follow vs follow on

[Daemon99]

The Cretaceous, usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide, is a geologic period and system from circa 145.5 ± 4 to 65.5 ± 0.3 million years ago (Ma). In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period.

Why is follow on used instead of just follow in the above para?
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Non-native speaker of English
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I intend to live forever - so far, so good.

[Doughtsh]

"follow on" is incorrect here. You could either say "follows the Jurassic" or "follows on from the Jurassic". I think the first phrase is better, as "following on from" usually implies that the first event is involved in causing the second, but here we're just talking about time divisions.

[Daemon99]

Thanks a lot, Doughtsh!

BTW, I took it from Wikipedia. I thought its English was good.
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Non-native speaker of English
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I intend to live forever - so far, so good.