HISTORY OF

LIFE ON
EARTH.

Diversity, change, and continuity.

 UNIT1.
PALAEONTOLOGY

HISTORY OF LIFE ON EARTH.

 FOSSIL STUDIES.
- Fossils are the remains of living organisms preserved in rocks.

- Palaeontology is the study of fossils.

- Palaeontologist is a scientist who studies fossil records of extinct organisms.

- Scientists estimate that the oldest known of life appeared 3.5 billion years ago from the
several fossils that have been discovered.
- Scientists study fossils to find out about life in the past.

- Evidence found in fossils also tells scientists that life forms (animals and plants) started out
as simple organisms, and that more complex animals and plants developed from them and
appeared over time.
 How fossils are formed.

- Fossils form when organisms become trapped in mud or are covered by silt(sand or soil
carried along by flowing water and deposited at the bend of a river or at the rivers opening)
from floods.
- Silt is easily transported by moving water but settles in still water.

- As time passes, more and more sediment ( layers of solid particles, such as sand, that settle
at the bottom of rivers, lakes and sea) accumulates on the organism’s body.
How fossils are formed cont…

- The layers of sediment are compressed or squashed and eventually form a thick layer that covers the
bones.

- The hard parts of the organism, such as teeth and bones, begin to fossilise.

- During the process of fossilisation, the bone is replaced by minerals such as silica and calcium
carbonate from the surrounding sediment>>> permineralisation
How is a fossil formed

- Link:
TYPES OF
FOSSILS.
COPY THE TABLE
ON PG.263
Sedimentary rocks

- Sedimentary rocks are the richest sources of fossils.

- These rocks contain fossils, because unlike other types of rocks, they are formed at temperatures and
pressures that do not destroy fossils.

- Sedimentary rocks are formed by the slow build-up of deposits of sediments over time.

- Sedimentary rocks can be formed from mud, sand and clay washed by rivers into low-lying marshy
basins
Examples of fossils

Fossils found in rocks

- Bones of vertebrate animals

- Shells(exoskeleton) of invertebrates

- Tracks (footprints), burrows, and hardened faeces of animals

- Petrified tree trunks

- Imprints of leaves and small animals.

Examples of fossils

Fossils found in places other than rocks.

- Fossils of extinct wooly mammoth have been found frozen in ice.

- Bones of sabre-toothed cats have been found in pits of tar in which these animals became trapped and
died.

- Some insects became trapped in sap from trees millions of years ago; the liquid sap hardened into a
solid called amber and preserved the insects.
Determining the age of fossils.

There are two main methods used by scientists to determine the age of a fossil.

1. Relative dating

2. Radiometric dating
Relative dating

- ‘dating’- finding out the ‘date’; ‘relative’- compared to.

- Relative dating is a combination of fossil study and a study of various layers of rock in which the
fossils are found.

- The age of a fossil is worked out by trying to find out how it is related to the age of another fossil or
geological event, such as a volcanic eruption.

- Relative dating can only tell us whether a particular fossil was formed before or after another fossil or
geological event; it cannot be used to find out the exact or even approximate age of fossil.

- Types: stratigraphic dating and fluorine analysis.

 Radiometric dating
- Radiometric dating attempts to find out how long ago (years) a particular fossil was formed.

- Scientists have used radiometric dating to determine the age of Earth to be approximately 4.6
billion years old.
- Radiometric dating methods rely on the principles of radioactive decay and work by
measuring the decay of certain radioactive isotopes within fossils and other samples.
- Over time, radioactive isotopes change their chemical structure, or decay, and form other
elements.
- This happens at predictable rates, which makes radiometric dating a more accurate and
reliable indicator of age than relative dating.
- Types: potassium-argon dating and carbon-14 dating
Relative and radiometric dating

- Link:
Making inferences from evidence

- Palaeontologists use existing knowledge or data to interpret fossil evidence and to form conclusions
about life that existed in the past>>> inference or deductive reasoning.

