Neoproterozoic
Sign in to saveThe Neoproterozoic is the last of the three geologic eras of the Proterozoic eon, spanning from 1 billion to million years ago, and is the last era of the Precambrian "supereon". It is preceded by the Mesoproterozoic era and succeeded by the Paleozoic era of the Phanerozoic eon, and is further subdivided into three periods, the Tonian, Cryogenian and Ediacaran.
AI overview
The Neoproterozoic is the final geologic era of the Proterozoic eon, lasting from 1 billion to 541 million years ago, and represents the last major time division before complex life forms became widespread in Earth's history. It matters because it bridges the gap between the earlier Proterozoic world and the Paleozoic era, encompassing three distinct periods that saw major changes in Earth's climate and the emergence of the earliest complex organisms.
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Key facts
- Geologic timespan.name
- Neoproterozoic
- Geologic timespan.color
- Neoproterozoic
- Geologic timespan.top_bar
- all time
- Geologic timespan.image_art
- Neoproterozoic collage.png
- Geologic timespan.caption_art
- Clockwise, from top left: Otavia, a multicellular organism from Tonian period, Snowball Earth glaciations from Cryogenian period, Ediacaran biota from Ediacaran period
- Geologic timespan.timeline
- Neoproterozoic
- Geologic timespan.proposed_boundaries1
- 850–541 Ma
- Geologic timespan.proposed_boundaries1_ref
- Gradstein et al., 2012
- Geologic timespan.proposed_subdivision1
- Cryogenian Period, 850–630 Ma
- Geologic timespan.proposed_subdivision1_coined
- Gradstein et al., 2012
- Geologic timespan.proposed_subdivision2
- Ediacaran Period, 630–541.0 Ma
Article
8 sectionsContents
- Geology
- Subdivisions
- Russian regional timescale
- Paleobiology
- Terminal period
- See also
- References
- External links
The Neoproterozoic is the last of the three geologic eras of the Proterozoic eon, spanning from 1 billion to million years ago, and is the last era of the Precambrian "supereon". It is preceded by the Mesoproterozoic era and succeeded by the Paleozoic era of the Phanerozoic eon, and is further subdivided into three periods, the Tonian, Cryogenian and Ediacaran.
One of the most severe glaciation events known in the geologic record occurred during the Cryogenian period of the Neoproterozoic, when global ice sheets may have reached the equator and created a "Snowball Earth" lasting about 100 million years. The earliest fossils of complex life are found in the Tonian period in the form of Otavia, a primitive sponge, and the earliest fossil evidence of metazoan radiation are found in the Ediacaran period, which included the namesaked Ediacaran biota as well as the oldest definitive cnidarians and bilaterians in the fossil record.