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The Pliocene is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58 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.
The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently defined as the time between c. 129,000 and c. 11,700 years ago. The Late Pleistocene equates to the proposed Tarantian Age of the geologic time scale, preceded by the officially ratified Chibanian and succeeded by the officially ratified Greenlandian. The estimated beginning of the Tarantian is the start of the Eemian interglacial period. It is held to end with the termination of the Younger Dryas, some 11,700 years ago when the Holocene Epoch began.
Megalonyx is an extinct genus of ground sloths of the family Megalonychidae, native to North America during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. It became extinct during the Quaternary extinction event at the end of the Pleistocene, living from ~5 million to 11,000 years ago. The type species, M. jeffersonii, the youngest and largest known species, measured about 3 meters (9.8 ft) in length and weighed up to 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb).
Chasmaporthetes, also known as hunting or running hyena, is an extinct genus of hyenas distributed in Eurasia, North America, and Africa during the Pliocene-Pleistocene epochs, living from 4.9 million to 780,000 years ago, existing for about 4.12 million years. The genus probably arose from Eurasian Miocene hyenas such as Thalassictis or Lycyaena, with C. borissiaki being the oldest known representative. The species C. ossifragus was the only hyena to cross the Bering land bridge into the Americas, and ranged over what is now Arizona and Mexico during Blancan and early Irvingtonian Land Mammal ages, between 5.0 and 1.5 million years ago.
Megalonychidae is an extinct family of sloths including the extinct Megalonyx. Megalonychids first appeared in the early Oligocene, about 35 million years (Ma) ago, in southern Argentina (Patagonia). There is, however, one possible find dating to the Eocene, about 40 Ma ago, on Seymour Island in Antarctica. They first reached North America by island-hopping across the Central American Seaway, about 9 million years ago, prior to formation of the Isthmus of Panama about 2.7 million years ago. Some megalonychid lineages increased in size as time passed. The first species of these were small and may have been partly tree-dwelling, whereas the Pliocene species were already approximately half the size of the huge Late Pleistocene Megalonyx jeffersonii from the last ice age.
Bison antiquus, the antique bison or ancient bison, is an extinct species of bison that lived in Late Pleistocene North America until around 10,000 years ago. It was one of the most common large herbivores on the North American continent during the late Pleistocene, and is a direct ancestor of the living American bison along with Bison occidentalis.
Bison latifrons, also known as the giant bison or long-horned bison, is an extinct species of bison that lived in North America during the Pleistocene epoch ranging from Alaska to Mexico. It was the largest and heaviest bovid ever to live in North America. It thrived in North America for about 200,000 years, but became extinct some 20,000–30,000 years ago, at the beginning of the last glacial maximum.
The Edmontonian was a North American faunal epoch occurring during the Late Cretaceous, lasting from approximately 70 to 68 million years ago.
Armbruster's wolf is an extinct species that was endemic to North America and lived during the Irvingtonian stage of the Pleistocene epoch, spanning from 1.9 Mya—250,000 years BP. It is notable because it is proposed as the ancestor of one of the most famous prehistoric carnivores in North America, the dire wolf, which replaced it.
In paleontology, biochronology is the correlation in time of biological events using fossils. In its strict sense, it refers to the use of assemblages of fossils that are not tied to stratigraphic sections. Collections of land mammal ages have been defined for every continent except Antarctica, and most are correlated with each other indirectly through known evolutionary lineages. A combination of argon–argon dating and magnetic stratigraphy allows a direct temporal comparison of terrestrial events with climate variations and mass extinctions.
Hexameryx is an extinct monospecific genus of the artiodactyl family Antilocapridae endemic to North America. It lived during the Pliocene epoch 5.3—4.9 mya. It had six well-forked horns.
The North American land mammal ages (NALMA) establishes a geologic timescale for North American fauna beginning during the Late Cretaceous and continuing through to the present. These periods are referred to as ages or intervals and were established using geographic place names where fossil materials were obtained.
The Irvingtonian North American Land Mammal Age on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), spanning from 1.9 million – 250,000 years BP. Named after an assemblage of fossils from the Irvington District of Fremont, California, the Irvingtonian is usually considered to overlap the Lower Pleistocene and Middle Pleistocene epochs. The Irvingtonian is preceded by the Blancan and followed by the Rancholabrean NALMA stages.