- For example. Archaeopteryx was named the ‘first bird’ by palaeontologists who were studying small
dinosaurs that lived in the Jurassic period. The scientists found impressions of feathers in the rock near
the fossil, which led them to conclude that these small animals could have been birds.
The geological timescale

- Scientists have divided the history of the Earth into a number of periods of time according to the rock
types and sort of fossils found in each period>>>geological timescale.

- Scientists use radiometric dating to know that the periods in the timescale lasted for millions of years
due to the amount of radioactivity that occurs in rocks.

- The geological timescale is also used to define the major stages in history of lifeon Earth as shown by
fossils.

- Eras in the geological timescale: Archean era (beginning of life), Palaeozoic era, Mesozoic era, and
Cenozoic era.
https://youtu.be/b3MUBPZhz-s
 UNIT 2.
THE HISTORY OF
LIFE FORMS.
History of life on Earth.
History of life forms.

- The history of life stretches from the start of life on Earth, thought to be over 3.5 billion years ago, to
the present day.

- A number of factors and forces have shaped the way life on Earth developed over geological time.
Effects of climate and geology on the
history of life on Earth.
- Evolution coincides with geological changes on Earth.

- Changes in geology (such as mountain formation or the lowering of the sea level) cause changes in
climate.

- Together altering habitats available for life.

Two types of change that seem to have had major effects on life:

- Climate change

- Continental drift
Climate change

- A natural process that has occurred continuously throughout the history of the Earth.

- One important factor in climate change in the past: level of CO2.

Oxygen and carbon dioxide levels

- During the Devonian period +/- 350 Mya: many new land plants evolved.

- They used up CO2 for photosynthesis, resulting in the decrease of CO2 levels in the atmosphere.

- O2 levels increased as plants release O2 during photosynthesis.

- Increased levels of O2 led to an evolution of larger, more active animals that needed more O2 for energy release
during respiration.

- Animals: giant dragonflies with a wingspan of 60-75 am and scorpions 50-60 cm evolved.
Climate change

Oxygen and carbon dioxide levels cont…

- The reduction of CO2 levels led to a cooling of the Earth.

- Low temp during summer led to the growth of deep snowfields , which eventually formed glaciers and leading to
an ice age.

- Falling global temps limited plant growth.

- O2 levels increased frequency of fire-storms due to lightning.

- This led to an increase in CO2 levels which reversed cooling effect- warming of Earth during Permian period.

- Evolution of termites also caused greenhouse gases to enter the atmosphere.

- Termites digest plant material and release CO2 and Methane>>> increase GHG= Global warming
Climate change

Ice ages

- Formation of glaciers led to a drop in sea levels.

- During glacier-build up, moisture is removed from the atmosphere in the form of snow and locked up
glacial ice.

- The moisture is replaced by evaporation from oceans.

- When the Earth warms up again at the end of ice age, the glaciers melt causing the sea levels to rise
and cover large land areas.
Climate change

Fossil evidence of climate change.

- In South Africa: Makhathini flats in northern KZN.

 Far inland, sandy area.

 Fossils of ammonites and bivalve molluscs from the cretaceous period 100 Mya have been discovered
in this area.

 This indicates that this are was once covered by sea.

 Climate changes about 65 Mya caused the sea levels to drop and exposed the land.

 Ammonites became extinct at the end of Cretaceous period.

Climate change

Fossil evidence of climate change cont…

- Further north in Africa: Sahara desert, 100 km inland from Mediterranean Sea.

 Phil Gingerich (American palaeontologist) – research about whale fossils

 He found fossils of whales dating back about 40 Mya.

 His discovery indicates that the area that is now desert used to be covered by the sea
Climate change

Climate change, evolution and extinction.

- Changes in climate has led to evolution and extinction of species.

- during the Cambrian period (550mya), the climate was mild and warm.

- This allowed the evolution of many species and body forms, known as the Cambrian explosion.

