Phanerozoic

Also known as Fanerozoic, Phanerozoic Eon, Fanerozoic Eon, Phanerozoic Eonothem

The Phanerozoic is the current and the latest of the four geologic eons in the Earth's geologic time scale, covering the time period from million years ago to the present. It is the eon during which abundant animal and plant life has proliferated, diversified and colonized various niches on the Earth's surface, beginning with the Cambrian period when animals first developed hard shells that can be clearly preserved in the fossil record. The time before the Phanerozoic, collectively called the Precambrian, is now divided into the Hadean, Archaean and Proterozoic eons.

AI overview

The Phanerozoic is the most recent of Earth's four major geologic time periods, extending from millions of years ago to today, and it's the era when animals and plants developed and spread widely across the planet, leaving behind clear fossil evidence starting with the Cambrian period. It matters because it encompasses all of Earth's history with abundant visible life, contrasting sharply with the earlier Precambrian eons when life was sparse or microscopic.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Geologic timespan.caption_art: Fauna and flora from each of the twelve periods of the Phanerozoic. From top left: Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleogene, Neogene, and Quaternary species.
Geologic timespan.timeline: Phanerozoic
Geologic timespan.name_formality: Formal
Geologic timespan.celestial_body: earth
Geologic timespan.usage: Global (ICS)
Geologic timespan.timescales_used: ICS Time Scale
Geologic timespan.chrono_unit: Eon
Geologic timespan.strat_unit: Eonothem
Geologic timespan.proposed_by: George Halcott Chadwick, 1930
Geologic timespan.timespan_formality: Formal
Geologic timespan.lower_boundary_def: Appearance of the Ichnofossil Treptichnus pedum
Geologic timespan.lower_gssp_location: Fortune Head section, Newfoundland, Canada
Geologic timespan.upper_boundary_def: N/A
Geologic timespan.upper_gssp_location: N/A
Geologic timespan.upper_gssp_accept_date: N/A
Geologic timespan.name: Phanerozoic
Geologic timespan.color: Phanerozoic
Geologic timespan.top_bar: phanerozoic

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image: Ice age fauna of northern Spain - Mauricio Antón.jpg

Show 4 more facts

start time: 538800000-
Commons category: Phanerozoic
sRGB color hex triplet: 9AD9DD
IPA transcription: /ˌfænərəˈzoʊ.ɪk/

Sources (4)

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~28 min read

Article

26 sections

Contents

Etymology
Proterozoic–Phanerozoic boundary
Eras of the Phanerozoic
Paleozoic Era
Cambrian Period
Ordovician Period
Silurian Period
Devonian Period
Carboniferous Period
Permian Period
Mesozoic Era
Triassic Period
Jurassic Period
Cretaceous Period
Cenozoic Era
Paleogene Period
Neogene Period
Quaternary Period
Biodiversity
Climate
See also
References
Notes
Citations
Further reading
External links

The time span of the Phanerozoic starts with the sudden appearance of fossilised evidence of a number of animal phyla; the evolution of those phyla into diverse forms; the evolution of plants; the evolution of fish, arthropods and molluscs; the terrestrial colonization and evolution of insects, chelicerates, myriapods and tetrapods; and the development of modern flora dominated by vascular plants. During this time span, tectonic forces which move the continents had collected them into a single landmass known as Pangaea (the most recent supercontinent), which then separated into the current continental landmasses.