-
100
Precambrian: Begin 4.6 billion years ago
The Earth is created -
150
Precambrian: Events
~The Earth is created 4.3 billion years ago
~Precambrian represents the bulk of Earth's history before Cambrian
~Precambrian covers nearly 90% of Earth's history
When the crust cooled, huge pieces of the crust began to move in different directions these pecies of crust are called tectonic plates -
200
Precambrian: End 544 million years ago
The Precambrien Era ends. -
200
Paleozoic: Begining 544 million years ago
The begining of the Paleozoic Era. -
200
Cambrian: Begining 544 million years ago
The begining of Cambrian period. -
250
Cambrian: Events
~The first geological time period of the Paleozoic Era
~It lasted about 53 million years
~Marked a dramatic burst of evolutionary changes in life on Earth, known as the "Cambrian Explosion” -
300
Cambrian: End 505 million years ago
The Cambrian period ends. -
300
Ordovician:Beginning 505 million years ago
Ordovician period begins. -
350
Ordovician: Events
~Fairly warm climate
~Life still primarily under water but more animal forms
~Groups of algae evolved along the edges of the water
~Fungi and algae left on the bare land worked together to create lichen -
400
Ordovician: End 438 million years ago
Ordovician period ends. -
400
Silurian: Beginning 438 million years ago
Silurian period begins. -
450
Silurian Events
~The warm shallow seas made good conditions for marine life to grow
~The species that survived the mass extinction at the end of the Ordovician Period spread out and developed new variations of life
~One of the survivors were the nautiloids -
500
Silurian: Ending 408 million years ago
Silurian period ends. -
500
Devonian: Beginning 408 million years ago
Devonian period begins. -
550
Devonian: Events
~Laying close to the equator made the climate of the Devonian was warm
~The warm temperatures made life on land very good for plants
~The Devonian is known as the Age of Fishes because it is famous for the species of fish that developed in Devonian seas -
Mar 23, 600
Devonian: Ending 360 million years ago
Devonian period ends. -
Mar 23, 600
Carboniferous: Beginning 360 million years ago
The Carboniferous begins. -
Mar 23, 650
Carboniferous: Events
~In the early Carboniferous Period, the Mississippian Epoch, much of North America was covered with warm and shallow seas
~In the middle through late Carboniferous Period, the land was rising out of the water
~The end of the Carboniferous Period is marked by global climate changes caused by glaciers that covered the South Pole -
Mar 23, 700
Carboniferous: Ending 286 million years ago
Carboniferous period ends. -
Mar 23, 700
Permian: Beginning 286 million years ago
Permian period begins. -
Mar 23, 750
Permian: Events
~The Permian Period was the final period of the Paleozoic Era
~On land, the giant swamp forests of the Carboniferous began to evaporate and dry out
~Fossils of the shallower coastal waters around Pangaea’s continental shelf show that reefs were large and diverse ecosystems with numerous sponge and coral species -
Mar 23, 1000
Cretaceous: Beginning 144 million years ago
Cretaceous period begins. -
Mar 23, 1000
Jurassic: Ending 144 million years ago
Jurassic period ends. -
Mar 23, 1050
Cretaceous: Events
~In Gondwana, South America and Africa broke apart because the ocean floor was spreading along a crack in the earth’s crust called a rift
~The rift between Africa and South America created a long chain of volcanic mountains underwater which grew as the Atlantic Ocean
~Animal life continued to develop much as it had in the Jurassic as new species of dinosaurs became important -
Mar 23, 1100
Cretaceous: Ending 66.4 million years ago
Cretaceous period ends. -
Mar 23, 1100
Tertiary: Beginning 66.4 million years ago
Tertiary period begins. -
Mar 23, 1100
Mesozoic: End 66.4 million years ago
Mesozoic Era ends. -
Mar 23, 1100
Cenozoic: Begin 66.4 million years ago
Cenozoic Era begins. -
Mar 23, 1150
Tertiary: Events
~The beginning of this period was very warm and moist compared to today’s climate as much of the earth was tropical or sub-tropical and Palm trees grew as far north as Greenland
~During the Pliocene Period the first hominids appeared these were our human ancestors
~Birds did almost as well as mammals during the Tertiary Period and many of the birds we know today were present -
Mar 23, 1200
Tertiary: Ending 1.6 million years ago
Tertiary Era ends. -
Mar 23, 1200
Quaternary: Beginning 1.6 million years ago
Quaternary period begins. -
Mar 23, 1250
Quaternary: Events
~Generally temperatures were cooler everywhere on earth during this time period
~During the Quaternary period the positions of the continents were very much the same as they are today
For us, the most important development of the Quaternary ~Period is the development of the hominids or Humans -
Mesozoic: Begin 245 million years ago
Mesozoic Era begins. -
Permian: Ending 245 million years ago
-
Triassic: Beginning 245 million years ago
Triassic period begins. -
Triassic: Events
~Many species that survived the Permian Extinction died out during the early part of the Triassic like Trilobites, bryozoans, and rugose
~A completely new invertebrate species that developed in the Triassic was the Belemnite
~The most important development was happening to the reptiles. These animals would dominate the land, sea and air throughout the Mesozoic Era -
Triassic: Ending 208 million years ago
Triassic period ends. -
Jurassic: Beginning 208 million years ago
Jurassic period begins. -
Jurassic: Events
~During the Jurassic Period, the supercontinent Pangaea split apart into two peices
~The climate in the Jurassic Period was warm and stable
~Many types of animals and plants developed in the Jurassic Period -
Paleozoic: End 245 million years ago
Paleozoic period ends.
