The Geologic Time Scale

The Geologic Time Scale is a

record of life forms and geologic
events in Earth’s history.

**Key Concept: Because the time span of

Earth’s past is so great, geologists use the
geologic time scale to show Earth’s
history.
 Life and Geologic Time

Dividing Geologic Time

• Sometimes it is possible to
distinguish layers of rock that
formed during a single year or
season.

• In other cases, thick stacks of

rock that have no fossils provide
little information that could help
in subdividing geologic time.
 The Geologic Time Scale
• Earth has a very long history. Years and
centuries are not very helpful for such a long
history. So scientists use the geologic time
scale for Earth’s history.
• The geologic time scale is a record of how
Earth and its life forms have changed through
time. For example, the scale shows when life
first appeared on Earth.
• In the geologic time scale, time is divided into
bigger blocks than years or centuries. The scale
begins when Earth formed 4.6 billion years
ago and goes to the present.
 Divisions of Geologic Time
The geologic time scale is divided into eons,
eras, periods, and epochs. Unlike divisions
of time such as days or minutes, the
divisions of the geologic time scale have no
fixed lengths. Instead, they are based on
changes or events recorded in rocks and
fossils.
 Divisions of Geologic Time
(Look at a picture at bottom of your notes.)
• The largest unit of time is an eon. An eon is an
extremely long, indefinite period of time.
• Earth’s 4.6-billion-year history is divided into
Precambrian time and three eras: Paleozoic,
Mesozoic, & Cenozoic.
• Each era is subdivided into a number of
periods. For example, the Paleozoic Era is
divided into six periods. The Cambrian Period
is important because it is the first period after
Precambrian Time.
• The periods of the Cenozoic, the most recent
era, are further divided into epochs.
 We live in the Cenozoic era!

• Present day Earth is in the Cenozoic era

and the Quaternary period in the
Holocene epoch.
• Geologic time has NOT ended!!!!!
 Age of Man
Cambrian period is The first
the earliest in which microorganisms to
the animals may appear on Earth
have appeared. were the single-
celled archaea and
bacteria. Archaea
adapted well to life in
inhospitable
environments and
they can still be
found in extremely
hot surroundings like
the ones that were
typical of early Earth.
 Precambrian Time at 4.6 Billion Years Ago

This period is MOST of Earth’s

history. For nearly 4 billion years,
during most of Precambrian time, no
plants or animals existed.
Multicellular organisms develop late
in the Precambrian.

Precambrian era encompasses

immense geological time, from
Earth’s distant beginnings 4.56
billion years ago until the start of
the Cambrian period, over 4billion
years later.
 Paleozoic Era at 544 Million Years Ago

LIFE EXPLODES! At the beginning of the Paleozoic era,

all life lived in the oceans. Early invertebrates developed
and later reptiles became dominant on land. Early plant
included simple mosses, ferns, and cone-bearing plants.
 Mesozoic Era at 245 to 65 Million Years Ago
(Age of the Reptile/Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs lived along with the first
mammals, birds, and flowering plants.
Reptiles were dominant.

At the end of the Mesozoic Era, many

reptile groups became extinct including the
dinosaurs which dominate the era.

The dominance of an organism here on

Earth can come to an end.
Extinction is an inevitable event in the
history of the Earth.
Human domination can come to an end.
 Mesozoic Era at 245 to 65 Million Years Ago

(Age of the Reptile/Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs lived along with the first mammals, birds,
and flowering plants. Reptiles were dominant.
 Cenozoic Era 65 mya to Present Day

The first humans appeared in the later part of the

Cenozoic era, which continues today. The diversity of
life forms increased. New mammals and birds
appeared while other became extinct. Flowering
plants became most common.
 PHYLOGENY
Monophyletic
A monophyletic group is a group of organisms that
includes an ancestral species and all of its
descendants. In other words, it is a group that has a
single common ancestor and is considered a natural
group or clade.
.
MONOPHYLETIC

A, B and C, D are the sets of the organisms on the

phylogenetic tree are monophyletic.

A and B are organisms on the phylogenetic tree

share similar features and genetic sequences.
 PHYLOGENY
Polyphyletic
A group of creatures with no one common ancestor is
referred to as a polyphyletic taxon. The polyphyletic
group is made up of unrelated creatures that have
several common ancestors. It’s somewhat of an odd
collection of creatures. A polyphyletic taxon is often
reclassified when it is discovered since it is an entirely
artificial assemblage
Paraphyletic PHYLOGENY
In evolutionary biology, the term “paraphyletic” is used
to define a group of creatures that has a common
ancestor and some of the descendants, but not all of
them. When a group of creatures is referred to as a
paraphyletic group, it suggests that some of the natural
group’s members have been moved into another group
for whatever reason.
 GENETICS

Transduction is a method of horizontal gene transfer in

which the genetic material is deliberately introduced
into another cell with the help of bacteriophages.
Additionally, bacteriophages, as viral vectors, are an
important tool to introduce foreign DNA to the target
organism.
.
 GENETICS

Basic steps in Genetic Engineering

1. Screen
2.Cut DNA
3. Clone
4.- Extract DNA
5. Make Recombinant DNA
 GENETICS

1. The Father of Genetics select the garden pea

plant for three purposes:
I. The morphology of pea flowers.
II. The presence of distinctive traits.
III. The ability to reproduce multiple offspring
 GENETICS

DNA SEQUENCING is one of the modern technique to

identify and classify species using its genetic data.

Recombinant DNA technology is the joining together of

DNA molecules from two different species.

DNA cloning is the process of making multiple,

identical copies of a particular piece of DNA.
 ISOLATIONS AND BARRIERS

Temporal isolation: factors that prevent potentially

fertile individuals from meeting that reproductively
isolate the members of distinct species.

Temporal isolation can result in species that are

physically similar and may even live in the same
habitat, but if their breeding schedules do not overlap
then interbreeding will never occur.
 ISOLATIONS AND BARRIERS

Reproductive isolation: a collection of mechanisms,

behaviors, and physiological processes that prevent
two different species that mate from producing
offspring, or which ensure that any offspring produced
is not fertile.

Some species may be prevented from mating with each

other by the incompatibility of their anatomical mating
structures, or a resulting offspring may be prevented by
the incompatibility of their gametes.

Gametic Isolation– Ex.:Two species of plants do not

cross-pollinate. because they flower at different times
of the year.
 ISOLATIONS AND BARRIERS

Behavioral isolation: the presence or absence of a

specific behavior that prevents reproduction between
two species from taking place.

The behaviors involved in mating are so unique as to

prevent mating, is a prezygotic barrier that can cause
two otherwise-compatible species to be uninterested in
mating with each other.

Ex.: Some female peacocks prefer males with large, colorful tales while other
female peacocks prefer males with no tail at all. Females are beginning to only
mate with the type of males with the tail they prefer.
 ISOLATIONS AND SPECIATIONS

Evolutionary provide proof of speciation without abrupt changes in

diagnostic traits.

ALLOPATRIC SPECIATION- does not require a continuous process of

reinforcement wherein the natural selection increases the reproductive
isolation between two populations of species by reducing the production
of hybrids.

Ex.:As time progressed following the catastrophe, the genetic structure of the frog
population began to differ from each other since they were no longer reproducing
with each other.

Sympatric and Parapatric speciation make a new species emerge

from within the geographic range of its ancestor. 'Parapatric'
derives from 'para' meaning 'near' and 'patria' meaning 'country. '
Parapatric speciation thus occurs when a smaller population is
isolated.