Photos • Location
Second epoch of the Neogene Period
Find sources: "Pliocene" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2019) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Pliocene
5.333 ± 0.08 – 2.58 ± 0.04 Ma
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
−24 —
−8 —
Oligocene
Aquitanian
Burdigalian
Langhian
Serravallian
Tortonian
Messinian
Zanclean
Piacenzian
Messinian salinity crisis [1]
North American prairie expands [2]
Subdivision of the Neogene according to the ICS, as of 2021. [3]
Vertical axis: millions of years ago.
Name formality
Regional usage
Global ( ICS)
Time scale(s) used
ICS Time Scale
Chronological unit
Stratigraphic unit
Time span formality
Lower boundary definition
Base of the Thvera magnetic event (C3n.4n), which is only 96 ka (5 precession cycles) younger than the GSSP
Lower boundary GSSP
Heraclea Minoa section, Heraclea Minoa, Cattolica Eraclea, Sicily, Italy
37°23′30″N 13°16′50″E / 37.3917°N 13.2806°E / 37.3917; 13.2806
Lower GSSP ratified
Upper boundary definition
Base of magnetic polarity chronozone C2r (Matuyama)
Extinction of the Haptophytes Discoaster pentaradiatus and Discoaster surculus
Upper boundary GSSP
Monte San Nicola Section, Gela, Sicily, Italy
Upper GSSP ratified
2009 (as base of Quaternary and Pleistocene) [5]
Human history
and prehistory
↑ before Homo ( Pliocene epoch)
Lower Paleolithic
Homo erectus
Middle Paleolithic
Early Homo sapiens
Upper Paleolithic
Behavioral modernity
Epipalaeolithic
Cradle of civilization
Protohistory
Chalcolithic
Bronze Age collapse
Recorded history
Earliest records
Post-classical history
↓ Future ( Holocene epoch)
The Pliocene ( /ˈplaɪ.əsiːn, ˈplaɪ.oʊ-/ PLY-ə-seen, PLY-oh-; [6] [7] also Pleiocene) [8] is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58 [9] million years ago. It is the second and most recent epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch. Prior to the 2009 revision of the geologic time scale, which placed the four most recent major glaciations entirely within the Pleistocene, the Pliocene also included the Gelasian Stage, which lasted from 2.588 to 1.806 million years ago, and is now included in the Pleistocene. [10]
As with other older geologic periods, the geological strata that define the start and end are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the epoch are slightly uncertain. The boundaries defining the Pliocene are not set at an easily identified worldwide event but rather at regional boundaries between the warmer Miocene and the relatively cooler Pliocene. The upper boundary was set at the start of the Pleistocene glaciations.
Charles Lyell (later Sir Charles) gave the Pliocene its name in Principles of Geology (volume 3, 1833). [11]
The word pliocene comes from the Greek words πλεῖον (pleion, "more") and καινός (kainos, "new" or "recent") [12] and means roughly "continuation of the recent", referring to the essentially modern marine mollusc fauna.
Some schemes for subdivisions of the Pliocene
In the official timescale of the ICS, the Pliocene is subdivided into two stages. From youngest to oldest they are:
Piacenzian (3.600–2.58 Ma) [13]
Zanclean (5.333–3.600 Ma) [4]
The Piacenzian is sometimes referred to as the Late Pliocene, whereas the Zanclean is referred to as the Early Pliocene.
In the system of
North American Land Mammal Ages (NALMA) include Hemphillian (9–4.75 Ma), [14] [15] and Blancan (4.75–1.6 Ma). [16] The Blancan extends forward into the Pleistocene.
South American Land Mammal Ages (SALMA) include Montehermosan (6.8–4.0 Ma), Chapadmalalan (4.0–3.0 Ma) and Uquian (3.0–1.2 Ma). [17]
In the Paratethys area (central Europe and parts of western Asia) the Pliocene contains the Dacian (roughly equal to the Zanclean) and Romanian (roughly equal to the Piacenzian and Gelasian together) stages. As usual in stratigraphy, there are many other regional and local subdivisions in use.
