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Geologic Time Scale Overview

The document outlines the geologic time scale from the present day back to the earliest formation of the Earth. It divides geologic time into eons, eras, periods, and epochs and lists the approximate ages in millions of years ago. For each period it provides some of the major biological events, such as the rise of early mammals, dinosaurs, flowering plants, etc. The earliest life formed over 3 billion years ago and the earliest eons saw the development of basic single-celled organisms before more complex life evolved.

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168 views2 pages

Geologic Time Scale Overview

The document outlines the geologic time scale from the present day back to the earliest formation of the Earth. It divides geologic time into eons, eras, periods, and epochs and lists the approximate ages in millions of years ago. For each period it provides some of the major biological events, such as the rise of early mammals, dinosaurs, flowering plants, etc. The earliest life formed over 3 billion years ago and the earliest eons saw the development of basic single-celled organisms before more complex life evolved.

Uploaded by

ednak
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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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  • Geologic Time Scale
  • Hadean Eon

8/29/2021 Geologic Time Scale

Geologic Time Scale

MILLIONS
EON ERA PERIOD EPOCH OF YRS MAJOR BIOLOGICAL EVENTS
AGO

Rise of civilization and agriculture. Extinction of large


Holocene .01
mammals in northern hemisphere.
Quaternary
Modern humans appear. Four major glaciations cause rapid
Pleistocene 1.8
shifts in ecological communities.

Extensive radiation of flowering plants and mammals. First


C
Pliocene 5
hominids appear.
E
Neogene
N
O Coevolution of insects and flowering plants. Dogs and
Z
Miocene 23
bears appear.
O
I
C Worldwide tropical rainforests. Pigs, cats, and rhinos
Tertiary Oligocene 38
appear. Dominence of snails and bivalves in the oceans.

Early mammals abundant. Rodents, primitive whales and


Paleogene Eocene 54
grasses appear.

Early placental mammals appear; first primates; modern


Paleocene 65
birds.

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


M
Cretaceous   146
H Mass extinction of most large animals and many plants.
A E
N S
E O Dinosaurs and gymnosperms dominate the land; feathered
Z
Jurassic   208
R dinosaurs and birds appear. Radiation of marine reptiles.
O O
Z I
O C Origin of mammals, dinosaurs and true flies. Less diverse
Triassic   245
I marine fauna.
C
Gymnosperms, amphibians dominant. Beetles, stoneflies
Permian   286 appear. Major extinction of 95% of marine species and 50%
of all animal families.

First reptiles, cockroaches and mayflies appear. Extensive


Pennsylvanian 325
coal swamp forests. Sponge reefs.
Carboniferous
P Echinoderms, bryozoans dominant in oceans. Early winged
A Missippian 360
insects. First coal swamp forests.
L
E
O First amphibians. Extensive radiation of fish, land plants.
Z Devonian   410
Many corals, brachiopods and echinoderms.
O
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


Ordovician   505
marine life: corals, molluscs, bivalves, echinoderms, etc.

Rise of all major animal groups. Metazoan life abundant;


Cambrian   543
trilobites dominant. First fish. No known terrestrial life.

Origin of multicelled organisms. First sponges, colonial


PROTEROZOIC EON 570
algae and soft-bodied invertebrates.

Oxygen levels rise as a result of photosynthetic organisms.


First eukaryotes (single-celled algae): 1.4 billion years old.
ARCHEAN EON 2,500
Earliest life, anaerobic prokaryotes (bacteria, archaeans)
originate 3.5 billion years ago.

[Link] 1/2
8/29/2021 Geologic Time Scale
HADEAN EON 3,800- No life known. Cooling and solidifying of Earth's crust.
4,600

[Link] 2/2

8/29/2021 Geologic Time Scale https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/explorations/tours/geotime/guide/geologictimescale.html 1/2
8/29/2021 Geologic Time Scale https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/explorations/tours/geotime/guide/geologictimescale.html 2/2

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