Phanerozoic

American  

[fan-er-uh-zoh-ik] / ˌfæn ər əˈzoʊ ɪk /

noun

1. the eon comprising the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras.

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adjective

1. of or relating to this eon.

Phanerozoic British  

/ ˌfænərəˈzəʊɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to that part of geological time represented by rocks in which the evidence of life is abundant, comprising the Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras

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noun

1. the Phanerozoic era

Phanerozoic Scientific  

/ făn′ər-ə-zō′ĭk /

1. The period of geologic time from about 540 million years ago to the present, including the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic Eras. When this period of time was first defined, it was thought to coincide with the first appearance of life in the fossil record. It is now known that bacterial and other forms of life were present in the Precambrian Eon, and the Phanerozoic is understood to coincide with the appearance of life forms that evolved external skeletons.

2. See Chart at geologic time

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Etymology

Origin of Phanerozoic

1925–30; < Greek phaneró ( s ) manifest, visible + zo- + -ic

Example Sentences

But otherwise little is certain, especially early in the Phanerozoic, which spans the past 541 million years.

From Science Magazine

A putative geological Anthropocene epoch would be nested within the Quaternary period, Cenozoic era and Phanerozoic eon.

From Nature

Dinosaurs appear in the fossil record more than halfway through the Phanerozoic eon and then died out about 174 million years later but still in the same Phanerozoic eon.

From Washington Post

The dinosaurs died out 66 million years ago in the Maastrichtian Age in the Late Epoch of the Cretaceous Period in the Mesozoic Era of the Phanerozoic Eon.

From Forbes

"There seems to have been a dramatic improvement in the habitability of the Earth at around the Precambrian–Phanerozoic boundary," Williams said.

From Scientific American