belonging to the period in the Earth's history that started about 13 million years ago and continued about 12 million years (pleion + kainos )
{i} geological era during which mammals became more widespread and the Earth's climate cooled considerably (approximately 10 to 2 million years ago)
A warm epoch with only limited glaciation The mid-Pliocene was the last time that comparable temperatures existed to those predicted by General Circulation Models to take place within 300 years Preciptation was greater than at present, including in the arid regions of Middle Asia and Northern Africa, where temperatures were lower than at present in summer (Source: Mintzer, 1992)
from 13 million to 2 million years ago; growth of mountains; cooling of climate; more and larger mammals
Of, pertaining to, or characterizing, the most recent division of the Tertiary age
Final epoch of the Tertiary period, spanning the time between 5 3 and 1 8 million years ago It is named after the Greek words "pleion" (more) and "ceno" (new)
The period of geologic time that began about ten million years ago and ended approximately two or three million years ago
3 to 1.8 million years ago. It follows the Miocene Epoch and precedes the Pleistocene Epoch of the Quaternary Period. Pliocene environments were generally cooler and drier than those of preceding Tertiary epochs. In general, Pliocene mammals grew larger than those of earlier epochs. The more advanced primates continued to evolve, and it is possible that the australopithecines (see Australopithecus), the first creatures that can be termed human, developed late in the Pliocene