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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 Pleistocene is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in 2009 by the International Union of Geological Sciences, the cutoff of the Pleistocene and the preceding Pliocene was regarded as being 1.806 million years Before Present (BP). Publications from earlier years may use either definition of the period. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology. The name is a combination of Ancient Greek πλεῖστος, pleīstos, 'most' and καινός, kainós, 'new'.
The Quaternary is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ago to the present. The Quaternary Period is divided into two epochs: the Pleistocene and the Holocene.
The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy.
A mastodon is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus Mammut. Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of the Pleistocene 10,000 to 11,000 years ago. They lived in herds and were predominantly forest-dwelling animals. They generally had a browsing diet, distinct from that of the contemporary Columbian mammoth, which tended towards grazing.
Homo is the genus that emerged in the genus Australopithecus that encompasses the extant species Homo sapiens, plus several extinct species classified as either ancestral to or closely related to modern humans, most notably Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis. The genus emerged with the appearance of Homo habilis just over 2 million years ago. Homo, together with the genus Paranthropus, is probably sister to Australopithecus africanus, which itself had previously split from the lineage of Pan, the chimpanzees.
There have been five or six major ice ages in the history of Earth over the past 3 billion years. The Late Cenozoic Ice Age began 34 million years ago, its latest phase being the Quaternary glaciation, in progress since 2.58 million years ago.
The Piacenzian is in the international geologic time scale the upper stage or latest age of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 3.6 ± 0.005 Ma and 2.588 ± 0.005 Ma. The Piacenzian is after the Zanclean and is followed by the Gelasian.
Calabrian is a subdivision of the Pleistocene Epoch of the geologic time scale, defined as 1.8 Ma—774,000 years ago ± 5,000 years, a period of ~1.026 million years.
The Chibanian, widely known by its previous designation of Middle Pleistocene, is an age in the international geologic timescale or a stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. The Chibanian name was officially ratified in January 2020. It is currently estimated to span the time between 0.770 Ma and 0.126 Ma, also expressed as 770–126 ka. It includes the transition in palaeoanthropology from the Lower to the Middle Palaeolithic over 300 ka.
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.
Pantherinae is a subfamily within the family Felidae; it was named and first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1917 as only including the Panthera species. The Pantherinae genetically diverged from a common ancestor between 9.32 to 4.47 million years ago and 10.67 to 3.76 million years ago.
Arturo Issel was an Italian geologist, palaeontologist, malacologist and archaeologist, born in Genoa. He is noted for first defining the Tyrrhenian Stage in 1914. Issel was also renowned at the time for his work on codifying information within anthropology and ethnology, for which he is still remembered.
Mammuthus lamarmorai is a species of mammoth which lived during the late Middle and Upper Pleistocene on the island of Sardinia. M. lamarmorai is a dwarf species, as it is estimated to have reached a shoulder height of only 1.4 m and weighed about 550 kg. This pygmy mammoth has been found mostly in the fine-grained sediments of the western part of the island.
The Sicilian European Stage is a European faunal stage in the Pleistocene of the Geologic time scale. While earlier defined as between 0.781 ± 0.005 Ma and 0.26 Ma, in the middle of the Pleistocene epoch, more accurate data places it at the end of the early Pleistocene, ending at 0.781 ± 0.005 Ma, and makes it a sub-stage.
Xenocyon is an extinct subgenus of Canis. The group includes Canis (Xenocyon) africanus, Canis (Xenocyon) antonii and Canis (Xenocyon) falconeri that gave rise to Canis (Xenocyon) lycanoides. The hypercarnivorous Xenocyon gave rise to the modern dhole and the African wild dog.
Laevistrombus canarium is a species of edible sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Strombidae. Known from illustrations in books dating from the late 17th century, L. canarium is an Indo-Pacific species occurring from India and Sri Lanka to Melanesia, Australia and southern Japan. The shell of adult individuals is coloured from light yellowish-brown to golden to grey. It has a characteristic inflated body whorl, a flared, thick outer lip, and a shallow stromboid notch. The shell is valued as an ornament, and because it is heavy and compact, it is also often used as a sinker for fishing nets.
The Arene Candide, is an archaeological site in Finale Ligure, Liguria, Italy. Its name was derived from the eponymous dune of white (candida) sand (arena) that could be found at the base of the cliff until the 1920s in the Caprazoppa promontory, where the Arene Candide cave is located.
Canis arnensis, the Arno River dog, is an extinct species of canine that was endemic to Mediterranean Europe during the Early Pleistocene. The Arno River dog has been described as a small jackal-like dog. Its anatomy and morphology relate it more to the modern golden jackal than to the larger Etruscan wolf of that time. It is probably the ancestor of modern jackals.
Canis etruscus, the Etruscan wolf, is an extinct species of canine that was endemic to Mediterranean Europe during the Early Pleistocene. The Etruscan wolf has been described as a small wolf-like dog. The Etruscan wolf has been accepted as the ancestor of C. mosbachensis, that is the ancestor of the grey wolf, for a long time. Recent research has suggested that C. borjgali from Dmanisi has to be considered the ancestor of C. mosbachensis.
References
- 1 2 GeoWhen Database: Tyrrhenian European Stage
- 1 2 Hearty, P.J. and Pra, G. Dai (2003) "Comment on: "The age of Late Pleistocene shorelines and tectonic activity of Taranto area, southern Italy" by G. Bellouomini, M. Caldara, C. Casini, M. Cerasoli, L. Manfra, G. Mastrronuzzi, G. Palmentola, P. Sanso, P. Tuccimei, and P.L. Vesica" Quaternary Science Reviews 22: pp. 2363-2367;
- ↑ Issel, Arturo (1914) "Lembi fossilferi quaternari e recenti nella Sardegna meridionale. Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei 5(23): pp. 759-770;
- ↑ Gignoux, M. (1913) "Les formations marines pliocenes et Quaternaires de l'Italie du sud et de la Sicilie" Annals de l'Universite de Lyon n.s. 36.