Pliocene

The Pliocene ( /ˈplaɪ.əsiːn, ˈplaɪ.oʊ-/ PLY-ə-seen,

PLY-oh-;[6][7] also Pleiocene)[8] is the epoch in
Pliocene
the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 Chronology
million to 2.58[9] million years ago. It is the
second and most recent epoch of the Neogene −2 — Q Pleistocene
Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows –
 
the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the P
Piacenzian
−4 — l

i
Zanclean
Pleistocene Epoch. Prior to the 2009 revision of –
o.
the geologic time scale, which placed the four  
Messinian ← Messinian salinity crisis
[1]
−6 —
most recent major glaciations entirely within the
– ← North American prairie
expands [2]
Pleistocene, the Pliocene also included the
−8 —
Gelasian Stage, which lasted from 2.588 to 1.806
–
million years ago, and is now included in the Tortonian
−10 — C

Pleistocene.[10] N

– e
e

−12 —
n

As with other older geologic periods, the o

M
o

geological strata that define the start and end are – z

g
i
Serravallian 
o

−14 — o
e
c

well identified but the exact dates of the start and n

end of the epoch are slightly uncertain. The – i

e
Langhian
e
boundaries defining the Pliocene are not set at an −16 — c n

e
easily identified worldwide event but rather at –
regional boundaries between the warmer Miocene −18 — Burdigalian
and the relatively cooler Pliocene. The upper –
boundary was set at the start of the Pleistocene −20 —
glaciations. –
−22 — Aquitanian
–  
P
Oligocene
−24 — g
Contents
Subdivision of the Neogene according to
Etymology the ICS, as of 2021.[3]

Subdivisions Vertical axis: millions of years ago.

Climate Etymology
Paleogeography Name formality Formal
Environment and evolution of human Usage information
ancestors Celestial body Earth
Flora Regional usage Global (ICS)
Fauna Time scale(s) used ICS Time Scale
Mammals
Definition
Birds
Reptiles and amphibians Chronological unit Epoch

Oceans Stratigraphic unit Series

Supernovae Time span formality Formal

See also Lower boundary Base of the Thvera
Notes definition magnetic event (C3n.4n),
which is only 96 ka (5
References
precession cycles) younger
Further reading than the GSSP
External links Lower boundary Heraclea Minoa section,
GSSP Heraclea Minoa, Cattolica
Eraclea, Sicily, Italy
Etymology 37.3917°N 13.2806°E

Charles Lyell (later Sir Charles) gave the Pliocene GSSP ratified 2000[4]
its name in Principles of Geology (volume 3, Upper boundary
Base of magnetic
1833).[11] definition
polarity chronozone C2r
The word pliocene comes from the Greek words (Matuyama)
πλεῖον (pleion, "more") and καινός (kainos, Extinction of the
"new" or "recent")[12] and means roughly Haptophytes Discoaster
"continuation of the recent", referring to the
pentaradiatus and
essentially modern marine mollusc fauna.
Discoaster surculus
Upper boundary Monte San Nicola Section,
Subdivisions GSSP Gela, Sicily, Italy
37.1469°N 14.2035°E
GSSP ratified 2009 (as base of
Quaternary and
Pleistocene)[5]

In the official timescale of the ICS, the Pliocene is subdivided into

two stages. From youngest to oldest they are:

Some schemes for subdivisions of Piacenzian (3.600–2.58 Ma)[13]

the Pliocene Zanclean (5.333–3.600 Ma)[4]

The Piacenzian is sometimes referred to as the Late Pliocene,

whereas the Zanclean is referred to as the Early Pliocene.

In the system of

North American Land Mammal Ages (NALMA) include Hemphillian (9–4.75 Ma),[14][15] and
Blancan (4.75–1.6 Ma).[16] The Blancan extends forward into the Pleistocene.
South American Land Mammal Ages (SALMA) include Montehermosan (6.8–4.0 Ma),
Chapadmalalan (4.0–3.0 Ma) and Uquian (3.0–1.2 Ma).[17]

In the Paratethys area (central Europe and parts of western Asia) the Pliocene contains the Dacian (roughly
equal to the Zanclean) and Romanian (roughly equal to the Piacenzian and Gelasian together) stages. As
usual in stratigraphy, there are many other regional and local subdivisions in use.

