Ma (for megaannus) — a unit of time equal to one million, years, or 1 E6 yr. The suffix "Ma" is commonly used in scientific disciplines such as geology, paleontology, and celestial mechanics to signify very long time periods into the past or future. For example, the dinosaur species Tyrannosaurus rex was abundant approximately 66 Ma (66 million years) ago. The duration term "ago" may not always be indicated: if the quantity of a duration is specified while not explicitly mentioning a duration term, one can assume that "ago" is implied; the alternative unit "mya" does include "ago" explicitly. It also written as "million years" (ago) in works for general public use. In astronomical applications, the year used is the Julian year of precisely 365.25 days. In geology and paleontology, the year is not so precise and varies depending on the author.
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