Pliocene facts for kids

The gastropod Aporrhais from the Pliocene of Cyprus.

The Pliocene (Pleiocene in older texts) was a short geological epoch at the end of the Neogene. It began 5.3 million years ago (mya), and ended 2.6 mya. The Pliocene follows the Miocene and is followed by the Pleistocene.

The world continued to get cooler and drier in the Pliocene. Tropical rain forests and deciduous forests shrank. Grasslands grew, and many herbivorous mammals became grazers instead of browsers. Hominid evolution took a new turn as some apes started to live on the savannah instead of the forests (Australopithecines).

Images for kids

Some schemes for subdivisions of the Pliocene
Mid-Pliocene reconstructed annual sea surface temperature anomaly
19th century artist's impression of a Pliocene landscape
Titanis
The gastropod Oliva sayana, from the Pliocene of Florida
The coral Cladocora from the Pliocene of Cyprus
A gastropod and attached serpulid wormtube from the Pliocene of Cyprus
The gastropod Turritella carinata from the Pliocene of Cyprus
The thorny oyster Spondylus right and left valve interiors from the Pliocene of Cyprus
The limpet Diodora italica from the Pliocene of Cyprus
The scaphopod Dentalium from the Pliocene of Cyprus
The arcid bivalve Anadara from the Pliocene of Cyprus
The pectenid bivalve Ammusium cristatum from the Pliocene of Cyprus
Chesapecten, barnacles and sponge borings (Entobia) from the Pliocene of York River, Virginia

All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:

Pliocene Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.