In Britain, the Pliocene is divided into the following stages (old to young): Gedgravian, Waltonian, Pre-Ludhamian, Ludhamian, Thurnian, Bramertonian or Antian, Pre-Pastonian or Baventian, Pastonian and Beestonian. In the Netherlands the Pliocene is divided into these stages (old to young): Brunssumian C, Reuverian A, Reuverian B, Reuverian C, Praetiglian, Tiglian A, Tiglian B, Tiglian C1-4b, Tiglian C4c, Tiglian C5, Tiglian C6 and Eburonian. The exact correlations between these local stages and the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) stages is still a matter of detail. [18]
Main article: Pliocene climate
Mid-Pliocene reconstructed annual sea surface temperature anomaly
The beginning of the Pliocene was marked by an increase in global temperatures relative to the cooler Messinian related to the 1.2 million year obliquity amplitude modulation cycle. [19] The global average temperature in the mid-Pliocene (3.3–3 mya) was 2–3 °C higher than today, [20] carbon dioxide levels were the same as today, [21] and global sea level was 25 m higher. [22] The northern hemisphere ice sheet was ephemeral before the onset of extensive glaciation over Greenland that occurred in the late Pliocene around 3 Ma. [23] The formation of an Arctic ice cap is signaled by an abrupt shift in oxygen isotope ratios and ice-rafted cobbles in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Ocean beds. [24] Mid-latitude glaciation was probably underway before the end of the epoch. The global cooling that occurred during the Pliocene may have spurred on the disappearance of forests and the spread of grasslands and savannas. [25]
Examples of migrant species in the Americas after the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. Olive green silhouettes denote North American species with South American ancestors; blue silhouettes denote South American species of North American origin.
Continents continued to drift, moving from positions possibly as far as 250 km from their present locations to positions only 70 km from their current locations. South America became linked to North America through the Isthmus of Panama during the Pliocene, making possible the Great American Interchange and bringing a nearly complete end to South America's distinctive native ungulate fauna, [26] though other South American lineages like its predatory mammals were already extinct by this point and others like xenarthrans continued to do well afterwards. The formation of the Isthmus had major consequences on global temperatures, since warm equatorial ocean currents were cut off and an Atlantic cooling cycle began, with cold Arctic and Antarctic waters dropping temperatures in the now-isolated Atlantic Ocean. [27]
Africa's collision with Europe formed the Mediterranean Sea, cutting off the remnants of the Tethys Ocean. The border between the Miocene and the Pliocene is also the time of the Messinian salinity crisis. [28] [29]
The land bridge between Alaska and Siberia ( Beringia) was first flooded near the start of the Pliocene, allowing marine organisms to spread between the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. The bridge would continue to be periodically flooded and restored thereafter. [30]
Pliocene marine formations are exposed in northeast Spain, [31] southern California, [32] New Zealand, [33] and Italy. [34]
During the Pliocene parts of southern Norway and southern Sweden that had been near sea level rose. In Norway this rise elevated the Hardangervidda plateau to 1200 m in the Early Pliocene. [35] In Southern Sweden similar movements elevated the South Swedish highlands leading to a deflection of the ancient Eridanos river from its original path across south-central Sweden into a course south of Sweden. [36]
Environment and evolution of human ancestors
The Pliocene is bookended by two significant events in the evolution of human ancestors. The first is the appearance of the hominin Australopithecus anamensis in the early Pliocene, around 4.2 million years ago. [37] [38] [39] The second is the appearance of Homo, the genus that includes modern humans and their closest extinct relatives, near the end of the Pliocene at 2.6 million years ago. [40] Key traits that evolved among hominins during the Pliocene include terrestrial bipedality and, by the end of the Pliocene, encephalized brains (brains with a large neocortex relative to body mass [41] [a] and stone tool manufacture. [42]
