Geologic Time Scale
Explore the Geological Time Scale dedicated to the key fossils of the Fossili Regionali initiative. The colours are based on the International Chronostratigraphic Chart, which is periodically updated by the International Commission on Stratigraphy.
“Scroll through time from top to bottom" to discover the age of the Fossili Regionali initiative.
The values in millions of years (Ma), shown above the “golden spikes,” mark the official stratigraphic boundaries; those in grey indicate boundaries for which a reference section has not yet been formally defined.
The Time Scale (here focused on the Phanerozoic) is subdivided into geochronological units, each corresponding to a different interval of time:
- Era (e.g., Mesozoic, Cenozoic): from hundreds to tens of millions of years.
- Period (e.g., Jurassic, Paleogene): from tens to millions of years.
- Epoch (e.g., Early Cretaceous, Pleistocene): from tens to millions of years.
Each page dedicated to an individual regional fossil indicates the time intervals during which that organism lived.
Note: The length of the bars representing the geochronological units in which the winning fossils were found is proportional to their duration, with the exception of the Quaternary, whose representation has been intentionally expanded to accommodate the closely spaced timelines of the various key fossils.