Template:Ma

Template documentation [view] [edit] [history] []

Usage

Use the format {{Ma|Years_ago|Suffix|error=Error|round=Degree of accuracy}}

Years_ago can take a number (don't include commas, which are added automatically), or a period name (e.g. Cambrian), in which case it will return the date the period started.

Suffix is optional and defaults to "million years ago".

Error is an uncertainty and will be displayed as ± error. If a non-numeric value is entered, it will show the error associated with the period specified in Years_ago.

Degree of accuracy is the point at which to round the figure, as per the #expr: parserfunction. 0 will chop the figure at the decimal point; -1 will round it to the nearest 10; 1 will allow one decimal place.

Examples

Wikitext	Results in
{{Ma|65|million years old}}	65 million years old
{{Ma|Cambrian|Myr|error=show}}	541± 0.3 Myr
{{Ma|5.945|million years ago|error=0.5|round=1}}	5.9 ± 0.5 million years ago
{{Ma|250|65|Ma ago}}	250 to 65 Ma ago
{{Ma|Cretaceous}}	145 Ma
{{Ma|Selandian|Bartonian}}	61.6 to 41.3 Ma

Rationale

With geological time, it is often genuinely useful for the lay reader, with little grasp of how long ago 500 million years really is, to be able to quickly flick to a timescale. This template allows an easy way to implement such links.