In Britain, the Pliocene is divided into the following stages (old to young): Gedgravian, Waltonian, Pre-
Ludhamian, Ludhamian, Thurnian, Bramertonian or Antian, Pre-Pastonian or Baventian, Pastonian and
Beestonian. In the Netherlands the Pliocene is divided into these stages (old to young): Brunssumian C,
Reuverian A, Reuverian B, Reuverian C, Praetiglian, Tiglian A, Tiglian B, Tiglian C1-4b, Tiglian C4c,
Tiglian C5, Tiglian C6 and Eburonian. The exact correlations between these local stages and the
International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) stages is still a matter of detail.[18]

Climate
The global average temperature in the mid-Pliocene (3.3–3  mya)
was 2–3 °C higher than today,[19] carbon dioxide levels were the
same as today,[20] and global sea level was 25  m higher.[21] The
northern hemisphere ice sheet was ephemeral before the onset of
extensive glaciation over Greenland that occurred in the late
Pliocene around 3  Ma.[22]
The formation of an Arctic ice cap is
Mid-Pliocene reconstructed annual signaled by an abrupt shift in oxygen isotope ratios and ice-rafted
sea surface temperature anomaly cobbles in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Ocean beds.[23]
Mid-latitude glaciation was probably underway before the end of
the epoch. The global cooling that occurred during the Pliocene
may have spurred on the disappearance of forests and the spread of grasslands and savannas.[24]

Paleogeography
Continents continued to drift, moving from positions possibly as far as
250  km from their present locations to positions only 70  km from their
current locations. South America became linked to North America through
the Isthmus of Panama during the Pliocene, making possible the Great
American Interchange and bringing a nearly complete end to South
America's distinctive native ungulate fauna,[25] though other South
American lineages like its predatory mammals were already extinct by this
point and others like xenarthrans continued to do well afterwards. The
formation of the Isthmus had major consequences on global temperatures,
since warm equatorial ocean currents were cut off and an Atlantic cooling
cycle began, with cold Arctic and Antarctic waters dropping temperatures Examples of migrant
in the now-isolated Atlantic Ocean.[26] species in the Americas
after the formation of the
Africa's collision with Europe formed the Mediterranean Sea, cutting off Isthmus of Panama. Olive
the remnants of the Tethys Ocean. The border between the Miocene and
green silhouettes denote
the Pliocene is also the time of the Messinian salinity crisis.[27][28] North American species with
South American ancestors;
The land bridge between Alaska and Siberia (Beringia) was first flooded
blue silhouettes denote
near the start of the Pliocene, allowing marine organisms to spread between
South American species of
the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. The bridge would continue to be North American origin.
periodically flooded and restored thereafter.[29]

Pliocene marine formations are exposed in northeast Spain,[30] southern California,[31] New Zealand,[32]
and Italy.[33]

During the Pliocene parts of southern Norway and southern Sweden that had been near sea level rose. In
Norway this rise elevated the Hardangervidda plateau to 1200 m in the Early Pliocene.[34] In Southern
Sweden similar movements elevated the South Swedish highlands leading to a deflection of the ancient
Eridanos river from its original path across south-central Sweden into a course south of Sweden.[35]
Environment and evolution of human ancestors
The Pliocene is bookended by two significant events in the evolution of human ancestors. The first is the
appearance of the hominin Australopithecus anamensis in the early Pliocene, around 4.2 million years
ago.[36][37][38] The second is the appearance of Homo, the genus that includes modern humans and their
closest extinct relatives, near the end of the Pliocene at 2.6 million years ago.[39] Key traits that evolved
among hominins during the Pliocene include terrestrial bipedality and, by the end of the Pliocene,
encephalized brains (brains with a large neocortex relative to body mass[40][a] and stone tool
manufacture.[41]

Improvements in dating methods and in the use of climate proxies have provided scientists with the means
to test hypotheses of the evolution of human ancestors.[41][42] Early hypotheses of the evolution of human
traits emphasized the selective pressures produced by particular habitats. For example, many scientists have
long favored the savannah hypothesis. This proposes that the evolution of terrestrial bipedality and other
traits was an adaptive response to Pliocene climate change that transformed forests into more open
savannah. This was championed by Grafton Elliot Smith in his 1924 book, The Evolution of Man, as "the
unknown world beyond the trees", and was further elaborated by Raymond Dart as the killer ape
theory.[43] Other scientists, such as Sherwood L. Washburn, emphasized an intrinsic model of hominin
evolution. According to this model, early evolutionary developments triggered later developments. The
model placed little emphasis on the surrounding environment.[44] Anthropologists tended to focus on
intrinsic models while geologists and vertebrate paleontologists tended to put greater emphasis on
habitats.[45]

Alternatives to the savanna hypothesis include the woodland/forest hypothesis, which emphasizes the
evolution of hominins in closed habitats, or hypotheses emphasizing the influence of colder habitats at
higher latitudes or the influence of seasonal variation. More recent research has emphasized the variability
selection hypothesis, which proposes that variability in climate fostered development of hominin traits.[41]
Improved climate proxies show that the Pliocene climate of east Africa was highly variable, suggesting that
adaptability to varying conditions was more important in driving hominin evolution than the steady pressure
of a particular habitat.[40]

Flora
The change to a cooler, drier, more seasonal climate had considerable impacts on Pliocene vegetation,
reducing tropical species worldwide. Deciduous forests proliferated, coniferous forests and tundra covered
much of the north, and grasslands spread on all continents (except Antarctica). Tropical forests were limited
to a tight band around the equator, and in addition to dry savannahs, deserts appeared in Asia and
Africa.[46]

Fauna
Both marine and continental faunas were essentially modern, although continental faunas were a bit more
primitive than today.

