Geological time scale

2.3

Dinosaurs, diprotodons and mammoths have

come and gone. They are extinct, never to live
on Earth again. Over 4.5 billion years, many
fascinating organisms have lived on Earth.
The fossil record of these organisms can be
used to construct a likely time scale that
• Relative dates: Stratigraphy and the index fossils of many
tracks the history of life on our planet. New different plants and animals (including the trilobites) were
fossils are constantly being found that require used to first construct a continuous sequence of rock strata
adjustments to be made to this time scale. back into the past. The particular time span covered by each
set of index fossils was referred to as a geological period.
Each period was given a name that referred to the place
Creating a time scale where that group of fossils was originally discovered.
• Absolute dates: the development of techniques such as
Palaeontologists have constructed a time scale showing the radioactive carbon dating allowed palaeontologists for the
sequence in which all the different fossil species are found in first time to calculate the actual age of each index fossil and
strata throughout the world. This time scale of past life and the rocks they were found in. These dates were added to the
geology is called the geological time scale. By constructing it, sequence of geological periods. The periods were further
scientists have tracked the history of life on Earth. organised into sets based on major events such as dramatic
The geological time scale was constructed by combining changes in climate, which tied them together. The sets were
relative and absolute dates. referred to as eons, eras and periods.

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 The combined information from both dating methods became

SciFile
the geological time scale. You can see a simplified version of it The Jurassic
in Figure 2.3.1. The scale starts at the bottom, which represents The name Jurassic refers to the Jura
the formation of planet Earth itself 4.5 billion years ago. mountains in Europe, where the fossils of
the period were first named and described.

Geological era Geological period Important events Time in millions

of years
Cenozoic Quaternary Holocene (current) Some mammals disappear. Modern humans. 0.015
periods Warmer climate

Pleistocene Ice ages. Large mammals. Primitive humans 2

Tertiary Pliocene Life as we know it develops—birds and 5

periods Miocene mammals increase 23
Oligocene Huge reptiles disappear 36
Eocene Flowering trees and shrubs replace giant ferns 53
Paleocene and mosses 65
Dinosaurs become extinct

Mesozoic Secondary Cretaceous Flowering plants 145–65

periods
Jurassic Reptiles dominate—dinosaurs. First 200–145
birds and mammals. Widespread lowlands

Triassic Vertebrates replace invertebrates 251–200

Reptiles increase in number

Palaeozoic Primary Permian Many plants and ferns 299–251

periods Dinosaurs evolve

Carboniferous Tropical coal swamps formed 359–299

Giant insects dominate
First reptiles

Devonian Vertebrates colonise the land. First insects 416–359

Development of amphibians
Land supports large tree plants

Silurian Primitive animal life 443–416

First land plants

Ordovician Sea invertebrates (starfish, coral) 488–443

Primitive fish

Cambrian First abundant fossils—trilobites, 542–488

molluscs, sponges

Precambrian Many periods here 630 mya Ediacaran fauna—worms and jellyfish 2500–542

Life develops: stromatolites and blue-green bacteria 3600–2500

Formation of crust. No life 4500–3600

Figure The geological time scale is divided into eras and

2.3.1 periods based on the types of fossils found.

