Original: The Pliocene (; archaically Pleiocene) Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present.
Simplified: The Pliocene (Pleiocene in older texts) is a short epoch at the end of the Neogene. It lasted from 5.3 million to 2.6 million years ago.