Pleistocene

Pleistocene

Definition:

The Pleistocene, also known as the obsolete term diluvium, describes the older of the two series within the Quaternary, which began about 2.6 million years ago and lasted nearly 2.5 million years. After the term Diluvium, which referred first to the myth of the flood, was used until the early 20th century, in modern research finally the name Pleistocene became common, which is derived from two ancient Greek words and translates as "predominantly new" means. Scientists today divide the Pleistocene into four stages, namely the Gelasium, the Early Pleistocene or Calabrium, the Middle Pleistocene or Ionium and the Late Pleistocene or Tarantium. The entire Pleistocene is characterized by several successive cold periods, so-called glacial, between which temporarily warmer temperatures prevailed.

Climate:

The Pleistocene is that part of the Quaternary that is characterized by large temperature fluctuations and an average global temperature drop of up to 13 ° C. This not only caused widespread glaciation and icing on the polar ice caps, but also pronounced hot and cold periods in the temperate climates and rainy seasons and subsequent dry seasons in the warm areas of the earth. The cold periods are characterized by a widespread covering of the land mass with ice. As large oceans of water transformed into ice, sea levels dropped during the Pleistocene, leading to the formation of some land bridges such as the Bering Bridge. The warm periods or so-called interglacials divide this epoch into three major icing periods.

Flora and Fauna (plants and animals):

Each ice age within the Pleistocene brought a phase in the temperate zones where the forests dropped drastically and were replaced by a sparse vegetation. In many parts of northern Europe, there were no trees in the Pleistocene during the cold periods, which led to the formation of dwarf shrub steppe and grasslands. These were populated by herds of giant mammals. Among the species that lived in the Pleistocene, mammoths that reached body sizes of up to three meters. Giant deer, horses, rhinos and primeval cattle also lived in large herds in the forests and grass steppes of Europe. Wolves, saber-toothed tigers, smaller wildcats and cave lions were among the most widespread robbers in the Pleistocene. Those species that adapted to the climatic conditions of the cold periods migrated north during the Interglacial period, whereas heat-adapted animals migrated to more southerly areas. Therefore, rhinos, hippos, elephants or big cats (lion, leopard or tiger), which once populated Central Europe, are now found only in Africa and South Asia.

The Pleistocene is also significant for the appearance of the first humans. The early human Homo habilis first colonized Africa and then penetrated further and further to the north. The Neanderthals and Homo sapiens also appeared in the Pleistocene. While the Neanderthals probably died out again due to adjustment difficulties, Homo sapiens prevailed and experienced a pioneering development in the Holocene from nomads to sedentary humans.

Summary

The Pleistocene (synonym: diluvium) is a section of the Earth's history, which lasted from about 2.5 million years ago to 11,000 years ago. This earth age is next to the Holocene one of the two series of the Quaternary.

The term Pleistocene is borrowed from the Greek and means "mostly new".

The Pleistocene was characterized by a change of cold periods (glacial) and warm periods (interglacial). The last glaciation or ice age began about 110,000 years ago and ended about 12,500 years ago.

200,000 years ago, Homo sapiens first appeared in the Middle Pleistocene.