Miocene epoch
- noun
- /ˈmaɪəˌsiːn ˈɛpɒk/
- Specialized
:
época miocena
- Grasslands expanded significantly during the Miocene epoch, supporting new species of grazing mammals.
Examples
-
During the Miocene epoch, the Earth's climate was warmer and many modern mammal families evolved.
-
Geologists study fossils from the Miocene epoch to understand environmental changes and animal adaptation.
-
The Miocene epoch was fascinating.
-
Did the Miocene epoch end suddenly?
-
During the Miocene epoch, the Earth's climate was warmer and many modern mammal families evolved.
-
Geologists study fossils from the Miocene epoch to understand environmental changes and animal adaptation.
-
Grasslands expanded significantly during the Miocene epoch, supporting new species of grazing mammals.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A time about 23 to 5 million years ago when many modern mammals and grasslands appear
Surface Forms
Morphology
This phrase is fully compositional: it combines the proper-name 'Miocene' with the noun 'epoch' (a geological time period), so its meaning is simply the geological epoch called the Miocene. Although 'Miocene' is specialized vocabulary, a learner who knows both constituents would readily infer it refers to that named time period; naming patterns like this are cross-linguistically common and therefore transparent.
Etymology
Miocene epoch was named in the 1800s from two Greek words, meiōn and kainos, meaning 'less' and 'new'. Geologists used this name to show the time was 'less recent' than the later Pliocene, so today Miocene epoch refers to the period about 23 to 5 million years ago when many modern mammals and grasslands first appeared.