The Neogene is the second geological period of the Cainozoic. It began 23 million years ago, and ended about 2.6 million years ago. Before the Neogene was the Palaeogene. The Neogene and the preceding Palaeogene were originally together considered one period, the Tertiary.

The Neogene has two stages: Miocene, and Pliocene. It is followed by the Quaternary. Some geologists think that the Neogene cannot be clearly distinguished from the modern geological period, the Quaternary.