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The Pliocene (/ ˈ p l aɪ. ə s iː n, ˈ p l aɪ. oʊ-/ PLY-ə-seen, PLY-oh-; [6] [7] also Pleiocene) [8] is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58 [9] million years ago (Ma). 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 Mid-Piacenzian Warm Period (mPWP) (prior to 2009 known as the Middle Pliocene Warm Period), or the Pliocene Thermal Maximum, was an interval of warm climate during the Pliocene epoch that lasted from 3.3 to 3.0 million years ago (Ma).
Currently, Earth is in an interglacial period, the Holocene epoch beginning 11,700 years ago; this has caused the ice sheets from the Last Glacial Period to slowly melt. The remaining glaciers, now occupying about 10% of the world's land surface, cover Greenland, Antarctica and some mountainous regions.
The Pliocene featured dramatic climatic changes, which ultimately led to modern species of flora and fauna. The Mediterranean Sea dried up for several million years (because the ice ages reduced sea levels, disconnecting the Atlantic from the Mediterranean, and evaporation rates exceeded inflow from rivers).
During the ensuing Pliocene epoch, North Carolina was home to invertebrate faunas including at least 25 species of gastropods and 46 pelecypods. [22] Pliocene fossil scallops are known from the Yorktown Formation of Northampton and Hertford counties. [23] In Columbus and Onslow counties Pliocene fossils are only known south of the Neuse River. [24]
Saber-toothed cats of the extinct genus Homotherium lived across the globe during the Pliocene (5.3 million to 2.6 million years ago) and early Pleistocene (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago) epochs ...
c. 5.333 Ma – Pliocene epoch begins. First tree sloths. First large vultures. Nimravids go extinct. c. 5.0 Ma – The Colorado Plateau reaches its present height, and the course of the Colorado River becomes close to the present one. c. 4.8 Ma – The mammoth appears. c. 4.2 Ma – appearance of the genus Australopithecus
The oldest fossils of Camelops are known from southern North America, dating to around 4-3.2 million years ago during the Pliocene epoch. [6] During the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene epochs (Blancan-Irvingtonian) other camels, such as Gigantocamelus, Blancocamelus, Titanotylopus and cf. Paracamelus were also present in North America, [8] [10 ...