---------+---------------+--------------+-----------------------+---------- ERA | PERIOD | EPOCH | LIFE DEVELOPMENT | ESTIMATED | | | | TIME ---------+---------------+--------------+-----------------------+---------- | | Recent | THE AGE OF MAN | CENOZOIC | _Quaternary_ | Pleistocene |Animals and plants of | 6 | | (Ice Age) |the modern type. First | millions | | |record of man occurs in| of | | |the early Pleistocene. | years. Era of +---------------+--------------+-----------------------+ Recent | | Pliocene | THE AGE OF MAMMALS | Life | _Tertiary_ | Miocene |Rise and development of| | | Oligocene |the highest orders of | | | Eocene |plants and animals. | ---------+---------------+--------------+-----------------------+---------- | _Cretaceous_ | | THE AGE OF REPTILES | MESOZOIC | _Jurassic_ | |Shellfish with complex | | _Triassic_ | |shells. Enormous land | | | |reptiles. Flying | 16 | | |reptiles and the | millions | | |evolution therefrom of | of | | |birds. First palms. | years. | | |First hardwood trees. | | | | First mammals. | Era of +---------------+--------------+-----------------------+ Intermediate | | THE AGE OF AMPHIBIANS.| Life | | | THE COAL AGE | |_Carboniferous_| Permian |Sharks and sea animals | | | |with nautilus-like | | |Pennsylvanian |shells. Evolution of | | | |land plants in many | | |Mississippian |complex forms. First | | | |appearance of land | | | |vertebrates. First | | | |flowering plants. | | | |First cone-bearing | | | |trees. Club mosses and | | | |ferns highly developed.| ---------+---------------+--------------+-----------------------+---------- | | | THE AGE OF FISHES | | _Devonian_ | |Evolution of many | | | |forms. Fish of great | | | |size. First appearance | 45