(MYA= million years ago)
Cenozoic Era - 65 mya to present day
Quaternary Period - 1.81 mya to Present
Holocene Epoch - 10,000 years ago to Present
Pleistocene Epoch - 1.81 mya to 10,000 years ago
Tertiary Period - 65 mya to 1.81 mya
Pliocene Epoch - 5.2 mya to 1.81 mya
Miocene Epoch - 23.3 mya to 5.2 mya
Oligocene Epoch - 35.5 mya to 23.3 mya
Eocene Epoch - 56.5 mya to 35.5 mya
Paleocene Epoch - 65 mya to 56.5 mya
Mesozoic Era - 245 mya to 65 mya
Cretaceous Period - 144 mya to 65 mya
Jurassic Period - 208 mya to 144 mya
Triassic Period - 245 mya to 208 mya
Paleozoic Era - 570 mya to 245 mya
Permian Period - 286 mya to 245 mya
Carboniferous Period - 360 mya to 286 mya
Pennsylvanian Epoch - 320 mya to 286 mya
Mississippian Epoch - 360 mya to 320 mya
Devonian Period - 408 mya to 360 mya
Silurian Period - 438 mya to 408 mya
Ordovician Period - 505 mya to 438 mya
Cambrian Period - 570 mya to 505 mya
Precambrian Era - 4500 mya to 570 mya
Precambrian Era - Earths oldest fossils found including bacteria and algae.
Paleozoic Era - Animals with shells and hard parts are common e.g. trilobites. Fish evolved including sharks around 400 mya. Amphibians walked on land evolving into reptiles.
Mesozoic Era - Age of the dinosaurs. Giant sea reptiles e.g. plesiosaurs. True mammals and modern sharks appear. Ammonites and shellfish also found. At the end of this era 65% of all animals became extinct including giant sea reptiles and dinosaurs when a meteorite crashed into the earth causing dramatic climate changes.
Cenozoic Era - Age of the mammals. Megalodon and its ancestors evolved with its extinction 1-2 mya