Pleistocene

American  

[plahy-stuh-seen] / ˈplaɪ stəˌsin /

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to the epoch forming the earlier half of the Quaternary Period, beginning about two million years ago and ending 10,000 years ago, characterized by widespread glacial ice and the advent of modern humans.

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noun

1. the Pleistocene Epoch or Series.

Pleistocene British  

/ ˈplaɪstəˌsiːn /

adjective

1. of, denoting, or formed in the first epoch of the Quaternary period, which lasted for about 1 600 000 years. It was characterized by extensive glaciations of the N hemisphere and the evolutionary development of man

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noun

1. the Pleistocene epoch or rock series

Pleistocene Scientific  

/ plī′stə-sēn′ /

1. The earlier of the two epochs of the Quaternary Period, from about 2 million to 10,000 years ago. The Pleistocene Epoch was characterized by the formation of widespread glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere and by the appearance of humans. Mammals included both small forms, such as saber-toothed tigers and horses and giant ones, such as mammoths and mastodons. Almost all the giant mammals, including woolly mammoths, giant wolves, giant ground sloths, and massive wombats disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene and the start of the Holocene.

2. See Chart at geologic time

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Other Word Forms

• post-Pleistocene adjective

Etymology

Origin of Pleistocene

First recorded in 1830–40; from Greek pleîsto(s) “most” (superlative of polýs “much”) + -cene

Example Sentences

Dogs trace their origins to an extinct population of gray wolves that evolved alongside humans during the late Pleistocene about 20,000 years ago.

From Science Daily

From this evidence, researchers concluded that the ancestors of modern Mountain Pygmy-possums probably followed rainforest habitats uphill during a warm and wet phase in the Pleistocene Epoch.

From Science Daily

This discovery marks an important step forward in understanding how early humans occupied the Atlantic coastline of the Iberian Peninsula during the Pleistocene.

From Science Daily

By comparing surrounding layers of ash, they determined that the remains date back roughly 404,000 years to a notably warm phase of the Middle Pleistocene Epoch.

From Science Daily

And then, at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch about 12,000 years ago, most of them vanished.

From New York Times