The land mass collisions meant great migration and mixing of previously isolated species, such as in the
Great American Interchange. Herbivores got bigger, as did specialized predators.


The gastropod Oliva The coral Cladocora A gastropod and The gastropod
sayana, from the from the Pliocene of attached serpulid Turritella carinata
Pliocene of Florida Cyprus wormtube from the from the Pliocene of
Pliocene of Cyprus Cyprus

The thorny oyster The limpet Diodora The scaphopod The gastropod
Spondylus right and italica from the Dentalium from the Aporrhais from the
left valve interiors Pliocene of Cyprus Pliocene of Cyprus Pliocene of Cyprus
from the Pliocene of
Cyprus

The arcid bivalve The pectenid Vermetid gastropod Chesapecten,

Anadara from the bivalve Ammusium Petaloconchus barnacles and
Pliocene of Cyprus cristatum from the intortus attached to a sponge borings
Pliocene of Cyprus branch of the coral (Entobia) from the
Cladocora from the Pliocene of York
Pliocene of Cyprus River, Virginia

Mammals

Hominin timeline
0— ← Modern humans
In North America, rodents,
0 
Homo sapiens ← Modern
← humans
Earliest clothes
P
large mastodons and – l Neanderthals,Denisovans
Homo bodoensis
gomphotheres, and e
opossums continued i
−1 — s
successfully, while hoofed t
animals (ungulates) o Homo erectus
–c
declined, with camel, deer ← Earliest fire / cooking
e
and horse all seeing
−2 — n
populations recede. Three- e Homo habilis ← Dispersal beyond Africa
toed horses (Nannippus),
–
oreodonts, protoceratids,
and chalicotheres became
−3 — Australopithecus
extinct. Borophagine dogs
P
and Agriotherium became l ← Earliest stone tools
extinct, but other – i
carnivores including the o
weasel family diversified, −4 — c
e

and dogs and short-faced n Ardipithecus H

bears did well. Ground –e

sloths, huge glyptodonts, o

and armadillos came north −5 — m

with the formation of the Hominini

Isthmus of Panama. – i

In Eurasia rodents did well, n

−6 — Orrorin

while primate distribution i

declined. Elephants,

– d

gomphotheres and

stegodonts were successful M Sahelanthropus s ← Earliest bipedal

−7 — i
in Asia (the largest land
mammals of the Pliocene o
–c
were such proboscideans e
as Deinotherium, Anancus n
−8 — e Oreopithecus
and Mammut borsoni[47]),
and hyraxes migrated north
from Africa. Horse – ← Chimpanzee split
diversity declined, while
tapirs and rhinos did fairly −9 — Ouranopithecus ← Gorilla split
well. Bovines and
antelopes were successful; –
some camel species Nakalipithecus
crossed into Asia from −10 — ← Earlier apes
North America. Hyenas (million years ago)
and early saber-toothed
cats appeared, joining other predators including dogs, bears and weasels.

Africa was dominated by hoofed animals, and primates continued their evolution, with australopithecines
(some of the first hominins) and baboon-like monkeys such as the Dinopithecus appearing in the late
Pliocene. Rodents were successful, and elephant populations increased. Cows and antelopes continued
diversification and overtook pigs in numbers of species. Early giraffes appeared. Horses and modern rhinos
came onto the scene. Bears, dogs and weasels (originally from North America) joined cats, hyenas and
civets as the African predators, forcing hyenas to adapt as specialized scavengers. Most mustelids in Africa
 declined as Human evolution during the Pliocene
a result of
increased

19th century artist's impression of a

Pliocene landscape

competition from the new predators, although

Enhydriodon omoensis remained an unusually successful terrestrial predator.

South America was invaded by North American species for the first time since the Cretaceous, with North
American rodents and primates mixing with southern forms. Litopterns and the notoungulates, South
American natives, were mostly wiped out, except for the macrauchenids and toxodonts, which managed to
survive. Small weasel-like carnivorous mustelids, coatis and short-faced bears migrated from the north.
Grazing glyptodonts, browsing giant ground sloths and smaller caviomorph rodents, pampatheres, and
armadillos did the opposite, migrating to the north and thriving there.

