High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Hirnantian is the seventh and final internationally-recognized stage of the Ordovician Period of the Paleozoic Era. It was of short duration, lasting about 1.9 million years, from 445.6 ± 1.5 to 443.7 ± 1.5 Ma (million years ago). The early part of the Hirnantian was characterized by cold temperatures, major glaciation, and a severe drop in sea level. In the latter part of the Hirnantian, temperatures rose, the glaciers melted, and sea level returned to the same or to a slightly higher level than it had been prior to the glaciation.