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This approach to the sweep of geologic time follows that in "The Grand Canyon",
C.Hill, et al., eds. to organize the different periods of life since the beginning of the
Cambrian period. The time data from radiometric dating is taken from that source.
The times are in millions of years.
Phanerozoic
that part of geological time represented by rocks in which the evidence of life is
abundant, comprising the Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras
Palaeozoic - the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon, spanning
from roughly 541 to 252.2 million years ago. It is the longest of the Phanerozoic eras,
and is subdivided into six geologic periods (from oldest to least old): the Cambrian,
Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian. The Paleozoic comes
after the Neoproterozoic Era of the Proterozoic Eon, and is followed by the Mesozoic
Era.
Cenozoic Era - the most recent geological era, which began 65 000 000 years ago:
characterized by the development and increase of the mammals
Mesozoic - To an era of geological time that began 250 000 000 years ago with the
Triassic period and lasted about 185 000 000 years until the end of the Cretaceous
period