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570 BCE
Cambrian Period - 570 - 500 MYA
Trilobites were the dominant species during the cambrian period, 540 to 490 MYA. -
488 BCE
Ordovician Period - 488 - 433 MYA
Rich variety of marine life flourished in the vast seas. First primitive plants began to appear. Supercontinent Gondwana is formed. 488 to 433 MYA. -
433 BCE
Silurian Period - 433 - 416 MYA
Underwater life thrived. Continental land masses were low while sea levels were on the rise. It meant rich shallow seas with niches. -
416 BCE
Devonian Period - 416 - 358 MYA
It is known as the "Age of Fishes". Time of extensive reef building. There were fist insects and important events in the evolution of the plants. -
359 BCE
Carboniferous Period - 359 - 299 MYA
Carboniferous period had vast swamp forests. Some of these swamps produced coal. The name Carboniferous comes from large coal deposits in the ground formed by vegetation. -
299 BCE
Permian Period - 299 - 251 MYA
The two supercontinents at the time Gondwana and Euramerica collided to form another supercontinent known as Pangea. Because of how immense it was, Pangea's inner lan was much cooler than the period before. Synapsids and Sauropsids are the two animals that dominated the permian landscape. There would be a mass extinction. -
251 BCE
Triassic Period - 251 - 199 MYA
Diversity of life outside of the oceans really bagan. Climate over pangea was generally pretty dry. The oceans were depopulated after the mass extinction in the Permian period. The first mammals evolved near the end of this period. -
199 BCE
Jurassic Period - 199.6 - 145.5 MYA
Pangea split apart and was no more. It was the age of the dinosaurs and all life was evolving and becoming more complex. -
145 BCE
Cretaceous Period - 145 - 66 MYA
The climate was more humid and hot than now. Land was breaking into continents. Mass extinction. -
66 BCE
Tertiary Period - 66 - 2.6 MYA
The Tertiary was an interval of enormous geologic, climatic, oceanographic, and biological change. It went from a world dominated by land species and reptiles to a world of polar glaciation. -
2
Quaternary Period - 2.6 MYA - Present
The first humans are born and mankind begins. Enormous animals like mammoths and giant bison. The entire Quaternary Period, including the present, is referred to as an ice age due to the presence of Antarctica.