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 The earliest organisms
Carbon film fossils
The geological time scale shows that there was a time in the of cyanobacteria
Earth’s history for which there are no fossils. This may be
partly due to the difficulty of fossilising tiny, delicate creatures
but it is more likely that it indicates that no life existed at all at
that time.
Despite a lack of fossil evidence, palaeontologists have
concluded that the very first forms of life on Earth would have
been single-celled organisms like bacteria.
All the oldest fossils found have been from the oceans, leading
scientists to believe that life began there. The most ancient
organisms for which there are fossil records were a type of Figure A cutaway section through a stromatolite
bacteria called cyanobacteria (blue-green bacteria). They lived 2.3.3
in the shallow waters of early seas, where they appear to have
formed structures called stromatolites. These are circular
rocky structures which grow as columns. Some are shown in Vertebrate fossil history
Figure 2.3.2. These structures are found mainly in Western
Australia, the most ancient preserved ones coming from the Vertebrates are animals with a bony inner skeleton and
Kimberley region. Scientists have found living structures similar include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
to stromatolites in several places in Western Australia at Shark The earliest known vertebrate ancestors are primitive
Bay, Bunbury and Lancelin. These ‘living relatives’ have helped fish from the Cambrian era dated at about
1
palaeontologists understand how the early stromatolites may 525 million years. These were found at the
p64
have formed. These significant locations are recognised as Chengjian fossil site in China.
world heritage sites.
Moving from water to land
The first land plants such as Cooksonia appeared in the fossil
record in the Silurian period, about 416 million years ago. This
was an extremely important event because it allowed life to
spread from the sea to the land. The fossil record shows that
animals such as insects and vertebrates followed soon after
these first land plants.
Many fish belonging to a group called the lobe-finned fish
have been discovered from the Devonian period about
400 million years ago. Tiktaalik is one example. Lobe-finned
fish had bones in their fins similar to land animals. One
example is Eusthenopteron, (shown in Figure 2.3.4). The
current view is that some of these fish may have been able to
pull themselves up onto land with their fins at least for a brief
time. These fish probably had a lung, much like the modern-
day lungfish. They are likely to have lived in shallow water
in estuaries or rivers. Palaeontologists are fairly sure that the
Figure Living stromatolites at Shark Bay. Stromatolites are some lobe-finned fish are the ancestors of the group of life forms
2.3.2 of the most primitive life forms ever to exist on Earth. that finally made the move to land.

One study in 2006 claimed that the fossil stromatolites from Coelacanths and lungfish
the Kimberley are the most ancient life form discovered Not all lobe-finned fish lived in the shallows of
so far. The rocks are over 3400 million years old. You can rivers or estuaries. Two different species of
see a cutaway section of a stromatolite in Figure 2.3.3. lobe-finned fish of the group called
SciFile

Palaeontologists have concluded that the black carbon layers coelacanths exist today. One lives in undersea
are carbon film fossils of the bacteria that formed the layers. caves off the Comoro Islands off Africa and the
other is from Indonesia. This indicates that not
The next major event on the geological time scale is the all the lobe-finned fish moved onto the land.
Ediacaran, followed by the appearance of the more complex Lungfish are also lobe-finned fish and there are
Cambrian life forms such as the Burgess Shale communities. some species alive today. One species lives in
The Cambrian period and Burgess Shale were discussed in the Mary River in Queensland.
Unit 2.2.

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 shoulder
girdle

pectoral fin

pelvic fin humerus

ulna
Extinct
radius
Eusthenopteron

Figure
Dinosaurs dominated the Earth in the Mesozoic era.
2.3.6

Birds
Bird-like animals appear in the Jurassic period around
200 million years ago. The oldest true birds date from about
110 million years ago. Birds shared many features with a small
Modern-day group of dinosaurs called theropods. These similarities have led
lungfish most scientists to believe that birds probably developed from the
dinosaurs. There are several different early bird-like creatures,
which are like dinosaurs with feathers.
An extinct lobe-finned fish called Eusthenopteron.
Figure One early example was Archaeopteryx (which means ‘ancient
Lobe-finned fish are important because some of
2.3.4 wing’), an amazing organism known from eleven fossils found
them probably represent ancestors of organisms
such as lungfish. in Germany. As Figure 2.3.7 shows, Archaeopteryx had feathers
and a wishbone in the chest. Both these features are important
Land vertebrates for flight in modern birds.
The first land vertebrates in the fossil record were amphibian
ancestors something like Ichthyostega shown in Figure 2.3.5.
These early amphibians were the first of the group called
tetrapods (meaning they have four limbs). Living tetrapods are
now are classified as amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
Palaeontologists are searching for more fossils to
fill in gaps in the fossil record to increase their
understanding of how the change from land 2.4
to water may have occurred.

Figure Ichthyostega was an early amphibian-like animal.

2.3.5

The fossil record shows reptiles appearing after the amphibians

at around 315 million years ago in the Carboniferous period.
The reptiles became the dominant animal group in the fossil
record through the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods
of the Mesozoic era. This is when dinosaurs (Figure 2.3.6)
Figure
appear and they were the dominant animal group from about This Archaeopteryx fossil shows the imprint of feathers.
2.3.7
250 million years ago until about 65 million years ago.

