Life on Earth

By A.Cook1
  • 3800 BCE

    Precambrian Eon

    Precambrian Eon
    Ended 543 mya.
    The earliest part of earth history. The Earth's crust was forming the land surface from molten rock cooling down.
    Major event
    - Ice age (snowball Earth). Oceans froze and the entire Earth was covered in ice that reflects most sunlight, keeping the Earth cold. Co2 emissions from volcanos warmed the Earth and melted the ice.
  • 3800 BCE

    Archean era

    Archean era
    Ended 2500 mya
    The era when life first formed on Earth. Defined by the isotopic age, the surface cooled enough for rocks and continental, plates to form. No oxygen gas, though in compounds, an example is water.
    Major events
    - Rock formed.
  • Period: 3800 BCE to

    Evolution of life on Earth

  • 3454 BCE

    Carboniferous period

    Carboniferous period
    Ended 290 mya
    Major events
    - Coal started forming under continents.
  • 2500 BCE

    Proterozoic era

    Proterozoic era
    Ended 543 mya.
    Oxygen came during this era. Rocks contained fossils from primitive life forms from the Precambrian eon.
    Major events
    -Oxygen formed
    -First oxygen depended on animals (Ediacaran Fauna).
    -All continents were joined together (Pangea).
  • 1800 BCE

    Quaternary period

    Quaternary period
    Current period
    Major events
    - Mammals evolved
    -Humans evolved
  • 543 BCE

    Phanerozoic Eon

    Phanerozoic Eon
    Current Eon.
    Living organisms formed. Mass extinction​ events occurred.
    Major events
    - 96% life on Earth has wiped away 51 mya.
    - Extinction of dinosaurs 65 mya. Gave rise to new mammals.
  • 543 BCE

    Palaeozoic eon

    Palaeozoic eon
    Ended 248 mya
    Broken up into 6 periods
    - Cambrian
    - Ordovician
    - Silurian
    - Devonian
    - carboniferous
    - Permian
    Major events
    - Break up of one supercontinent and the formation of another.
    - Plants became widespread.
    - First vertebrae animals colonised​ the land.
  • 543 BCE

    Cambrian Period

    Cambrian Period
    Ended 490 mya
    Lasted 56. 5 million years
    Major events
    - Marked a burst in the evolution of an organism, known as Cambrian explosion, the sudden appearance of fossil with skeletal remains.
  • 490 BCE

    Ordovician period

    Ordovician period
    Ended 443 mya
    Major events
    -Began with a mass extinction, called the Cambrian Ordovician extinction event, that eliminated brachiopods and conodonts.
  • 443 BCE

    Silurian period

    Silurian period
    Ended 417 mya
    Major events
    - During this period continental land masses were low and sea levels were rising.
  • 417 BCE

    Devonian period

    Ended 354 mya
    Major events
    - Forest and coiled shell bearing organism first appeared during this period.
    - The extinctions are caused by astronomic​ impacts and global oxygen shortages.
    - Plate tectonics, sea level changes and climate change also caused the extinctions.
  • 290 BCE

    Permian period

    Permian period
    Ended 248 mya
    Last period in the palaeozoic era
    Major events
    - Ended in the largest mass extinction the Earth has ever experienced.
    - The emergence of the supercontinent Pangaea caused server extremes of climate and environment due to its vast siz​e.
  • 248 BCE

    Mesozoic Era

    Mesozoic Era
    Ended 65 mya
    Known as the age of reptiles and age of Conifers.
    broken up into three periods
    - Triassic
    - Jurassic
    - Cretaceous
    Major events
    - Many modern plants formed
    - Invertebrates and fishes evolved
    -land dinosaurs were the most dominant animals.
  • 248 BCE

    Triassic period

    Ended 206 mya
    The first period of the Mesozoic era
    major events
    - Occurred after the great extinction.
    - Land animals started to evolve.
    - Volcanic eruptions, climate change and a fatal comet or asteroid triggered the extinction of more than 90% of species.
  • 206 BCE

    Jurassic period

    Jurassic period
    Ended 144 mya
    Also known as the age of reptiles.
    Major events
    -Super continent slipt apart.
    - And a minor mass extinctions cause the Jurassic period to end.
    -Most of the enormous sauropod dinosaurs and the stegosaurid died out.
  • 144 BCE

    Cretaceous period

    Cretaceous period
    Ended 65 mya
    Last and longest period of the Mesozoic era
    Major events
    -Tyrannosaurus Rex arose during this period.
    - An extinction occurs​ either asteroid or natural disruptions.
  • 66 BCE

    Cainozoic Era

    Cainozoic Era
    Current era
    Major events
    - extinction of dinosaurs
    - rise of humans
    - Last ice age ended 12,000 years ago.
    Broken up into two periods
    -Tertiary
    - Quaternary
  • 65 BCE

    Tertiary period.

    Tertiary period.
    Ended 1.8 mya
    First period if the Cenozoic era
    Major events
    - Began with the demines of the non-avian dinosaurs.
    - Series of ice ages occurred
    - The climate on earth became dyer.