Improvements in dating methods and in the use of climate proxies have provided scientists with the means to test hypotheses of the evolution of human ancestors. [42] [43] Early hypotheses of the evolution of human traits emphasized the selective pressures produced by particular habitats. For example, many scientists have long favored the savannah hypothesis. This proposes that the evolution of terrestrial bipedality and other traits was an adaptive response to Pliocene climate change that transformed forests into more open savannah. This was championed by Grafton Elliot Smith in his 1924 book, The Evolution of Man, as "the unknown world beyond the trees", and was further elaborated by Raymond Dart as the killer ape theory. [44] Other scientists, such as Sherwood L. Washburn, emphasized an intrinsic model of hominin evolution. According to this model, early evolutionary developments triggered later developments. The model placed little emphasis on the surrounding environment. [45] Anthropologists tended to focus on intrinsic models while geologists and vertebrate paleontologists tended to put greater emphasis on habitats. [46]
Alternatives to the savanna hypothesis include the woodland/forest hypothesis, which emphasizes the evolution of hominins in closed habitats, or hypotheses emphasizing the influence of colder habitats at higher latitudes or the influence of seasonal variation. More recent research has emphasized the variability selection hypothesis, which proposes that variability in climate fostered development of hominin traits. [42] Improved climate proxies show that the Pliocene climate of east Africa was highly variable, suggesting that adaptability to varying conditions was more important in driving hominin evolution than the steady pressure of a particular habitat. [41]
This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2017) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)
The change to a cooler, drier, more seasonal climate had considerable impacts on Pliocene vegetation, reducing tropical species worldwide. Deciduous forests proliferated, coniferous forests and tundra covered much of the north, and grasslands spread on all continents (except Antarctica). Tropical forests were limited to a tight band around the equator, and in addition to dry savannahs, deserts appeared in Asia and Africa. [47][ failed verification]
Both marine and continental faunas were essentially modern, although continental faunas were a bit more primitive than today.
The land mass collisions meant great migration and mixing of previously isolated species, such as in the Great American Interchange. Herbivores got bigger, as did specialized predators.
The gastropod Oliva sayana, from the Pliocene of Florida
The coral Cladocora from the Pliocene of Cyprus
A gastropod and attached serpulid wormtube from the Pliocene of Cyprus
The gastropod Turritella carinata from the Pliocene of Cyprus
The thorny oyster Spondylus right and left valve interiors from the Pliocene of Cyprus
The limpet Diodora italica from the Pliocene of Cyprus
The scaphopod Dentalium from the Pliocene of Cyprus
The gastropod Aporrhais from the Pliocene of Cyprus
The arcid bivalve Anadara from the Pliocene of Cyprus
The pectenid bivalve Ammusium cristatum from the Pliocene of Cyprus
Vermetid gastropod Petaloconchus intortus attached to a branch of the coral Cladocora from the Pliocene of Cyprus
Chesapecten, barnacles and sponge borings ( Entobia) from the Pliocene of York River, Virginia
Hominin timeline
Miocene
Nakalipithecus
Ouranopithecus
Oreopithecus
Sahelanthropus
Orrorin
Ardipithecus
Australopithecus
Homo habilis
Homo bodoensis
Neanderthals, Denisovans
Earlier apes
Gorilla split
Chimpanzee split
Earliest bipedal
Earliest stone tools
Dispersal beyond Africa
Earliest fire / cooking
Earliest clothes
Modern humans
( million years ago)
19th century artist's impression of a Pliocene landscape
In North America, rodents, large mastodons and gomphotheres, and opossums continued successfully, while hoofed animals ( ungulates) declined, with camel, deer and horse all seeing populations recede. Three-toed horses ( Nannippus), oreodonts, protoceratids, and chalicotheres became extinct. Borophagine dogs and Agriotherium became extinct, but other carnivores including the weasel family diversified, and dogs and short-faced bears did well. Ground sloths, huge glyptodonts, and armadillos came north with the formation of the Isthmus of Panama.
In Eurasia rodents did well, while primate distribution declined. Elephants, gomphotheres and stegodonts were successful in Asia (the largest land mammals of the Pliocene were such proboscideans as Deinotherium, Anancus and Mammut borsoni [48]), and hyraxes migrated north from Africa. Horse diversity declined, while tapirs and rhinos did fairly well. Bovines and antelopes were successful; some camel species crossed into Asia from North America. Hyenas and early saber-toothed cats appeared, joining other predators including dogs, bears and weasels.
