The Phanerozoic (; British English Phanærozoic) is the current geologic eon in the geologic time scale, and the one during which abundant animal and plant life has existed. It covers million years to the present, and goes back to the period when diverse hard-shelled animals first appeared. Its name derives from the Ancient Greek words (fanerós) and (zo_í_), meaning visible life, since it was once believed that life began in the Cambrian, the first period of this eon. The time before the Phanerozoic, called the Precambrian supereon, is now divided into the Hadean, Archaean and Proterozoic eons. Plant life also appeared from early in the Phanerozoic eon.