๐Ÿฆ• Prehistoric World Map

The Quaternary period

2.58 to 0 million years ago ยท Cenozoic era. Ages from the ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart.

The Earth about 0 million years ago (Merdith et al. 2021 plate model). Explore this period on the timeline: 0 Ma

Began2.58 million years ago
Ended0 million years ago (ongoing)
EraCenozoic
EpochsPleistocene (2.58โ€“0.0117 Ma), Holocene (0.0117โ€“0 Ma)
Duration2.6 million years

โ† Neogene

About the Quaternary

The Quaternary ( kwษ™-TUR-nษ™r-ee, US also KWOT-ษ™r-nerr-ee) 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), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the Phanerozoic eon. It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.6 million years ago to the present. The Quaternary Period is divided into two epochs: the Pleistocene (2.6 million years ago to 12 thousand years ago) and the Holocene (12 thousand years ago to today); a proposed third epoch, the Anthropocene, was rejected in 2024 by International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), the governing body of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS).

The Quaternary is typically defined by the Quaternary glaciation, the cyclic growth and decay of continental ice sheets related to the Milankovitch cycles and the associated climate and environmental changes that they caused.

Featured animals of the Quaternary (27)

MammuthusMammuthus23.04 Ma to the presentAustralopithecusAustralopithecus11.63โ€“0.0117 MaSmilodonSmilodon4.7 Ma to the presentMammutMammut27.3 Ma to the presentParanthropusParanthropus5.333โ€“0.0117 MaMegatheriumMegatherium27.3 Ma to the presentElasmotheriumElasmotherium5.333 Ma to the presentGlyptodonGlyptodon36 Ma to the presentAepyornisAepyornis0.129 Ma to the presentDiprotodonDiprotodon23.04 Ma to the presentMacraucheniaMacrauchenia23.04 Ma to the presentGomphotheriumGomphotherium33.9โ€“0.0117 MaChalicotheriumChalicotherium23.04โ€“0.129 MaArctodusArctodus4.7 Ma to the presentDinornisDinornis0.129 Ma to the presentMegalocerosMegaloceros7.246 Ma to the presentToxodonToxodon23.04 Ma to the presentPurussaurusPurussaurus27.3โ€“0.0117 MaProcoptodonProcoptodon27.3 Ma to the presentThylacoleoThylacoleo5.333 Ma to the presentMegalonyxMegalonyx9.4 Ma to the presentDoedicurusDoedicurus5 Ma to the presentCoelodontaCoelodonta7.246 Ma to the presentAcanthostegaAcanthostega443.1 Ma to the presentDeinotheriumDeinotherium23.04โ€“0.0117 MaHomoHomo5.333 Ma to the presentOtodusOtodus93.9โ€“0.34 Ma

Text in โ€œAboutโ€ is quoted from the Wikipedia article Quaternary (revision 1381242627), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim. Ages and colours: ICS chart (v2024/12) via the Paleobiology Database.