HISTORY OF LIFE

ON EARTH
GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE

Is a representation of the life forms that have lived

and dominated the Earth on a specific time scale.

Geologic is a combination of the word geologic and

chronologic, which means rock an time.

EON
ERA
PERIOD
EPOCH
 EON

Largest division of the geologic

time scale; spans a hundreds to

thousands of millions of years

 EON

HADEAN EON (4.54 to 4.00 billion years ago)

It was a time of intense volcanic activity and

bombardment by asteroids and comets. The
Earth's crust was forming during this time, and
the atmosphere was composed of mostly carbon
dioxide and water vapor.
 EON

ARCHEAN EON (4.00 to 2.50 billion years ago)

It was a time of great change on Earth, as the

planet cooled and life began to emerge. The first
single-celled organisms appeared during this
eon, as well as the first cyanobacteria, which
began to produce oxygen.
 EON

PROTEROZOIC EON (2.50 to 0.541 billion years ago)

The Proterozoic Eon was a time of great

diversification of life, with the first animals
appearing during this time. The Proterozoic Eon
also saw the development of the first multicellular
organisms, as well as the first complex
ecosystems.
 EON

PHANEROZOIC EON (541 million years ago)

The Phanerozoic Eon is named after the Greek

words "phaneros," meaning "visible," and "zoe,"
meaning "life." It is the eon in which we live, and is
characterized by the emergence of all major groups
of plants and animals.
 ERA

Division in an Era that span time

periods of ten to hundreds of millions of

years
FOUR ERAS IN GEOLOGIC TIME
SCALE

PRECAMBRIAN ERA
PALEOZOIC ERA
MESOZOIC ERA
CENOZOIC ERA
 PRECAMBRIAN ERA

Period of time extending from about 4.6 billion

years ago (the point at which Earth began to form) to
the beginning of the Cambrian period, 541 million years
ago.
 PALEOZOIC ERA

Age of Ancient Life

An era of geologic time, from the end of
the Precambrian to the beginning of the
Mesozoic. The word “Paleozoic” is from
Greek and means “old life”
 MESOZOIC ERA

An era of geologic time between the

Paleozoic and the Cenozoic.
“Middle Life”; started more than 280
million years ago.
“Age of Reptiles”
 CENOZOIC ERA

Cenozoic (66 million years ago until today) means

recent life. During this era, plants and animals look most
like those on Earth today. Periods of Cenozoic era are
split into even smaller parts known as epochs, so you will
see even more signposts in this era
 PERIOD

A division of geologic history that spans

no more than one hundred million years.

 PERIOD
PALEOZOIC PERIOD

CAMBRIAN PERIOD DEVONIAN PERIOD

ORDOVICIAN PERIOD CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD

SILURIAN PERIOD PERMIAN PERIOD

 PERIOD
PALEOZOIC PERIOD

CAMBRIAN PERIOD

Rise of all major animal groups. Metazoan life

abundant; trilobites dominant. First fish. No known

terrestrial life.
 PERIOD
PALEOZOIC PERIOD

ORDOVICIAN PERIOD

First land plants, primitive fungi, seaweed appear. Diverse

marine life: corals, mollusks, bivalves, echinoderms, etc. This

period marks the earliest appearance of vertebrates- the

jawless fish known as agnatha.

 PERIOD
PALEOZOIC PERIOD

SILURIAN PERIOD
 The emergence of terrestrial life. Plants with a well-developed circulatory

system(vascular plants). First spiders, scorpions, centipedes, early insects,

jawed fish, and large reefs appear.

 PERIOD
PALEOZOIC PERIOD

DEVONIAN PERIOD

This period is known as the age of fishes. Shark and bony fishes

developed. First amphibians made their appearance. Extensive

radiation of fish, lowland forests of seed ferns, scale trees, and

true ferns flourished. Many corals, brachiopods, and echinoderms.

 PERIOD
PALEOZOIC PERIOD
Mississippian
CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD
 Echinoderms, bryozoans dominant in oceans. Early winged
Pennsylvanian
insects. First coal swamp forests.
 First reptiles took place with the development of the amniotic

egg. Cockroach and mayflies appear. Warm, moist climate

conditions contributed to lash vegetation and extensive coal

swamp forests. Sponge reefs.

 PERIOD
PALEOZOIC PERIOD

PERMIAN PERIOD

Gymnosperms, amphibians dominant. Beetles, stoneflies

appear. Major extinction of 95% of marine species and 50% of all

animal families. Reptiles were well suited to their environment.

Diapsids gave rise to dinosaurs. Synapsids gave rise to mammals.

 PERIOD
MESOZOIC PERIOD

TRIASSIC PERIOD

JURASSIC PERIOD

CRETACEOUS PERIOD
 PERIOD
MESOZOIC PERIOD

TRIASSIC PERIOD

Dinosaurs and gymnosperms dominate the land;

feathered dinosaurs and birds appear. Radiation of

marine reptiles.
 PERIOD
MESOZOIC PERIOD

JURASSIC PERIOD

Marsupials, ants, bees, butterflies, flowering plants appear.

Mass extinction of most large animals and many plants. In

this era, Pangea was break up. It is the longest segment of

the Mesozoic era.

 PERIOD
CENOZOIC PERIOD

PALEOGENE PERIOD

NEOGENE PERIOD

QUATERNARY PERIOD
 PERIOD
CENOZOIC PERIOD

PALEOGENE PERIOD

The Paleogene Period is the first period of the Cenozoic Era. It

was a time of recovery from the Cretaceous mass extinction.