- The same event occurred in the Devonian period 350mya.

- At the end of the Ordovician period, 440mya and the end of the Permian period, 245mya, and ice age
led to the extinction of many species.
Continental drift

- At the start of the Mesozoic era, 200mya, all the continents were joined to one another in a single land
mass called Pangaea.

- Movement of tectonic plates led to the breaking up of Pangaea to form 2 land masses: Laurasia in the
northern hemisphere and Gondwana in the southern hemisphere.

- Continents continued to split up and drift apart.

- Continents split led to the separation of species living on them.

- Link: https://youtu.be/OGdPqpzYD4o
Evidence for continental drift

We can see evidence for continental drift in the following ways:

- The shape of the continents: the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa fit together
like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

- Geology: the mineral content and the age of the rocks in a region on the east coast of Brazil are exactly
the same as those found in Ghana on the west coast of Africa.

- Fossils: fossil reptiles found in South Africa are also found in Brazil and Argentina.

- Link: https://youtu.be/tvFguvP2gXg
The Cambrian explosion

- Beginning of Palaeozoic era.

- The period lasted for nearly 53 million years, from 543 -490mya.

- The Cambrian explosion is significant because during this time, all the phyla that currently exist in all
parts of the Earth grew warmer. This made the seas a good place for many species to live.

- There was also a great development in the different body plans of animals, which allowed them to
develop different forms.
The Cambrian explosion

Climate

- The climate at the beginning of this period was cold, but over time, the climate in all parts of the earth
grew warmer.

- This made the seas a good place for many species to live.

- The continents were still forming. They were mostly barren rocks.

- The land had no plant or animal life on it yet.

The Cambrian explosion

Explosion of invertebrate life

- During the Cambrian period, there was an explosion of life forms.

- Most of these were in the water,

- Many invertebrates (animals with no backbone) lived in the shallow seas.

Trilobites

- Were called the ruling species because they had so many species.

- Anthropods with a tough outer skin.

- Were among the first animals to have eyesight.

- During the Cambrian period, there were more than 100 types of trilobites.
The Cambrian explosion

Other invertebrates:

- Include molluscs, worms, sponges and echinoderms.

The first chordate

- There were no animals with backbones in the Cambrian period.

- However, there was an early type of chordate living during this period.

- Chordates are a group of animals that have a hollow nerve cord on the upper surface of the body.

- Also have a notochord (a flexible skeletal rod)

- Vertebrates evolved from the first simple chordates

The Cambrian explosion

Plants

- The plants of the Cambrian period were mostly simple, one-celled algae.

- The single cells often grew together to form large colonies.

- The colonies looked like one large plant.

- https://youtu.be/SllFmWWJbw0
Life forms past and present and mass
extinctions
Paste the handout copies.
Evidence of life, history in South Africa.

- South Africa has a rich and diverse fossil history dating from the
earliest life forms, such as early bacteria in the Barberton district
of Mpumalanga to human fossils in the Sterkfontein caves in
Gauteng.
- Other examples; page 280 (focus textbook).
The impact of humans on biodiversity
and the environment
Activities directly causing ecosystem stress and species destruction in the
modern world include:
- Transformation of landscape.
- Overexploitation of species.
- Pollution
- Rapid population growth.
- The introduction of alien species.
Fossil tourism

South Africa has a number of sites rich in fossils, which attract tourists.

- The Cradle of Humankind in the Krugersdorp area of Gauteng (i.e., Sterkfontein, Swartkrans,

Kromdraai and surrounding area) has been declared a World Heritage Site, since it has yielded
so many significant fossils, such as Mrs Ples, Little Foot and the recently discovered Karabo
Child (2008).

-  There is a tourist centre at Maropeng near this site ("Maropeng" is the Tswana word for
"origins").

- Many other areas in South Africa also attract tourists due to their rich fossil deposits, such as
Langebaan, Border Cave and the Karoo area.