The Rancholabrean North American Land Mammal Age on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from less than 240,000 years to 11,000 years BP, a period of 0.229 million years. Named after the famed Rancho La Brea fossil site in Los Angeles, California, the Rancholabrean is characterized by the presence of the genus Bison in a Pleistocene context, often in association with other extinct Pleistocene forms such as Mammuthus. The age is usually considered to overlap the late Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene epochs. The Rancholabrean is preceded by the Irvingtonian NALMA stage, and it is succeeded by the Santarosean age.
The Hemphillian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 10,300,000 to 4,900,000 years BP. It is usually considered to overlap the Tortonian age of the Late Miocene and Zanclean age of the Early Pliocene. The Hemphillian is preceded by the Clarendonian and followed by the Blancan NALMA stages.
The European Land Mammal Mega Zones are zones in rock layers that have a specific assemblage of fossils (biozones) based on occurrences of fossil assemblages of European land mammals. These biozones cover most of the Cenozoic, with particular focus having been paid to the Neogene and Paleogene systems, the Quaternary has several competing systems. In cases when fossils of mammals are abundant, stratigraphers and paleontologists can use these biozones as a more practical regional alternative to the stages of the official ICS geologic timescale. European Land Mammal Mega Zones are often also confusingly referred to as ages, stages, or intervals.
Canis edwardii, also known as Edward's wolf, is an extinct species of wolf in the genus Canis which was endemic to North America three million years ago from the Late Blancan stage of the Pliocene epoch and was extinct by the end of the Irvingtonian stage of the Pleistocene epoch.
The Port Kennedy Bone Cave is a limestone cave in the Port Kennedy section of Valley Forge National Historical Park, Pennsylvania, USA. The Bone Cave "contained one of the most important middle Pleistocene fossil deposits in North America".
Pliometanastes is an extinct genus of ground sloths of the family Megalonychidae endemic to North America during the Late Miocene epoch through very early Pliocene epoch. Its fossils have been found in Costa Rica and across the southern United States from California to Florida.
Villafranchian age is a period of geologic time spanning the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene used more specifically with European Land Mammal Ages. Named by Italian geologist Lorenzo Pareto for a sequence of terrestrial sediments studied near Villafranca d'Asti, a town near Turin, it succeeds the Ruscinian age, and is followed by the Galerian.
References
- 1 2 Blancan North American Stage. GeoWhen Database. Version 1.1.0. Retrieved 2017-June-26.
- 1 2 Lundelius, E.L. Jr. et al. (1987): The North American Quaternary Sequence. In: Woodburne, Michael O. (ed.): Cenozoic mammals of North America: geochronology and biostratigraphy: 211–235. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 0-520-05392-3
- ↑ Lindsay, Everett; et al. (2002). "Recognition of the Hemphillian/Blancan boundary in Nevada". J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 22 (2): 429–442. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0429:ROTHBB]2.0.CO;2. S2CID 129779648.
- ↑ Cassiliano, Michael L. (1999). "Biostratigraphy of Blancan and Irvingtonian mammals in the Fish Creek–Vallecito Creek section, southern California, and a review of the Blancan-Irvingtonian boundary". J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 19 (1): 169–186. doi:10.1080/02724634.1999.10011131.
- ↑ Tedford, Richard H. (1981). "Mammalian biochronology of the late Cenozoic basins of New Mexico". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 92 (12): 1008–1022. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1981)92<1008:MBOTLC>2.0.CO;2.
- ↑ Woodburne, Michael O. & Swisher, C.C. III (1995): Land mammal high-resolution geochronology, intercontinental overland dispersals, sea level, climate, and vicariance. Society for Economic Paleontology and Mineralogy Special Publications54: 335–364. ISBN 1-56576-024-7
- 1 2 Wetmore, Alexander (1937). "The Eared Grebe and other Birds from the Pliocene of Kansas" (PDF). Condor . 39 (1): 40. doi:10.2307/1363487. JSTOR 1363487.
- ↑ Feduccia, J. Alan; Ford, Norman L. (1970). "Some birds of prey from the Upper Pliocene of Kansas" (PDF). Auk . 87 (4): 795–797. doi:10.2307/4083714. JSTOR 4083714.