Natural.World

• Palaeozoic era
  • - Silurian period
  • - Devonian period
  • - Carboniferous period
  • - Permian period
• Mesozoic era
  • - Triassic period
  • - Jurassic period
  • - Cretaceous period
• Cenozoic era
  • - Tertiary period
  • - Pleistocene epoch
  • - Holocene epoch

Pleistocene Epoch

The Pleistocene Epoch is typically defined as the time period that began about 1.8 million years ago and lasted until about 11,700 years ago. The most recent Ice Age occurred then, as glaciers covered huge parts of the planet Earth.

There have been at least five documented major ice ages during the 4.6 billion years since the Earth was formed — and most likely many more before humans came on the scene about 2.3 million years ago.

The Pleistocene Epoch is the first in which Homo sapiens evolved, and by the end of the epoch humans could be found in nearly every part of the planet. The Pleistocene Epoch was the first epoch in the Quaternary Period and the sixth in the Cenozoic Era. It was followed by the current stage, called the Holocene Epoch.

Source: Live Science