Human evolution during the Pliocene
Africa was dominated by hoofed animals, and primates continued their evolution, with australopithecines (some of the first hominins) and baboon-like monkeys such as the Dinopithecus appearing in the late Pliocene. Rodents were successful, and elephant populations increased. Cows and antelopes continued diversification and overtook pigs in numbers of species. Early giraffes appeared. Horses and modern rhinos came onto the scene. Bears, dogs and weasels (originally from North America) joined cats, hyenas and civets as the African predators, forcing hyenas to adapt as specialized scavengers. Most mustelids in Africa declined as a result of increased competition from the new predators, although Enhydriodon omoensis remained an unusually successful terrestrial predator.
South America was invaded by North American species for the first time since the Cretaceous, with North American rodents and primates mixing with southern forms. Litopterns and the notoungulates, South American natives, were mostly wiped out, except for the macrauchenids and toxodonts, which managed to survive. Small weasel-like carnivorous mustelids, coatis and short-faced bears migrated from the north. Grazing glyptodonts, browsing giant ground sloths and smaller caviomorph rodents, pampatheres, and armadillos did the opposite, migrating to the north and thriving there.
The marsupials remained the dominant Australian mammals, with herbivore forms including wombats and kangaroos, and the huge Diprotodon. Carnivorous marsupials continued hunting in the Pliocene, including dasyurids, the dog-like thylacine and cat-like Thylacoleo. The first rodents arrived in Australia. The modern platypus, a monotreme, appeared.
Titanis
The predatory South American phorusrhacids were rare in this time; among the last was Titanis, a large phorusrhacid that migrated to North America and rivaled mammals as top predator. Other birds probably evolved at this time, some modern (such as the genera Cygnus, Bubo, Struthio and Corvus), some now extinct.
Alligators and crocodiles died out in Europe as the climate cooled. Venomous snake genera continued to increase as more rodents and birds evolved. Rattlesnakes first appeared in the Pliocene. The modern species Alligator mississippiensis, having evolved in the Miocene, continued into the Pliocene, except with a more northern range; specimens have been found in very late Miocene deposits of Tennessee. Giant tortoises still thrived in North America, with genera like Hesperotestudo. Madtsoid snakes were still present in Australia. The amphibian order Allocaudata became extinct.
Find sources: "Pliocene" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Oceans continued to be relatively warm during the Pliocene, though they continued cooling. The Arctic ice cap formed, drying the climate and increasing cool shallow currents in the North Atlantic. Deep cold currents flowed from the Antarctic.
The formation of the Isthmus of Panama about 3.5 million years ago [49] cut off the final remnant of what was once essentially a circum-equatorial current that had existed since the Cretaceous and the early Cenozoic. This may have contributed to further cooling of the oceans worldwide.
The Pliocene seas were alive with sea cows, seals, sea lions and sharks.
It has been suggested that this section be split out into another article titled Local Bubble Extinction. ( Discuss) (May 2021)
In 2002, Narciso Benítez et al. calculated that roughly 2 million years ago, around the end of the Pliocene Epoch, a group of bright O and B stars called the Scorpius–Centaurus OB association passed within 130 light-years of Earth and that one or more supernova explosions gave rise to a feature known as the Local Bubble. [50] Such a close explosion could have damaged the Earth's ozone layer and caused the extinction of some ocean life (at its peak, a supernova of this size could have the same absolute magnitude as an entire galaxy of 200 billion stars). [51] [52] Radioactive iron-60 isotopes that have been found in ancient seabed deposits further back this finding, as there are no natural sources for this radioactive isotope on Earth, but they can be produced in supernovae. [53] Furthermore, iron-60 residues point to a huge spike 2.6 million years ago, but an excess scattered over 10 million years can also be found, suggesting that there may have been multiple, relatively close supernovae. [53]
In 2019, researchers found more of these interstellar iron-60 isotopes in Antarctica, which have been associated with the Local Interstellar Cloud. [54]
List of fossil sites (with link directory)
^ Because of the 2009 reassignment of the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary from 1.8 to 2.6 million years ago, older papers on Pliocene hominin evolution sometimes include events that would now be regarded as taking place in the early Pleistocene.
^ Krijgsman, W.; Garcés, M.; Langereis, C. G.; Daams, R.; Van Dam, J.; Van Der Meulen, A. J.; Agustí, J.; Cabrera, L. (1996). "A new chronology for the middle to late Miocene continental record in Spain". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 142 (3–4): 367–380. Bibcode: 1996E&PSL.142..367K. doi: 10.1016/0012-821X(96)00109-4.
