The Holocene epoch.
Miocene Epoch.
The first hominids, known as Australopithecus, appeared during the Pliocene epoch, around 4 to 5 million years ago in Africa. These early hominids walked upright and had a mixture of ape-like and human-like features.
An epoch is a period in time. Describing some, usually, extended event or life but of no specific length. For example you could say the epoch when the earth was forming, or the epoch of the renaissance.
The epoch that humans are currently in is called the Holocene epoch. Scientists argue that the epoch we are in is actually the Anthropocene epoch, which means 'new man.'
According to the most recent NY Earth Science reference tables, the earliest epoch that humans existed was the Pleistocene epoch. The following epoch is the Holocene epoch, the one we currently live in.
The Hettangian Epoch. The liassic epoch.
The earth during the Pliocene epoch would have looked very similar to how it is today - it was roughly around 6mya. Pangea on the other hand was over 200mya.
The Pleistocene Epoch, known as the last ice age, began 1.8 million-years ago and lasted until about 11,700-years ago. During this time, ice covered huge parts of the Earth. Homo sapiens evolved during the Pleistocene Epoch, and by the end of the era were found in all corners of the Earth.
epoch - era
The Holocene Epoch
Paleocene epoch