Era
Era
An era is a commonly used word for long period of time. When used in science, for example geology, eras denote clearly defined periods of time of arbitrary but well defined length, such as for example the Mesozoic Era from 252 Ma–66 Ma, delimited by a start event and an end event. When used in social history, eras may for example denote a period of some monarch's reign. In colloquial language, eras denote longer spans of time, before and after which the practices or fashions change to a significant degree. When era is extended to a calendar system, it is known as a calendar era. In Sanskrit or Indian culture eras are known as Yugas.
Geological era
In natural science, there is need for another time perspective, independent from human activity, and indeed spanning a far longer period (mainly prehistoric), where geologic era refers to well-defined time spans. The next-larger division of geologic time is the eon. The Phanerozoic eon, is subdivided into eras.[1] There are currently three eras defined in the Phanerozoic; the following table lists them from youngest to oldest (BP is an abbreviation for "before present").
| Era] | Beginning (millions of years BP) | End (millions of years BP) |
|---|---|---|
| Cenozoic | 70 | 0 |
| Mesozoic | 225 | 70 |
| Paleozoic | 570 | 225 |
Time in Riyadh 
