Evolution ~ History Of Life

Front 1

Precambrian period

Back 1

Archaean & Proterozoic eras

Front 2

Archaean era

Back 2

3.6-2.5 BYA
-Stromatolites from cyanobacteria found

Front 3

Proterozoic era

Back 3

2.5 B-543 MYA
-Eubacteria, archaeans and eukaryotes diversified; animal life found < 1 BY (burrows);
Ediacaran fauna (best known Precambrian animal fossils) – initially found in southern Australia
but also found at 20+ other sites

Front 4

Phanerozoic eon

Back 4

Paleozoic, Mesozoic & Cenozoic eras

Front 5

Paleozoic era

Back 5

Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, & Permian periods

Front 6

Cambrian

Back 6

543-500 MYA
-Cambrian explosion (Burgess Shale of British Columbia); earliest vertebrates(?)-conodonts
(tooth-like structures); ended with a mass extinction

Front 7

Ordovician

Back 7

500-439 MYA
-Diversification followed by a mass extinction (2nd largest); “Age of Fishes” (through Devonian)

Front 8

Silurian (and Devonian)

Back 8

439-409 MYA (409-354)
-Fishes diversify; ancestor of amphibians present; non-vascular and vascular plants

Front 9

Carboniferous (and Permian)

Back 9

354-290 MYA (290-251)
-Seed plants (gymnosperms) present; insects with complete metamorphosis; amphibians diversify; amniotes present (ancestor to reptiles); Pangaea (end of Permian) formed causing end-Permian mass extinction (most massive of all – more pronounced in water than on land)

Front 10

Mesozoic era

Back 10

Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods

Front 11

Triassic

Back 11

251-206 MYA
-Pangaea breaks up into Gondwanaland and Laurasia; angiosperms and first mammals present

Front 12

Jurassic

Back 12

206-144 MYA
-Dinosaurs!; Archaeopteryx is present (pre-birds)

Front 13

Cretaceous

Back 13

144-65 MYA
-Laurasia and Gondwanaland each start to break up; coevolution of angiosperms and pollinating insects; marsupials and eutherians (placentals) present; end of Cretaceous mass extinction (dinosaurs gone)