Middle Miocene

E262870

climatic event geologic age subdivision of the Miocene Epoch

The Middle Miocene is a subdivision of the Miocene Epoch characterized by significant global climatic shifts, including a major warming phase followed by cooling, and important stages in mammalian evolution and marine biodiversity.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Middle Miocene canonical	3
Middle Miocene Climate Transition	1
Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2403609 — 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: Middle Miocene
Context triple: [Neogene, subdividedInto, Middle Miocene]

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. Oligocene Epoch
The Oligocene Epoch was a geologic time interval roughly 34 to 23 million years ago marked by global cooling, the expansion of grasslands, and significant evolution and diversification of mammals.
C. Neogene
The Neogene is a geologic period of the Cenozoic Era characterized by significant climatic cooling, the diversification of mammals and birds, and the emergence and evolution of early hominins.
D. Pridoli Epoch
The Pridoli Epoch is the final epoch of the Silurian Period, marking a transitional interval in Earth’s history just before the onset of the Devonian.
E. Maastrichtian
The Maastrichtian is the final stage of the Late Cretaceous period, marking the last interval of non-avian dinosaur dominance before the mass extinction event 66 million years ago.
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: Middle Miocene
Target entity description: The Middle Miocene is a subdivision of the Miocene Epoch characterized by significant global climatic shifts, including a major warming phase followed by cooling, and important stages in mammalian evolution and marine biodiversity.

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. Oligocene Epoch
The Oligocene Epoch was a geologic time interval roughly 34 to 23 million years ago marked by global cooling, the expansion of grasslands, and significant evolution and diversification of mammals.
C. Neogene
The Neogene is a geologic period of the Cenozoic Era characterized by significant climatic cooling, the diversification of mammals and birds, and the emergence and evolution of early hominins.
D. Pridoli Epoch
The Pridoli Epoch is the final epoch of the Silurian Period, marking a transitional interval in Earth’s history just before the onset of the Devonian.
E. Maastrichtian
The Maastrichtian is the final stage of the Late Cretaceous period, marking the last interval of non-avian dinosaur dominance before the mass extinction event 66 million years ago.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	climatic event ⓘ climatic event ⓘ geologic age ⓘ subdivision of the Miocene Epoch ⓘ
associatedWith	changes in marine productivity ⓘ changes in upwelling systems ⓘ elevated atmospheric CO2 levels ⓘ reorganization of deep-water circulation ⓘ
characterizedBy	changes in atmospheric CO2 levels ⓘ changes in marine biodiversity ⓘ changes in ocean circulation ⓘ expansion of Antarctic ice sheets ⓘ global climatic shifts ⓘ global cooling ⓘ global warming ⓘ growth of Antarctic ice sheets ⓘ higher global temperatures than present ⓘ important stages in mammalian evolution ⓘ major warming phase ⓘ sea-level fluctuations ⓘ subsequent global cooling ⓘ
containsStage	Langhian ⓘ Serravallian ⓘ
definedBy	International Commission on Stratigraphy ⓘ
endTime	approximately 11.6 million years ago ⓘ
follows	Early Miocene ⓘ
hasEvent	Middle Miocene Climate Transition ⓘ linked to: Middle Miocene Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum ⓘ linked to: Middle Miocene
hasStratotype	Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Langhian Stage ⓘ linked to: Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Serravallian Stage ⓘ linked to: Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point
importantFor	diversification of apes ⓘ evolution of cetaceans ⓘ evolution of early hominoids ⓘ evolution of marine mammals ⓘ evolution of modern coral reef communities ⓘ evolution of pinnipeds ⓘ evolution of terrestrial mammals ⓘ radiation of many modern mammal families ⓘ
occursDuring	Middle Miocene ⓘ Middle Miocene ⓘ
partOf	Cenozoic Era ⓘ linked to: Cenozoic Miocene Epoch ⓘ linked to: Miocene Neogene Period ⓘ linked to: Neogene
precedes	Late Miocene ⓘ
startTime	approximately 16.0 million years ago ⓘ
timeSpan	approximately 4.4 million years ⓘ
usedIn	biostratigraphic correlation ⓘ paleoclimatology ⓘ paleontology ⓘ stratigraphy ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Neogene → subdividedInto → Middle Miocene ⓘ

Middle Miocene → hasEvent → Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum ⓘ

linked to: Middle Miocene

Middle Miocene → hasEvent → Middle Miocene Climate Transition ⓘ

linked to: Middle Miocene

Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum → occursDuring → Middle Miocene ⓘ

subject linked to: Middle Miocene

Middle Miocene Climate Transition → occursDuring → Middle Miocene ⓘ