Editing Pliocene (section)

==Etymology==
[[Charles Lyell]] (later Sir Charles) gave the Pliocene its name in ''Principles of Geology'' (volume 3, 1833).<ref>See:
*  Letter from [[William Whewell]] to [[Charles Lyell]] dated 31 January 1831 in: {{cite book|editor1-last=Todhunter|editor1-first=Isaac|title=William Whewell, D. D., Master of Trinity College, Cambridge: An account of his writings with selections from his literary and scientific correspondence|date=1876|publisher=Macmillan and Co.|location=London, England|volume=2|page=111|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XaMKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA111}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lyell |first1=Charles |title=Principles of Geology, … |date=1833 |volume=3 |publisher=John Murray |location=London, England |page=53 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044103125555;view=1up;seq=103}} From p. 53:  "We derive the term Pliocene from πλειων, major, and χαινος, recens, as the major part of the fossil testacea of this epoch are referrible to recent species*."</ref>

The word ''pliocene'' comes from the Greek words {{lang|grc|πλεῖον}} ({{Transliteration|grc|pleion}}, "more") and {{lang|grc|καινός}} ({{Transliteration|grc|kainos}}, "new" or "recent")<ref name=OnlineEtDict>{{cite dictionary|title= Pliocene|url= http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Pliocene&allowed_in_frame=0|dictionary= [[Online Etymology Dictionary]]}}</ref> and means roughly "continuation of the recent", referring to the essentially modern marine [[mollusc]] fauna.