Geologic Time Scale

MILLIONS MAJOR BIOLOGICAL

EON ERA PERIOD EPOCH OF YRS
AGO EVENTS
P
H
Rise of civilization and
A Holocene .01 agriculture. Extinction of large
N
E mammals in northern hemisphere.
R Quaternary
O
Z
Modern humans appear. Four
O Pleistocene 1.8 major glaciations cause rapid
I
C shifts in ecological communities.
Extensive radiation of flowering
Pliocene 5 plants and mammals. First
C
hominids appear.
E Neogene
N Coevolution of insects and
O
Z Miocene 23 flowering plants. Dogs and bears
O appear.
I
C
Worldwide tropical rainforests.
Tertiary Pigs, cats, and rhinos appear.
Oligocene 38
Dominence of snails and bivalves
in the oceans.
Paleogene Early mammals abundant.
Eocene 54 Rodents, primitive whales and
grasses appear.
Early placental mammals appear;
Paleocene 65
first primates; modern birds.
Marsupials, ants, bees, butterflies,
flowering plants appear. Mass
Cretaceous 146
extinction of most large animals
M
and many plants.
E
S Dinosaurs and gymnosperms
O
Z dominate the land; feathered
Jurassic 208
O dinosaurs and birds appear.
I
C Radiation of marine reptiles.
Origin of mammals, dinosaurs and
Triassic 245 true flies. Less diverse marine
fauna.
P
A
Permian 286 Gymnosperms, amphibians
L dominant. Beetles, stoneflies
E
O appear. Major extinction of 95%
Z of marine species and 50% of all
 animal families.
First reptiles, cockroaches and
Pennsylvanian 325 mayflies appear. Extensive coal
swamp forests. Sponge reefs.
Carboniferous
Echinoderms, bryozoans dominant
Missippian 360 in oceans. Early winged insects.
First coal swamp forests.
First amphibians. Extensive
radiation of fish, land plants.
Devonian 410
Many corals, brachiopods and
O echinoderms.
I
C First spiders, scorpions,
centipedes, early insects, vascular
Silurian 440
plants, jawed fish and large reefs
appear.
First land plants, primitive fungi,
sea weed appear. Diverse marine
Ordovician 505
life: corals, molluscs, bivalves,
echinoderms, etc.
Rise of all major animal groups.
Metazoan life abundant; trilobites
Cambrian 543
dominant. First fish. No known
terrestrial life.
Origin of multicelled organisms.
PROTEROZOIC EON 570 First sponges, colonial algae and
soft-bodied invertebrates.
Oxygen levels rise as a result of
photosynthetic organisms.
First eukaryotes (single-celled
ARCHEAN EON 2,500 algae): 1.4 billion years old.
Earliest life, anaerobic
prokaryotes (bacteria, archaeans)
originate 3.5 billion years ago.

HADEAN EON
3,800- No life known. Cooling and
4,600 solidifying of Earth's crust.