The Precambrian Era
The Precambrian Era, also known as the Precambrian Supereon, is a period of time in Earth's history that covered approximately 4 billion years, which is about...
The Paleozoic Era
The Paleozoic Era occurred from about 541 million years ago to about 252 million years ago. The meaning of the word Paleozoic derives from the Greek...
The Ordovician Period
The Ordovician Period began about 485 million years ago and ran up until about 440 million years ago. This period was defined by Charles Lapworth in...
The Cenozoic Era
The most recent era in Earth's timeline is the Cenozoic Era - an era which literally means "New Life." It is an era which spans 65 million...
The Mesozoic Era
The Mesozoic Era began approximately 252 million years ago and ended about 66 million years ago - or about 186 million years ago. This is a...
The Cambrian Period
Nestled in the Phanerozoic Eon and more specifically, the Paleozoic Era, the Cambrian Period is a period of time on the prehistoric timeline that runs from...
The Silurian Period
The Silurian Period started approximately 443-440 million years ago and ended 419 million years ago. Technically, this period begins with the Ordovician-Silurian Extinction Event which wiped...
The Devonian Period
The Devonian Period is a period of time on the geological time scale which started about 419 million years ago and ended approximately 360 million years...
The Carboniferous Period
The Carboniferous Period ran from about 360 million years ago to about 300 million years ago. It is a period on the prehistoric timeline that is...
The Permian Period
Lasting from 300 million years ago to 250 million years ago, The Permian Period is the final period of the Paleozoic Era. During the period, the...
The Triassic Period
The Triassic Period ran from about 250 million to 200 million years ago and it started with much of Earth's life in disarray. The Permian-Triassic Extinction...
The Jurassic Period
When people think of the Jurassic Period, which occurred between 200 million and 145 million years ago, they often think of dinosaurs and they should. After...
The Cretaceous Period
Ending the Mesozoic Era and lasting almost 80 million years ago, the Cretaceous Period ran from about 145 million to 66 million years ago. During this...
The Quaternary Period
The current period on Earth's timeline is the Quaternary Period. It began approximately 2.6 million years ago and continues right up to the present time. This...
The Tertiary Period
The Tertiary Period ran from approximately 66 million years ago to about 2.58 million years. While this term is no longer officially recognized by International Commission...
Geologic Time Scale
Geologic Time Scale, also often known as GTS, is a method of determining when certain animals lived and their relationships to each other by examining rock...