^ Retallack, G. J. (1997). "Neogene Expansion of the North American Prairie". PALAIOS. 12 (4): 380–390. doi: 10.2307/3515337. JSTOR 3515337. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
^ "ICS Timescale Chart" (PDF). www.stratigraphy.org.
^ a b Van Couvering, John; Castradori, Davide; Cita, Maria; Hilgen, Frederik; Rio, Domenico (September 2000). "The base of the Zanclean Stage and of the Pliocene Series" (PDF). Episodes. 23 (3): 179–187. doi: 10.18814/epiiugs/2000/v23i3/005.
^ Gibbard, Philip; Head, Martin (September 2010). "The newly-ratified definition of the Quaternary System/Period and redefinition of the Pleistocene Series/Epoch, and comparison of proposals advanced prior to formal ratification" (PDF). Episodes. 33 (3): 152–158. doi: 10.18814/epiiugs/2010/v33i3/002. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
^ "Pliocene". Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
^ "Pliocene". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
^ "Pleiocene". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
^ See the 2014 version of the ICS geologic time scale Archived 2014-05-30 at the Wayback Machine
^ Ogg, James George; Ogg, Gabi; Gradstein F. M. (2008). The Concise Geologic Time Scale. Cambridge University Press. pp. 150–1. ISBN 9780521898492.
^ See:
Letter from William Whewell to Charles Lyell dated 31 January 1831 in: Todhunter, Isaac, ed. (1876). William Whewell, D. D., Master of Trinity College, Cambridge: An account of his writings with selections from his literary and scientific correspondence. Vol. 2. London, England: Macmillan and Co. p. 111.
Lyell, Charles (1833). Principles of Geology, …. Vol. 3. London, England: John Murray. p. 53. From p. 53: "We derive the term Pliocene from πλειων, major, and χαινος, recens, as the major part of the fossil testacea of this epoch are referrible to recent species*."
^ "Pliocene". Online Etymology Dictionary.
^ Castradori, D.; Rio, D.; Hilgen, F. J.; Lourens, L. J. (1998). "The Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) of the Piacenzian Stage (Middle Pliocene)". Episodes. 21 (2): 88–93. doi: 10.18814/epiiugs/1998/v21i2/003.
^ Tedford, Richard H.; Albright, L. Barry; Barnosky, Anthony D.; Ferrusquia-Villafranca, Ismael; Hunt, Robert M.; Storer, John E.; Swisher, Carl C.; Voorhies, Michael R.; Webb, S. David; Whistler, David P. (31 December 2004). "6. Mammalian Biochronology of the Arikareean Through Hemphillian Interval (Late Oligocene Through Early Pliocene Epochs)". Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic Mammals of North America: 169–231. doi: 10.7312/wood13040-008. ISBN 9780231130400.
^ Hulbert, Richard C. Jr. (2 August 2016). "Hemphillian North American Land Mammal Age". Fossil Species of Florida. Florida Museum. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
^ Hulbert, Richard C. Jr. (2 August 2016). "Blancan North American Land Mammal Age". Fossil Species of Florida. Florida Museum. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
^ Flynn, J.; Swisher, C.C. III (1995). "Cenozoic South American Land Mammal Ages: correlation to global geochronology". In William A. Berggren; Dennis V. Kent; Marie-Pierre Aubry; Jan Hardenbol (eds.). Geochronology Time Scales and Global Stratigraphic Correlation. Society for Sedimentary Geology. pp. 317–333. doi: 10.2110/pec.95.04.0317.
^ Kuhlmann, G.; C.G. Langereis; D. Munsterman; R.-J. van Leeuwen; R. Verreussel; J.E. Meulenkamp; Th.E. Wong (2006). "Integrated chronostratigraphy of the Pliocene-Pleistocene interval and its relation to the regional stratigraphical stages in the southern North Sea region" (PDF). Netherlands Journal of Geosciences. 85: 19–35. doi: 10.1017/S0016774600021405. S2CID 62803118.
