PHANEROZOIC

EON
Consist of 3 eras:
Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and
Cenozoic
Paleozoic Era
• fossils were found in layers of sedimentary rocks.
• Marine invertebrate probably lived near the shores
of shallow water.
• Fossils of trilobites and brachiopods were found
preserved in rocks.
• marine life forms had developed shells.
• The first animal to succeed in adapting itself to
breathe air was an amphibian that came out of the
sea during the Devonian period.
• Land plants also began to develop during this
period. Giant ferns and marsh plants provided food
to land animals which increased in number.
• Marine life also
developed.
• Clams and snails
increased in number.
• Fish became more
abundant and showed a
greater variety of form.
• The late Paleozoic era
showed the appearance of
reptiles. Had the great
advantage of being able
to lay their eggs on dry
land.
• Toward the end of the Paleozoic era, the land
climate changed.
• Many kinds of plants, such as land ferns, grew
during this era.
• Scientists believed that the remains of these
plants formed the huge coal deposits in many
parts of the world.
Mesozoic era
• The early Mesozoic era saw the formation of
several continents.
• North America began to part from Europe and
probably, South America and Africa began to
drift apart as well. By the end of the era,
Australia, New Zealand, and India had all left
Africa, though Arabia still remained attached.
With the formation of continents, new bodies
of water were formed. Great changes in plant
and animal life occurred.
• Scientists have found footprints, eggs, bones,
and other fossils of reptiles
• The largest creatures that existed during this
era were the dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were
believed to be descendants of the primitive
reptiles that had survived from the Paleozoic
era. However, a current theory suggests that
they were ancestors of birds.
• Some dinosaurs were carnivores, with
bodies adapted for eating other
dinosaurs.
• Some were herbivores, with digestive
organs adapted for a vegetarian diet.
• Dinosaurs were huge animals.
• Did you know that the fossilized bones of the
biggest dinosaur have been found in
Argentina? Based on its thigh bones, the
dinosaur was believed to be 130 feet long, 65
feet tall, and weighed 170 000 pounds.
• Toward the end of Mesozoic era, more
continents broke up. North and South America,
Australia, Africa, and India became separate
plates. The plates drifted north and south until
they reached their present positions.
• Reptiles were the first true terrestrial
vertebrates existed which flourished during this
era.
• However, many reptile groups became extinct.
The only surviving reptiles today are turtles,
snakes, crocodiles, and lizards.
Cenozoic era
• During the Cenozoic era, mountains were
uplifted and new life forms started appearing.
Volcanic activity was also widespread, forming
immense flows of lava and basalt.
• Warm-blooded animals, such as the marsupials
like kangaroo, and primitive mammals, roamed
the land.
• Fossils during this era showed mammals with
tooth structures for specific diets, limb
structures for various postures, and increased
brain size.
• This era also shared the development of the
modern horse, modern birds, and deciduous
trees.
• Toward the end of this era, glaciers covered the
Northern Hemisphere. During this period,
humans left their marks on land. Some of the
earliest records of humans were stone tools.
Callao Man: Oldest Human Fossils
in the Philippines
• A team led by Dr. Armand Mijares, from the
University of the Philippines, found a 67 000-
year-old foot bone in Callao Cave in Cagayan
Province.
• The discovery pushed back our timeline for
earliest human settlement in the Philippines
based on Tabon man. Tabon man (evidence
showed was female) was previously known as
the earliest human to have based in the
country 47 000 years ago. The Tabon fossil was
unearthed by Robert Fox in Palawan.
Dr. Armand Mijares