||||||
| Proterozoic | Also known as Precambrian | 570-2,500 | 1st Multi-celled organisms | |||||
| Archean | 2,500-3,800 | 1st one-celled organisms | ||||||
| Hadean | 3,800-4,600 | Approx age of oldest rocks 3,800 | ||||||
Reference: Graham R. Thompson, Jonathan Turk, Modern Physical Geology, Saunders College Publishing
Adapted from EnvironmentalChemistry.com. Also see:
