The Miocene was the first epoch of the Neogene period (23-2.5 million years ago), followed by the much shorter Pliocene epoch (5-2.6 million years ago); both the Neogene and Miocene are themselves subdivisions of the Cenozoic Era (65 million years ago to the present). Climate and geography.
The dictionary meaning of the word Digress is 'to leave the main subject temporarily in speech or writing.' or simply deviate. As you say,I digress means  I am straying from the main subject right now. . Like in this sentence - 'I need to digress a bit to let the ink dry.'. Hope this helps :)
Using specific examples to explain general principles is not digression, as it would only occur when the exposition began to concentrate on the example instead. But I Digress.... The stereotypical transition by speakers is but I digress. This is an abrupt change back to the original central topic.