Mammals began to diversify during this time, and the first

primates appeared
 PERIOD
CENOZOIC PERIOD

NEOGENE PERIOD

The Neogene Period is the second period of the Cenozoic Era.

It was a time of continued diversification for mammals and

other animals. The first hominins appeared during this time,

as well as the first grasses

 PERIOD
CENOZOIC PERIOD

QUATERNARY PERIOD

The Quaternary Period is the last period of the Cenozoic Era.

It is the period in which humans evolved and became the

dominant species on Earth. The Quaternary Period is also

known for its ice ages.

 EPOCH

The smallest division of the geologic

time scale characterized by distinctive

organism.
 EPOCH

PALEOCENE EPOCH PLIOCENE EPOCH

EOCENE EPOCH PLEISTOCENE EPOCH

OLIGOCENE EPOCH HOLOCENE EPOCH

MIOCENE EPOCH
 EPOCH
PALEOCENE EPOCH

Early placental mammals appear; first primates;

modern birds.
 EPOCH
EOCENE EPOCH

Early mammals were abundant. Rodents, primitive

whales, and grasses appear.

 EPOCH
OLIGOCENE EPOCH

Worldwide tropical rainforests. Pigs, cats, and

rhinos appear. The dominance of snails and

bivalves in the oceans.

 EPOCH
MIOCENE EPOCH

Coevolution of insects and flowering plants. Dogs

and bears appear.

 EPOCH
PLIOCENE EPOCH

Extensive radiation of flowering plants and

mammals. First hominids appear.

 EPOCH
PLEISTOCENE EPOCH

Modern humans appear. Four major glaciations

cause rapid shifts in ecological communities.

 EPOCH
HOLOCENE EPOCH

The Holocene epoch is the current interglacial

period. It has been a time of relatively stable

climates and human expansion.

 FOSSILS

Fossils are the preserved remains of plants

and animals whose bodies were buried in
sediments, such as sand and mud, under
ancient seas, lakes and river.
 FOSSILS

For a fossil to form, sediment must cover the organism

quickly. The sediment protects the remains from
scavenging animals, erosion and decay. Most often, fossils
include hard tissue like bones, teeth, shells and wood,
since soft tissue rarely preserves. But footprints and other
marks left behind can fossilize, too.
 FOSSILS
TYPES OF FOSSILS

BODY FOSSILS CARBON FOSSILS

MOLECULAR FOSSILS PSEUDOFOSSILS

TRACE FOSSILS
 FOSSILS

BODY FOSSILS

The first type, body fossils, are the fossilized remains of an

animal or plant, like bones, shells, and leaves. These can be
mould and cast fossils, like most of the fossilized dinosaur
skeletons and big bones we see, replacement fossils, like
petrified wood, or whole-body fossils – mammoths caught in
the ice, or insects trapped in amber.
 FOSSILS

External Mold:
 It is a mold of the outside of the shell. Each time we break
a shell or bone out of the rock, an external mold is left
behind.

Internal Molds:
 Molds of the underside of the shell may be left on the
surface of rock that formed when sand or mud filled the
inside of the shell.
 FOSSILS

MOLECULAR FOSSILS

Molecular fossils are often referred to as biomarkers or

biosignatures and represent products of cellular
biosynthesis that are incorporated into sediments and
eventually into a rock. Many of these chemicals become
altered in known ways and can be stable for billions of
years.
 FOSSILS

TRACE FOSSILS
Trace fossils are marks left by an animal or plant that has
made an impression. These fossils include nests, burrows,
footprints or any other markings of the animal’s time on the
earth. The structure of the animal or plant remains as a
mineral form. The colours of the minerals that replace the
form can be dazzling. Sometimes they are made into art and
jewellery.
 FOSSILS

CARBON FOSSILS
All living things contain an element i.e. carbon. When an
organism dies and is buried in sediment, the materials that
make the organism break down and eventually only the
carbon remains. The thin layer of carbon left behind can
show an organism’s delicate parts like leaves or plant e.g.
fern fossil 300 million years old
 FOSSILS

PSEUDOFOSSILS

Sometimes watery solutions of various minerals speed

through the sediments and it takes the shape of some
plant part or animal. Their study shows that they are
neither plants nor animals. Such fossils are called
pseudofossils.
 FOSSILS
SIX WAYS OF FOSSILIZATION

UNALTERED PRESERVATION

PERMINERALIZATION/PETRIFICATION CARBONIZATION/COALIFICATION

REPLACEMENT RECRYSTALLIZATION

AUTHIGENIC PRESERVATION
 FOSSILS

UNALTERED PRESERVATION

Small organism or part trapped in amber, hardened plant

sap

PERMINERALIZATION/PETRIFICATION
The organic contents of bone and wood are replaced with
silica, calcite or pyrite forming a rock like fossil.
 FOSSILS

REPLACEMENT

hard plants are dissolved and replaced by other minerals

like calcite, silica, pyrite or iron

CARBONIZATION/COALIFICATION
the other elements removed and only the carbon remained
 FOSSILS

RECRYSTALLIZATION

hard parts are converted to more stable minerals or small

crystals turn into larger crystals

AUTHIGENIC PRESERVATION
mold and casts are formed after most of the organisms
have been destroyed or dissolved
THANK
YOU