= Cretaceous
{c}
The <Cretaceous> is the youngest <Mesozoic> period, approximately $143.1$ to $66$ million years ago in the dated chart used here.<International Chronostratigraphic Chart by International Commission on Stratigraphy (2026-06)>[Cretaceous row]{ref} A numerical boundary estimate is a calibration of the <geological time scale>, not an assertion that every local geological process changed simultaneously. <Stratigraphy> establishes correlations; <radiometric dating> supplies numerical age constraints.
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