Today’s Tough Trivia question about the Arts:

In the history of western classical music, there have been several styles or periods – and within them trends or schools – which build on and transform those that came before. If I list them for you in alphabetical order, can you arrange them in chronological order?

The periods: Baroque, Classical, Contemporary, Galant, Medieval, Modernism, Renaissance, and Romantic.

The trends or schools within those periods: Ars antiqua, Ars nova, Ars subtilior, Empfindsamkeit. Expressionism, Impressionism, Mannheim school, Minimalism, Neoclassicism, Postminimalism, Postmodernism, Serialism, and Sturm und Drang.

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Yesterday’s question:

When we measure human life spans, we talk about decades. When we measure the lives of countries, we talk about centuries. But when we talk about the history of the planet, we’re talking about geologic time. We divide geologic time into Eons, which are subdivided into eras, which are themselves subdivided into Periods. The cruel questioner in me wants to say “name the Periods,” but I have some mercy. I’m going to give you the Eons, Eras, and Periods. Your job is to put the Periods in the correct Eras (with bonus points for listing them in order).

The Phanerozoic Eon is broken into the Cenozoic (current), Mesozoic, and Paleozoic Eras. The Proterozoic Eon was broken into the Neoproterozoic, Mesoproterozoic, and Paleoproterozoic Eras). Before the Proterozoic was the Archean Eon, broken into the Neoarchean, Mesoarchean, Paleoarchean,and Eoarchean Eras, but we don’t divide that Eon into Periods, so you can ignore it.

Here are the Periods in alphabetical order (some of which we subdivide into Epochs): Calymmian, Cambrian, Carboniferous (Mississippian and Pennsylvanian), Cretaceous, Cryogenian, Ectasian, Ediacaran, Jurassic, Neogene (Miocene and Pliocene), Devonian, Ordovician, Orosirian, Paleogene (Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene), Permian, Quaternary (Pleistocene and Holocene), Rhyacian, Siderian, Silurian, Statherian, Stenian, Tonian, and Triassic.

The answer, from most recent to earliest:

Phanerozoic Eon, Cenozoic Era: Quaternary (from the present to 2.588 million years ago [MYA])

Neogene (2.588 to 23.03 MYA)

Paleogene (23.03 to 66.0 MYA)

Mesozoic Era: Cretaceous (66.0 to 145.5 MYA)

Jurassic (145.0 to 201.3 MYA)

Triassic (201.3 to 252.17 MYA)

Paleozoic Era: Permian (252.17 to 298.9 MYA)

Carboniferous (298.9 to 358.9 MYA)

Devonian (358.9 to 419.2 MYA)

Silurian (419.2 to 443.4 MYA)

Ordovician (443.4 to 485.4 MYA)

Cambrian (485.4 to 541.0 MYA)

Proterozoic Eon, Neoproterozoic Era: Edicaran (from 541 to 635 MYA)

Cryogenian (635 to 850 MYA)

Tonian (850 to 1,000 MYA)

Mesoproterozoic: Stenian (1,000 to 1,200 MYA)

Ectasian (1,200 to 1,400 MYA)

Calymmian (1,400 to 1,600 MYA)Paleoproterozoic: Statherian (1,600 to 1,800 MYA)

Orosirian (1,800 to 2,050 MYA)

Rhyacian (2,050 to 2,300 MYA)

Siderian (2,300 to 2,500 MYA)

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Ian’s Tough Trivia is a daily feature of this blog (Monday’s category is History; Tuesday is Arts; Wednesday is Science; Thursday is Entertainment; and Friday is Grab Bag). Each day, I post a tough question, as well as the answer to the previous day’s question. Simply comment on this post with your answer. I’ll approve the comments after the next question is posted. Sure, you can probably find the answers by searching the web, but what’s the fun in that?

And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.