Phanerozoic

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Phanerozoic Period of geologic time comprising the Palaeozoic Mesozoic, and Cenozoic Eras, It began approximately 570 Ma ago at the start of the Cambrian Period and is marked by the accumulation of sediments containing the remains of animals with mineralized skeletons. Although the name is derived from the Greek phaneros meaning ‘visible’ and zoion meaning ‘animal’, the term is no longer used in the sense of ‘visible life’, but merely defines the base of the Cambrian.

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