Test your basic knowledge |

Cenozoic History Timeline

Instructions:

Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
Match each statement with the correct term.
Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.

1. Giraffes and giant anteaters evolve.
34 Ma
20 Ma
60 Ma
50 Ma

2. Grasslands first appear. Glyptodonts - ground sloths - peccaries - dogs - eagles - and hawks evolve.
0.3 Ma
35 Ma
4.8 Ma
36 Ma

3. Paranthropus evolve.
5.5 Ma
2.7 Ma
18-12 Ma
0.35 Ma

4. Neanderthals evolve.
52 Ma
60 Ma
0.35 Ma
0.7 Ma

5. Yellowstone caldera erupts
49 Ma
0.64 Ma
0.6 Ma
1.7 Ma

6. Africa collides with Eurasia - closing the Tethys Sea. Divergence of cat and dog ancestors. Primates diversify. Brontotheres - tapirs - rhinos - and camels evolve.
4.8 Ma
1.2 Ma
50 Ma
33 Ma

7. Brontotheres go extinct. Pigs evolve. South America separates from Antarctica - becoming an island continent.
30 Ma
1.2 Ma
2.7 Ma
5.5 Ma

8. The mammoth appears.
52 Ma
0.35 Ma
4.8 Ma
15 Ma

9. First deer.
5 Ma
5.5 Ma
0.6 Ma
25 Ma

10. Appearance of the genus Australopithecus
26 Ma
0.6 Ma
3 Ma
4.5 Ma

11. Earliest demonstrable evidence of the controlled use of fire by Homo erectus
0.7 Ma
0.79 Ma
1.5 Ma
1.7 Ma

12. Approximate age of Canis lupus. Middle Stone Age begins in Africa. Gigantopithecus evolves.
60 Ma
52 Ma
0.3 Ma
34 Ma

13. Whales return to the water.
49 Ma
0.35 Ma
4.8 Ma
5.4-6.3 Ma

14. First members of the Hominini tribe.
6.5 Ma
0.5 Ma
0.6 Ma
5.5 Ma

15. First creodonts.
6 Ma
60 Ma
2.7 Ma
63 Ma

16. Homo heidelbergensis evolves.
30 Ma
0.64 Ma
0.6 Ma
5 Ma

17. End of Eocene - start of Oligocene epoch.
36 Ma
40 Ma
0.64 Ma
24 Ma

18. Insects diversify.First large horses.
1.7 Ma
10 Ma
4.5 Ma
63 Ma

19. Cats evolve.
34 Ma
20 Ma
63 Ma
52 Ma

20. Whales return to the water.
2.5 Ma
0.6 Ma
49 Ma
40 Ma

21. Appearance of the genus Ardipithecus
52 Ma
6.5 Ma
6 Ma
5.5 Ma

22. Australopithecines diversify.
15 Ma
5.4-6.3 Ma
6 Ma
20 Ma

23. current ice age begins
25 Ma
63 Ma
2.6 Ma
18-12 Ma

24. Evolution of the first primates and miacids. Flightless birds diversify.
60 Ma
36 Ma
28 Ma
34 Ma

25. Neogene period and Miocene epoch begin
34 Ma
60 Ma
37 Ma
24 Ma

26. Estimated age of the Hominidae/Hylobatidae (great apes vs. gibbons) split.
60 Ma
30 Ma
18-12 Ma
52 Ma

27. Isthmus of Panama joins North and South America. Great AmericanInterchange.
6 Ma
49 Ma
0.2 Ma
3 Ma

28. Africa collides with Eurasia - closing the Tethys Sea. Divergence of cat and dog ancestors. Primates diversify. Brontotheres - tapirs - rhinos - and camels evolve.
50 Ma
5.5 Ma
60 Ma
30 Ma

29. Estimated age of the Hominidae/Hylobatidae (great apes vs. gibbons) split.
33 Ma
18-12 Ma
2.7 Ma
2.5 Ma

30. First thylacinid marsupials evolve.
0.6 Ma
36 Ma
33 Ma
0.64 Ma

31. First deer.
5 Ma
25 Ma
5.5 Ma
4.8 Ma

32. current ice age begins
6 Ma
4.5 Ma
2.6 Ma
50 Ma

33. Middle Paleolithic begins. Appearance of Homo sapiens in Africa
10 Ma
1.5 Ma
49 Ma
0.2 Ma

34. Appearance of the genus Australopithecus
49 Ma
20 Ma
4.5 Ma
10 Ma

35. colonisation of Eurasia by Homo erectus
26 Ma
37 Ma
0.5 Ma
4.5 Ma

36. First bats.
0.79 Ma
52 Ma
25 Ma
40 Ma

37. Neanderthals evolve.
49 Ma
2.5 Ma
0.64 Ma
0.35 Ma

38. colonisation of Eurasia by Homo erectus
0.5 Ma
35 Ma
0.6 Ma
50 Ma

39. Emergence of the first true elephants.
26 Ma
35 Ma
40 Ma
5 Ma

40. First thylacinid marsupials evolve.
33 Ma
6 Ma
6.5 Ma
0.35 Ma

41. First mastodons - bovids - and kangaroos. Australian megafauna diversify.
1.5 Ma
1.2 Ma
15 Ma
2.5 Ma

42. Paraceratherium evolves.
28 Ma
0.6 Ma
40 Ma
5 Ma

43. First bats.
49 Ma
2.6 Ma
52 Ma
50 Ma

44. First Nimravids.
5 Ma
50 Ma
34 Ma
37 Ma

45. Brontotheres go extinct. Pigs evolve. South America separates from Antarctica - becoming an island continent.
30 Ma
40 Ma
2.5 Ma
0.2 Ma

46. Appearance of the genus Ardipithecus
20 Ma
6 Ma
33 Ma
5.5 Ma

47. Paranthropus evolve.
3 Ma
2.7 Ma
63 Ma
2.5 Ma

48. Cats evolve.
34 Ma
1.2 Ma
4.8 Ma
2.5 Ma

49. First creodonts.
0.64 Ma
0.6 Ma
10 Ma
63 Ma

50. Middle Paleolithic begins. Appearance of Homo sapiens in Africa
0.2 Ma
49 Ma
0.7 Ma
0.79 Ma