^ Qin, Jie; Zhang, Rui; Kravchinsky, Vadim A.; Valet, Jean-Pierre; Sagnotti, Leonardo; Li, Jianxing; Xu, Yong; Anwar, Taslima; Yue, Leping (2 April 2022). "1.2 Myr Band of Earth-Mars Obliquity Modulation on the Evolution of Cold Late Miocene to Warm Early Pliocene Climate". Solid Earth. 127 (4). doi: 10.1029/2022JB024131. S2CID 247933545. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
^ Robinson, M.; Dowsett, H.J.; Chandler, M.A. (2008). "Pliocene role in assessing future climate impacts". Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union. 89 (49): 501–502. Bibcode: 2008EOSTr..89..501R. doi: 10.1029/2008eo490001.
^ "Solutions: Responding to Climate Change". Climate.Nasa.gov. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
^ Dwyer, G.S.; Chandler, M.A. (2009). "Mid-Pliocene sea level and continental ice volume based on coupled benthic Mg/Ca palaeotemperatures and oxygen isotopes". Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. A. 367 (1886): 157–168. Bibcode: 2009RSPTA.367..157D. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2008.0222. hdl: 10161/6586. PMID 18854304. S2CID 3199617.
^ Bartoli, G.; et al. (2005). "Final closure of Panama and the onset of northern hemisphere glaciation". Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 237 (1–2): 3344. Bibcode: 2005E&PSL.237...33B. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2005.06.020.
^ Van Andel (1994), p. 226.
^ "The Pliocene epoch". University of California Museum of Paleontology. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
^ Webb, S. David (1991). "Ecogeography and the Great American Interchange". Paleobiology. 17 (3): 266–280. doi: 10.1017/S0094837300010605. JSTOR 2400869. S2CID 88305955.
^ Bartoli, G.; Sarnthein, M.; Weinelt, M.; Erlenkeuser, H.; Garbe-Schönberg, D.; Lea, D.W. (August 2005). "Final closure of Panama and the onset of northern hemisphere glaciation". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 237 (1–2): 33–44. Bibcode: 2005E&PSL.237...33B. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2005.06.020.
^ Gautier, F., Clauzon, G., Suc, J.P., Cravatte, J., Violanti, D., 1994. Age and duration of the Messinian salinity crisis. C.R. Acad. Sci., Paris (IIA) 318, 1103–1109.
^ Krijgsman, W (August 1996). "A new chronology for the middle to late Miocene continental record in Spain" (PDF). Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 142 (3–4): 367–380. Bibcode: 1996E&PSL.142..367K. doi: 10.1016/0012-821X(96)00109-4.
^ Gladenkov, Andrey Yu; Oleinik, Anton E; Marincovich, Louie; Barinov, Konstantin B (July 2002). "A refined age for the earliest opening of Bering Strait". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 183 (3–4): 321–328. Bibcode: 2002PPP...183..321G. doi: 10.1016/S0031-0182(02)00249-3.
^ Gibert, Jordi Maria de; Martinell, Jordi (January 1995). "Sedimentary substrate andtrace fossil assemblages in marine Pliocene deposits in Northeast Spain". Geobios. 28: 197–206. doi: 10.1016/S0016-6995(95)80166-9.
^ Deméré, Thomas A. (1983). "The Neogene San Diego basin: a review of the marine Pliocene San Diego formation". Cenozoic Marine Sedimentation, Pacific Margin. Pacific Section,m Society for Sedimentary Geology. pp. 187–195. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
^ Saul, G.; Naish, T.R.; Abbott, S.T.; Carter, R.M. (1 April 1999). "Sedimentary cyclicity in the marine Pliocene-Pleistocene of the Wanganui basin (New Zealand): Sequence stratigraphic motifs characteristic of the past 2.5 m.y.". GSA Bulletin. 111 (4): 524–537. Bibcode: 1999GSAB..111..524S. doi: 10.1130/0016-7606(1999)111<0524:SCITMP>2.3.CO;2.
^ Selli, Raimondo (September 1965). "The Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary in Italian marine sections and its relationship to continental stratigraphies". Progress in Oceanography. 4: 67–86. Bibcode: 1965PrOce...4...67S. doi: 10.1016/0079-6611(65)90041-8.
