Pleistocene epoch
E32799
The Pleistocene epoch was a geological time period characterized by repeated ice ages, widespread glaciation, and the evolution and global spread of modern humans.
All labels observed (11)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Pleistocene | 54 |
| Pleistocene epoch canonical | 14 |
| Late Pleistocene | 4 |
| Pleistocene ice ages | 3 |
| Early Pleistocene | 2 |
| Pleistocene glaciation | 2 |
| Last Glacial Period | 1 |
| Last Interglacial (Eemian) | 1 |
| Middle Pleistocene | 1 |
| Pleistocene Epoch | 1 |
| Pleistocene series | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T252478 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Pleistocene epoch Context triple: [Pliocene epoch, followedBy, Pleistocene epoch]
-
A.
Pliocene epoch
The Pliocene epoch was a geological time period roughly 5.3 to 2.6 million years ago marked by cooler global climates, the expansion of grasslands, and significant evolutionary developments among mammals and early hominins.
-
B.
Holocene
The Holocene is the current geological epoch, beginning around 11,700 years ago, characterized by relatively stable climate conditions and the development of human civilizations.
-
C.
Cenozoic
The Cenozoic is the current geological era, beginning about 66 million years ago, characterized by the rise and diversification of mammals and birds and the formation of many modern mountain ranges and continents.
-
D.
Paleogene
The Paleogene is a geologic period that marks the beginning of the Cenozoic Era, characterized by the diversification of mammals and birds following the mass extinction that ended the age of dinosaurs.
-
E.
Jurassic Period
The Jurassic Period was a major division of the Mesozoic Era characterized by warm climates, the dominance and diversification of dinosaurs, and the early evolution of birds.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Pleistocene epoch Target entity description: The Pleistocene epoch was a geological time period characterized by repeated ice ages, widespread glaciation, and the evolution and global spread of modern humans.
-
A.
Pliocene epoch
The Pliocene epoch was a geological time period roughly 5.3 to 2.6 million years ago marked by cooler global climates, the expansion of grasslands, and significant evolutionary developments among mammals and early hominins.
-
B.
Holocene
The Holocene is the current geological epoch, beginning around 11,700 years ago, characterized by relatively stable climate conditions and the development of human civilizations.
-
C.
Cenozoic
The Cenozoic is the current geological era, beginning about 66 million years ago, characterized by the rise and diversification of mammals and birds and the formation of many modern mountain ranges and continents.
-
D.
Paleogene
The Paleogene is a geologic period that marks the beginning of the Cenozoic Era, characterized by the diversification of mammals and birds following the mass extinction that ended the age of dinosaurs.
-
E.
Jurassic Period
The Jurassic Period was a major division of the Mesozoic Era characterized by warm climates, the dominance and diversification of dinosaurs, and the early evolution of birds.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (50)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
geological epoch
ⓘ
subdivision of the geologic time scale ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
development of human hunting and gathering
ⓘ
evolution of many modern mammal genera ⓘ expansion of grasslands ⓘ loess deposition in mid-latitudes ⓘ spread of steppe and tundra biomes ⓘ |
| characterizedBy |
expansion of polar ice caps
ⓘ
growth and decay of mountain glaciers ⓘ large ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere ⓘ repeated glacial cycles ⓘ sea-level fluctuations ⓘ widespread continental glaciation ⓘ |
| climate |
alternating glacial and interglacial periods
ⓘ
generally cooler than present ⓘ |
| contains |
multiple glacial stages
ⓘ
multiple interglacial stages ⓘ |
| definedBy | International Commission on Stratigraphy ⓘ |
| duration | approximately 2.57 million years ⓘ |
| endDefinedBy |
end of the last glacial period
ⓘ
onset of Holocene warming ⓘ |
| endTime | about 11,700 years ago ⓘ |
| followedBy |
Holocene
ⓘ
surface form:
Holocene epoch
|
| follows | Pliocene epoch ⓘ |
| geochronologicUnitOf |
Quaternary period
ⓘ
surface form:
Quaternary glaciation
|
| majorEvent |
Denisovan presence in Eurasia
ⓘ
Late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions ⓘ Neanderthal evolution and extinction ⓘ appearance of Homo erectus outside Africa ⓘ appearance of Homo heidelbergensis ⓘ appearance of Homo neanderthalensis ⓘ appearance of Homo sapiens in Africa ⓘ development of stone tool technologies ⓘ diversification of the genus Homo ⓘ evolution of anatomically modern humans ⓘ extinction of many large mammals ⓘ global dispersal of Homo sapiens ⓘ |
| notableGlaciation |
Fennoscandian Ice Sheet
ⓘ
surface form:
Fennoscandian Ice Sheet in northern Europe
Laurentide Ice Sheet in North America ⓘ Patagonian Ice Fields ⓘ
surface form:
Patagonian Ice Sheet in South America
|
| partOf |
Cenozoic
ⓘ
surface form:
Cenozoic era
Phanerozoic Eon ⓘ
surface form:
Phanerozoic eon
Quaternary period ⓘ |
| precededBy | Neogene period in a broader sense ⓘ |
| rockUnitEquivalent |
Pleistocene epoch
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
surface form:
Pleistocene series
|
| startTime | about 2.58 million years ago ⓘ |
| stratotypeRegion | Calabrian and related sections in Italy ⓘ |
| subdividedInto |
Pleistocene epoch
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
surface form:
Early Pleistocene
Pleistocene epoch self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form:
Late Pleistocene
Middle Pleistocene ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Pleistocene epoch Description of subject: The Pleistocene epoch was a geological time period characterized by repeated ice ages, widespread glaciation, and the evolution and global spread of modern humans.
Referenced by (84)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene ice ages
this entity surface form:
Last Glacial Period
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene glaciation
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene glaciation
Great American Biotic Interchange between North and South America
→
continuedInto
→
Pleistocene epoch
ⓘ
subject surface form:
Great American Biotic Interchange
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Early Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Late Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene series
this entity surface form:
Last Interglacial (Eemian)
this entity surface form:
Early Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Middle Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Late Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Late Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Late Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene
subject surface form:
Laurentide Ice Sheet
this entity surface form:
Pleistocene