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The Quaternary prehistory Portal

Introduction

The Quaternary (/kwəˈtɜːrnəri, ˈkwɒtərnɛri/ kwə-TUR-nə-ree, KWOT-ər-nerr-ee) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ago to the present. As of 2023, the Quaternary Period is divided into two epochs: the Pleistocene (2.58 million years ago to 11.7 thousand years ago) and the Holocene (11.7 thousand years ago to today); a third epoch, the Anthropocene, has recently been proposed, but it is not officially recognised by the ICS.

The Quaternary Period is typically defined by the cyclic growth and decay of continental ice sheets related to the Milankovitch cycles and the associated climate and environmental changes that they caused. (Full article...)

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Selected article on the Quaternary prehistory world and its legacies

The Saint Croix macaw (Ara autocthones) is an extinct species of parrot. The last populations lived on the Caribbean islands Saint Croix and Puerto Rico. It was originally described by Alexander Wetmore in 1937 based on a subfossil limb bone unearthed by L. J. Korn in 1934 from a kitchen midden at an Amerindian archeological site on Saint Croix. A second specimen was described by Storrs L. Olson and Edgar J. Máiz López based on various limb and shoulder bones excavated from a similar site on Puerto Rico, while a possible third specimen from Montserrat has been reported. The species is one of two medium-sized macaws of the Caribbean, the other being the smaller Cuban red macaw (Ara tricolor). Its bones are distinct from Amazon parrots as well as from the other medium-sized but geographically distant Lear's macaw (Anodorhynchus leari) and blue-throated macaw (Ara glaucogularis). The natural range is unknown because parrots were regularly traded between islands by indigenous people. Like other parrot species in the Caribbean, the extinction of the Saint Croix macaw is believed to be linked to the arrival of humans in the region. (see more...)

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Selected article on the Quaternary prehistory in human science, culture and economics

Paleontology or palaeontology (/ˌpeɪliɒnˈtɒlədʒi, ˌpæli-, -ən-/) is the scientific study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments (their paleoecology). As a "historical science" it attempts to explain causes rather than conduct experiments to observe effects. Paleontological observations have been documented as far back as the 5th century BC. The science became established in the 18th century as a result of Georges Cuvier's work on comparative anatomy, and developed rapidly in the 19th century. The term itself originates from Greek: παλαιός (palaios) meaning "old, ancient," ὄν, ὀντ- (on, ont-), meaning "being, creature" and λόγος (logos), meaning "speech, thought, study".

Paleontology lies on the border between biology and geology. It now uses techniques drawn from a wide range of sciences, including biochemistry, mathematics and engineering. Use of all these techniques has enabled paleontologists to discover much of the evolutionary history of life, almost all the way back to when Earth became capable of supporting life, about 3,800 million years ago. As knowledge has increased, paleontology has developed specialized sub-divisions, some of which focus on different types of fossil organisms while others study ecology and environmental history, such as ancient climates. Body fossils and trace fossils are the principal types of evidence about ancient life, and geochemical evidence has helped to decipher the evolution of life before there were organisms large enough to leave fossils. (see more...)

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Homo erectus from Tautavel, France mounted in the Museum Tautavel.
Photo credit: Gerbil

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Did you know?

...that Lantian Man, who was discovered in China in 1963, preceded Peking Man by several hundred thousand years?
...that the Stag-moose (Cervalces scotti) went extinct about 11,500 years ago, part of a mass extinction of large North American mammals toward the end of the most recent ice age?
...that American lions were probably cave lions who crossed the Bering land bridge into Alaska?
... that Manot 1, a skull discovered in the Manot Cave in Israel, provides evidence that modern humans lived side-by-side with Neanderthals?
... that Mesotherium ("middle beast") (skull pictured) was so named because its discoverer believed it was an intermediate between rodents and pachyderms?