The Geological Column and The Tree of Life

The geological column is a very useful table. It might help if you print it out for reference whilst you are using this site, or alternatively, click here to open it again in a new window. You can also use it to go to individual periods and eras in Earth’s history. But we recommend you start at the beginning, click here to go to the Pre-Cambrian.

Click here to go to the tree of life at the bottom of this page.

Youngest ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Oldest	Eon:	Era:	Period:	Start date (million years ago):	Epoch:	Start date (million years ago):
	Phanerozoic	Cainozoic (Cenozoic)	Quaternary	1.64	Holocene	0.01
					Pleistocene	1.64
			Tertiary	65	Pliocene	5.2
					Miocene	23.3
					Oligocene	35.4
					Eocene	56.5
					Palaeocene	65
		Mesozoic	Cretaceous	146
			Jurassic	208
			Triassic	245
		Palaeozoic	Permian	290
			Carboniferous	363
			Devonian	409
			Silurian	439
			Ordovician	510
			Cambrian	570
	Pre-Cambrian			4,600

Home

Tree of Life.

tree_of_life