= Pliocene
{c}
The <Pliocene> is the younger <Neogene> epoch, approximately $5.333$ to $2.58$ million years ago.<International Chronostratigraphic Chart by International Commission on Stratigraphy (2026-06)>[Pliocene row]{ref} It is included in the long marine <oxygen isotope ratio> stack used to compare earlier ocean conditions with those of the <Pleistocene>. Aligning records makes their temporal patterns comparable; it does not turn one isotope measurement into a unique independent <temperature> measurement.<A Pliocene-Pleistocene stack of 57 globally distributed benthic oxygen-isotope records by Lorraine E. Lisiecki and Maureen E. Raymo>[Abstract and introduction: Pliocene coverage and climatic interpretation]{ref}
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