The marsupials remained the dominant Australian mammals, with herbivore forms including wombats and
kangaroos, and the huge Diprotodon. Carnivorous marsupials continued hunting in the Pliocene, including
dasyurids, the dog-like thylacine and cat-like Thylacoleo. The first rodents arrived in Australia. The modern
platypus, a monotreme, appeared.

Birds

The predatory South American phorusrhacids were rare in this time; among the last
was Titanis, a large phorusrhacid that migrated to North America and rivaled mammals
as top predator. Other birds probably evolved at this time, some modern (such as the
genera Cygnus, Bubo, Struthio and Corvus), some now extinct.

Reptiles and amphibians

Alligators and crocodiles died out in Europe as the climate cooled. Venomous snake
genera continued to increase as more rodents and birds evolved. Rattlesnakes first
appeared in the Pliocene. The modern species Alligator mississippiensis, having
evolved in the Miocene, continued into the Pliocene, except with a more northern Titanis
range; specimens have been found in very late Miocene deposits of Tennessee. Giant
tortoises still thrived in North America, with genera like Hesperotestudo. Madtsoid
snakes were still present in Australia. The amphibian order Allocaudata became extinct.

Oceans
Oceans continued to be relatively warm during the Pliocene, though they continued cooling. The Arctic ice
cap formed, drying the climate and increasing cool shallow currents in the North Atlantic. Deep cold
currents flowed from the Antarctic.
The formation of the Isthmus of Panama about 3.5 million years ago[48] cut off the final remnant of what
was once essentially a circum-equatorial current that had existed since the Cretaceous and the early
Cenozoic. This may have contributed to further cooling of the oceans worldwide.

The Pliocene seas were alive with sea cows, seals, sea lions and sharks.

Supernovae
In 2002, Narciso Benítez et al. calculated that roughly 2 million years ago, around the end of the Pliocene
Epoch, a group of bright O and B stars called the Scorpius–Centaurus OB association passed within 130
light-years of Earth and that one or more supernova explosions gave rise to a feature known as the Local
Bubble.[49] Such a close explosion could have damaged the Earth's ozone layer and caused the extinction
of some ocean life (at its peak, a supernova of this size could have the same absolute magnitude as an entire
galaxy of 200 billion stars).[50][51] Radioactive iron-60 isotopes that have been found in ancient seabed
deposits further back this finding, as there are no natural sources for this radioactive isotope on Earth, but
they can be produced in supernovae.[52] Furthermore, iron-60 residues point to a huge spike 2.6 million
years ago, but an excess scattered over 10 million years can also be found, suggesting that there may have
been multiple, relatively close supernovae.[52]

In 2019, researchers found more of these interstellar iron-60 isotopes in Antarctica, which have been
associated with the Local Interstellar Cloud.[53]

See also
List of fossil sites (with link directory)

Notes
a. Because of the 2009 reassignment of the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary from 1.8 to 2.6
million years ago, older papers on Pliocene hominin evolution sometimes include events
that would now be regarded as taking place in the early Pleistocene.

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Further reading
Comins, Niel F.; William J. Kaufmann III (2005). Discovering the Universe (7th ed.). New
York, NY: Susan Finnemore Brennan. ISBN 978-0-7167-7584-3.
Gradstein, F.M.; Ogg, J.G. & Smith, A.G.; 2004: A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge
University Press.
Ogg, Jim (June 2004). "Overview of Global Boundary Stratotype Sections and Points
(GSSP's)" (https://web.archive.org/web/20060423084018/http://www.stratigraphy.org/gssp.ht
m). Archived from the original (http://www.stratigraphy.org/gssp.htm) on 23 April 2006.
Retrieved 30 April 2006.
Van Andel, Tjeerd H. (1994). New Views on an Old Planet: a History of Global Change (http
s://archive.org/details/newviewsonoldpla00vana) (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-44243-5.

External links
Mid-Pliocene Global Warming: NASA/GISS Climate Modeling (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0050623075602/http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/features/pliocene/)
Palaeos Pliocene (https://web.archive.org/web/20041207033036/http://www.palaeos.com/C
enozoic/Pliocene/Pliocene.htm)
PBS Change: Deep Time: Pliocene (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/change/deeptime/p
liocene.html)
Possible Pliocene supernova (http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2007AM/finalprogram/abstract_129
643.htm)
"Supernova dealt deaths on Earth? Stellar blasts may have killed ancient marine life"
Science News Online (https://web.archive.org/web/20060221061156/http://www.sciencene
ws.org/articles/20020202/fob5.asp) retrieved February 2, 2002
UCMP Berkeley Pliocene Epoch Page (http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/tertiary/pli.html)
Pliocene Microfossils: 100+ images of Pliocene Foraminifera (http://www.foraminifera.eu/qu
erydb.php?age=Pliocene&aktion=suche)
Human Timeline (Interactive) (http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-evolution-timeline
-interactive) – Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (August 2016).

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