|
Phanerozoic
EON
(544 mya to present)
|
ERA
|
Periods
|
EPOCH
|
Evolutionary
Milstones
|
|
Cenozoic
Era
(65 mya to today)
|
Quaternary
(1.8 ma to today)
|
Holocene
(11,000 years to today) |
Modern
man radiates, "science" appears and eventually
computers and the Internet become ubiquitous. |
| Pleistocene
(1.8 mya to 11,000 yrs) |
Neandertals
appears and disappear; Homo erectus and Homo sapiens appear
|
| Pliocene
(5 to 1.8 mya) |
Ape-like
ancestors of modern humans (Hominids), the Australopithecines
Columbian
copal is thought to have formed. |
| Tertiary
(65 to 1.8 mya) |
Miocene
(23 to 5 mya) |
Grazing
horses, antelopes appear - |
| Oligocene
(38 to 23 mya) |
Radiation
of more modern animals: most modern bird forms have appeared;
most modern mammals have appeared.
Dominican
amber is formed
|
| Eocene
(54 to 37 mya) |
First
grasses appear, a resource for herbovores; trees thrive.
Some modern mammals appear: advanced primates; camels, cats,
dogshorses & rodents |
| Paleocene
(65 to 54 mya) |
Flowering
plants begin radiation extending through the Eocene. Small
mammals radiate |
Mesozoic
Era
(245 to 65 mya) |
Cretaceous
(146 to 65 mya)
|
Divided
as:
Upper;
Middle;
Lower
|
Major
extinction includes dinosaurs and ammonites (K-T)
Appearances include: flowering plants (angiosperms); lizards;
placental animals (early mammals); snakes; social insects;
marsupial and placental animals
Modern insect forms radiate
|
| Jurassic
(208 to 146 mya)
| Appearances
include: birds; crabs; frogs and salamanders
Dinosaurs radiate
to dominate the land
|
| Triassic
(245 to 208 mya)
| Major
extinction event: tabulate corals and conodonts disappear
- ammonoids, reptiles and amphibians decimated
Appearances include: dinosaurs; crocodiles; marine reptiles;
turtles and mammals
Major groups of seed plants appear
|
|
Paleozoic
Era
(544 to 245 mya)
|
Permian
(286 to 245 mya)
|
Major
extinction of invertebrates (P-T). Trilobites fade away
forever. All
but articulate crinoids dissapear
Seedplants producing
large trees
|
|
Carboniferous
(360 to 286 mya)
|
Pennsylvanian
(325 to 286 mya) |
Conifers
& many winged insects appear |
| Mississippian
(360 to 325 mya) |
Reptiles
appear. Trilobites become scarce |
| Devonian
(410 to 360 mya) |
Mass
extinction (F-F)
Appearances include: insects; sharks; amphibians (tetrapods);
lung fishes and earliest seed plants |
| Silurian
(440 to 410 mya) |
Jawed
fish, cartilaginous fish and vascular plants appear. |
| Ordovician
(500 to 440 mya)
|
Mass
extinction
First land plants; bryozoans appear. Trilobites begin to
specialize. |
| Cambrian
(544 to 500 mya) |
Tommotian
(530 to 527 mya) |
Appearance
of hard parts - fossils become common. Appearances include:
vertebrates; jawless fish; small shelly animals; conodonts;
trilobites radiate repeatedly and reach their peak diversity. |
First
major radiation of animals |
|
Precambrian
Time
(4,500 to 544 mya)
|
Proterozoic
Era
(2500 to 544 mya) |
Vendian
(650 to 544 mya) or Ediacaran
|
No
Epochs
|
Extinction
at end of Vendian
Macroscopic fossils of soft-bodied organisms.
Oldest
metazoans (multicellular animals) - Ediacaran Fauna.
|
| Neoproterozoic
(900 to 544 mya) - Late |
Macroscopic
fossils of soft-bodied organisms.
Stromatolite diminishes
|
| Mesoproterozoic
(1600 to 900 mya) - Middle |
Sexual
reproduction appears (about 1 billion years ago) |
| Paleoproterozoic
(2500 to 1600 mya) - Early |
Eukaryotic
cells appear (1.6 BYA) - aerobic
Peak of stromatolite with cyanobacteria oxygenating the
atmosphere |
|
Archaean
(3800 to 2500 mya)
|
Photosynthesis
First life appears - Heterotrophic, anerobic, prokaryotic,
Asexual
Oldest fossils - Apex Chert of Australia (3.55 BYA) -
simple cell forms and stromatolite
Oldest
sedimentary rocks (3.8 BYA)
|
Hadean
(4500 to 3800 mya) |
Earth's
environment extremely hostile to life as we know it |
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