A sub-era of the Cenozoic era , that covers approximately the last 1.64 Ma. The Quaternary comprises the Pleistocene and Holocene Epochs and is noted for numerous major ice-sheet advances in the northern hemisphere. By the Pleistocene most of the faunas and floras had a modern appearance.
Authors differ in their interpretations of the southern European marine sediments.
Note that the Emilian of the former was laid down at a later date and represents a significantly shorter time interval than the Emilian of Ruggieri's classification. Calabrian A Dictionary of Earth Sciences 2. A Dictionary of Earth Sciences 3. Crotonian A Dictionary of Earth Sciences 4. Emilian A Dictionary of Earth Sciences 5.