Blue boxes indicate time periods for which Maine has a fossil record.
Fossils from the Holocene and Pleistocene are preserved in sediments.
Fossils from the Cambrian through Devonian Periods are preserved in bedrock.


Geologic Time Scale

Era Period Age
(millions of years)

CENOZOIC     Holocene

0.01
Pleistocene

1.8
Tertiary

65
MESOZOIC     Cretaceous

146
Jurassic

208
Triassic

245
PALEOZOIC     Permian

286
Pennsylvanian

325
Missippian

360
Devonian

417
Silurian

440
Ordovician

505
Cambrian

545

Last updated on October 6, 2005