Pliocene Epoch

Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

American mastodon (Mammut americanum)

A man with a surprised expression gestures toward two photos: one of a preserved wolf head above him and one of a preserved woolly rhinoceros below, with blue arrows pointing to each.

Black-and-white image of a human skull, slightly deteriorated

$Map of the Pacific Ocean showing the age of selected regions of the seafloor, with color-coded bands representing different geological ages from Cretaceous (136 million years ago) to Pleistocene (0 million years ago). The map highlights mid-ocean ridges, deep ocean trenches, and fracture zones, with arrows indicating the direction of crustal plate spreading. Major trenches such as the Mariana, Peru-Chile, and Aleutian Trenches are labeled.$

A detailed geologic time scale chart displaying Earth's history from the Hadean Eon over 4.5 billion years ago to the present, organized by eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages with color-coded columns and corresponding dates in millions of years.

A geologic time scale chart details the Neogene period of the Cenozoic era, listing its epochs (Miocene and Pliocene) and stages with corresponding ages in millions of years ago, ranging from 23.03 to 2.58 million years ago.

Pliocene Epoch: Media

geochronology

Videos

A man with a surprised expression gestures toward two photos: one of a preserved wolf head above him and one of a preserved woolly rhinoceros below, with blue arrows pointing to each.

What a Wolf's Last Meal Reveals About Woolly Rhino Extinction

Scientists analyzed DNA from the stomach of a 14,400-year-old wolf.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Images

American mastodon (Mammut americanum)

American mastodon (Mammut americanum)

Mastodons diversified greatly during the Pliocene Epoch.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Black-and-white image of a human skull, slightly deteriorated

2.7-million-year-old skull

Lateral view of “Mrs. Ples,” a 2.7-million-year-old Australopithecus africanus...

Courtesy of the Transvaal Museum, Pretoria, S.Af.

$Map of the Pacific Ocean showing the age of selected regions of the seafloor, with color-coded bands representing different geological ages from Cretaceous (136 million years ago) to Pleistocene (0 million years ago). The map highlights mid-ocean ridges, deep ocean trenches, and fracture zones, with arrows indicating the direction of crustal plate spreading. Major trenches such as the Mariana, Peru-Chile, and Aleutian Trenches are labeled.$

seafloor spreading

Map showing the age of selected regions of the ocean floor. Chronological measurements...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

A detailed geologic time scale chart displaying Earth's history from the Hadean Eon over 4.5 billion years ago to the present, organized by eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages with color-coded columns and corresponding dates in millions of years.

geologic time

The stratigraphic chart of geologic time.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Source: International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS)

A geologic time scale chart details the Neogene period of the Cenozoic era, listing its epochs (Miocene and Pliocene) and stages with corresponding ages in millions of years ago, ranging from 23.03 to 2.58 million years ago.

Neogene Period in geologic time

The Neogene Period and its subdivisions.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Source: International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS)

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