Question

Age of man is
A. Cenozoic era
B. Mesozoic era
C. Palaeozoic era
D. Precambrian era

Answer 1

Hint: The era, i.e. regarded as the age of mammals began 60 million years ago. This term was originally introduced into the Penny encyclopedia in the year 1840.

Step by step answer: The Cenozoic era is regarded as the age of man. It is the third major era of the earth's history which began about sixty million years ago and has extended to the present day. It is the interval of the time during which the continents assumed their modern configuration and geographic positions and at which flora and fauna evolved. The current locations of the continents and their modern-day inhabitants, including humans can be traced in this period. The term ‘Cenozoic’ was originally used for the first time by British geologist John Phillips.
i. Mesozoic era: It is one of the three geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon preceded by the Palaeozoic and then succeeded by the Cenozoic era. This era is further subdivided into three major periods namely; Triassic, Cretaceous, and Jurassic. It is also known as the era of reptiles.
ii. Palaeozoic era: It is the era that began about 541 million years ago with the Cambrian explosion, which was an extraordinary diversification of marine animals and regarded as the greatest extinction event in the Earth’s history.
iii. Precambrian era: It was the era that predated the emergence of life in the Cambrian Period. It comprises all of the geologic time prior to 600 million years ago.
Hence the correct answer is option A.

Note: The Cenozoic is current and the recent out of the three Phanerozoic geological eras, which is then followed by the Mesozoic era and covered the period from sixty million years ago to the present. This era is also known as the Age of mammals because the extinction of different groups of mammals allowed the mammals to diversify.