^ Japsen, Peter; Green, Paul F.; Chalmers, James A.; Bonow, Johan M. (17 May 2018). "Mountains of southernmost Norway: uplifted Miocene peneplains and re-exposed Mesozoic surfaces". Journal of the Geological Society. 175 (5): 721–741. Bibcode: 2018JGSoc.175..721J. doi: 10.1144/jgs2017-157. S2CID 134575021.
^ Lidmar-Bergström, Karna; Olvmo, Mats; Bonow, Johan M. (2017). "The South Swedish Dome: a key structure for identification of peneplains and conclusions on Phanerozoic tectonics of an ancient shield". GFF. 139 (4): 244–259. doi: 10.1080/11035897.2017.1364293. S2CID 134300755.
^ RFI Afrique par Simon Rozé Publié le 28-08-2019 Modifié le 29-08-2019 à 11:00, http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20190828-ethiopie-decouverte-plus-vieux-fossile-australopitheque
^ Haile-Selassie, Y (27 October 2010). "Phylogeny of early Australopithecus: new fossil evidence from the Woranso-Mille (central Afar, Ethiopia)". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 365 (1556): 3323–3331. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0064. PMC 2981958. PMID 20855306.
^ Lewis, Barry; et al. (2013). Understanding Humans: Introduction to Physical Anthropology and Archaeology (11th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.
^ Stringer CB (1994). "Evolution of early humans". In Jones S, Martin R, Pilbeam D (eds.). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 242.
^ a b Potts, R. (2007), Bobe, René; Alemseged, Zeresenay; Behrensmeyer, Anna K. (eds.), "Environmental hypotheses of Pliocene human evolution", Hominin Environments in the East African Pliocene: An Assessment of the Faunal Evidence, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 25–49, doi: 10.1007/978-1-4020-3098-7_2, ISBN 978-1-4020-3098-7
^ a b c Potts, Richard (3 January 1999). "Environmental hypotheses of hominin evolution". American Journal of Biological Anthropology. 107 (S27): 93–136. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(1998)107:27+<93::AID-AJPA5>3.0.CO;2-X. PMID 9881524.
^ deMenocal, Peter B (3 March 2004). "African climate change and faunal evolution during the Pliocene–Pleistocene". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 220 (1): 3–24. Bibcode: 2004E&PSL.220....3D. doi: 10.1016/S0012-821X(04)00003-2. ISSN 0012-821X.
^ Dart, R (1953). "The predatory transition from ape to man". Int. Anthrop. Ling. Rev. 1: 201–218.
^ Washburn, SL (1960). "Tools and human evolution". Sci. Am. 203 (3): 63–75. Bibcode: 1960SciAm.203c..62W. doi: 10.1038/scientificamerican0960-62. JSTOR 24940615. PMID 13843002.
^ Potts 1999, pp. 106–108.
^ Mares, Micheal A., ed. (1999). "Miocene". Encyclopedia of Deserts. University of Oaklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3146-2.
^ Charles A. Repenning, Richard H. Tedford (2013). Fossils of the Carpathian Region. Indiana University Press. p. 373. ISBN 9780253009876. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
^ Keigwin, Lloyd D. (1 October 1978). "Pliocene closing of the Isthmus of Panama, based on biostratigraphic evidence from nearby Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea cores". Geology. 6 (10): 630–634. Bibcode: 1978Geo.....6..630K. doi: 10.1130/0091-7613(1978)6<630:PCOTIO>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0091-7613.
^ Benítez, Narciso; Maíz-Apellániz, Jesús; Canelles, Matilde; et al. (2002). "Evidence for Nearby Supernova Explosions". Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 (8): 081101. arXiv: astro-ph/0201018. Bibcode: 2002PhRvL..88h1101B. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.081101. PMID 11863949. S2CID 41229823.
^ Katie Pennicott (13 February 2002). "Supernova link to ancient extinction". physicsworld.com. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
^ Comins & Kaufmann (2005), p. 359.
^ a b "Researchers consider whether supernovae killed off large ocean animals at dawn of Pleistocene". phys.org.
^ "Interstellar Iron Found In Antarctic Snow – Astrobiology". astrobiology.com. 21 August 2019.
Comins, Niel F.; William J. Kaufmann III (2005). Discovering the Universe (7th ed.). New York, NY: Susan Finnemore Brennan. ISBN 978-0-7167-7584-3.
Gradstein, F.M.; Ogg, J.G. & Smith, A.G.; 2004: A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press.
Ogg, Jim (June 2004). "Overview of Global Boundary Stratotype Sections and Points (GSSP's)". Archived from the original on 23 April 2006. Retrieved 30 April 2006.
Van Andel, Tjeerd H. (1994). New Views on an Old Planet: a History of Global Change (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-44243-5.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pliocene.
Wikisource has original works on the topic: Cenozoic#Neogene
Mid-Pliocene Global Warming: NASA/GISS Climate Modeling
Palaeos Pliocene
PBS Change: Deep Time: Pliocene
Possible Pliocene supernova
"Supernova dealt deaths on Earth? Stellar blasts may have killed ancient marine life" Science News Online retrieved February 2, 2002
UCMP Berkeley Pliocene Epoch Page
Pliocene Microfossils: 100+ images of Pliocene Foraminifera
Human Timeline (Interactive) – Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (August 2016).
Neogene Period
Miocene Epoch Pliocene Epoch
Quaternary Period
Pleistocene Epoch Holocene Epoch
Meghalayan
Northgrippian
Greenlandian
Preboreal
Subboreal
Subatlantic
Geological history of Earth
Cenozoic Era
(66.0 Ma–present)
Quaternary (2.58 Ma–present)
Pleistocene (2.58 Ma–11.8 ka)
Holocene (11.8 ka–present)
Neogene (23.0–2.58 Ma)
Miocene (23.0–5.33 Ma)
Pliocene (5.33–2.59 Ma)
Paleogene (66.0–23.0 Ma)
Paleocene (66.0–56.0 Ma)
Eocene (56.0–33.9 Ma)
Oligocene (33.9–23.0 Ma)
Mesozoic Era
(252–66.0 Ma)
Cretaceous (145–66.0 Ma)
Early (145–100 Ma)
Late (100–66.0 Ma)
Jurassic (201–145 Ma)
Middle (174–164 Ma)
Late (164–145 Ma)
Triassic (252–201 Ma)
Paleozoic Era
(539–252 Ma)
Permian (299–252 Ma)
Cisuralian (299–272 Ma)
Guadalupian (272–260 Ma)
Lopingian (260–252 Ma)
Carboniferous (359–299 Ma)
Mississippian (359–323 Ma)
Pennsylvanian (323–299 Ma)
Devonian (419–359 Ma)
Silurian (444–419 Ma)
Llandovery (444–433 Ma)
Wenlock (433–427 Ma)
Ludlow (427–423 Ma)
Pridoli (423–419 Ma)
Ordovician (485–444 Ma)
Cambrian (539–485 Ma)
Terreneuvian (539–521 Ma)
Series 2 (521–509 Ma)
Miaolingian (509–497 Ma)
Furongian (497–485 Ma)
Proterozoic Eon
(2.5 Ga–539 Ma)
Neoproterozoic (1 Ga–539 Ma)
Tonian (1 Ga–720 Ma)
Cryogenian (720–635 Ma)
Ediacaran (635–539 Ma)
Mesoproterozoic (1.6–1 Ga)
Calymmian (1.6–1.4 Ga)
Ectasian (1.4–1.2 Ga)
Stenian (1.2–1 Ga)
Paleoproterozoic (2.5–1.6 Ga)
Siderian (2.5–2.3 Ga)
Rhyacian (2.3–2.05 Ga)
Orosirian (2.05–1.8 Ga)
Statherian (1.8–1.6 Ga)
Archean Eon (4–2.5 Ga)
Eoarchean (4–3.6 Ga)
Paleoarchean (3.6–3.2 Ga)
Mesoarchean (3.2–2.8 Ga)
Neoarchean (2.8–2.5 Ga)
Hadean Eon (4.6–4 Ga)
ka = kiloannum (thousands years ago); Ma = megaannum (millions years ago); Ga = gigaannum (billions years ago).
See also: Geologic time scale • Geology portal • World portal
Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Pliocene&oldid=1135350803"
Geological epochs
Neogene geochronology
Pages using the EasyTimeline extension
Articles needing additional references from January 2019
Use British English from July 2022
Articles with failed verification from June 2020
Articles needing additional references from May 2021
Articles to be split from May 2021
All articles to be split