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 Figure 2.3.8 shows how similar Archaeopteryx was to a modern bird.
However, Archaeopteryx had teeth, a long tail of bones and fingers
at the tip of its front limbs. So this creature had features of both
reptiles and birds. It probably could not fly as a modern bird can.
Archaeopteryx is currently classified as the oldest known bird.
There are many more ancient bird fossils being found
in China. These are much more like modern birds
than Archaeopteryx, and yet they also clearly have 2.5
pigeon some dinosaur-like features as well.
The earliest mammal-like fossils appeared in the Triassic period
190 million years ago. Hadrocodium is the oldest true mammal
yet discovered. It is closely related to living mammals.

Humans
Humans belong to the order of mammals called primates. Other
members of this group are apes, monkeys and gibbons. The oldest
known primate fossils date to about 60 million years ago. The earliest
members of the human sub-tribe date to about 4 million years ago
from Africa. These are ape-like creatures called Australopithecines
(which means ‘southern ape’). There are many other similar
creatures found in the fossil record from around this time, one of
which may well be our ancestor. The oldest known fossils of our
species, Homo sapiens, date to over 130 000 years ago in Africa.
Figure 2.3.9 compares the skulls of some primates.

Archaeopteryx

Figure Archaeopteryx skeleton

2.3.8 compared with a modern bird

Some fossil primate skulls, including members of

Figure the human family. The abbreviation mya stands
2.3.9 for ‘millions of years ago’.

Adapis (early Australopithecus Homo ergaster (2.5–1.7 mya) Homo sapiens

lemur 50 mya) africanus (2.9–2 mya) (22 000 years old)

Proconsul Homo sapiens (modern

(early monkey/ape 23–15 mya) Homo habilis (2.4–1.4 mya) human, 92 000 years old)

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 Nature and development of science
Reconstructing dinosaurs

TV shows often Figure

reconstruct what 2.3.10
dinosaurs might
have looked like.

Palaeontologists use evidence to reconstruct the appearance of organisms. TV

documentaries often show how dinosaurs moved, what they ate, how they raised
their young, who ate who and if they were ‘warm blooded’ or not. Some critics
suggest that these representations are just made up. However, there is evidence
to support much of what is portrayed about dinosaurs.

Appearance
The techniques used to reconstruct a dinosaur are
similar to those used in forensic science. The dinosaur’s
appearance can be predicted from its skeletal structure.
One problem in reconstruction is missing bones. This
can sometimes be overcome if there is a similar bone
on the other side of a skeleton. For example, a missing
legbone such as a femur can be copied from the other
leg. Another technique is to study living species that are
related to the specimen and use their bones as a guide.
Anatomists can relate bone size to body mass using
well-known research data. For example, bones become
larger and stronger as body size increases.
When as much as possible of the skeleton is present, it
is arranged in a posture suggested by the bones. Then
the bones are carefully studied for marks left by muscle
attachment. This can indicate how large the muscles
were and where they were positioned. This is shown in
Figure 2.3.11. The muscle bulk of living relatives can also
be used as a guide.
Skin is then placed on the muscle masses and a texture
and colour pattern given to it, or the fur or feathers that
covered it are reproduced. That is done by studying the
colour patterns of the nearest living relatives. The skin
covering is known for some dinosaurs. A few dinosaurs Figure Constructing dinosaurs using clues from the
had feathers, and some were slightly furry. Fossil moulds 2.3.11 skeleton to work out muscle size and position
indicate that some dinosaurs had leathery skin.

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 Figure This dinosaur baby had just hatched out
2.3.12 of the egg when it died and was fossilised.

Reproduction Body temperature

Dinosaurs laid eggs. Scientists know this because many There is disagreement on whether dinosaurs were able
eggs and nests have been found. Intact eggs can be to control their body temperature like mammals and
studied with X-rays. There are some examples of eggs birds can. Some dinosaurs (most likely the small, fast-
just hatching. You can see one in Figure 2.3.12. Some moving ones or large predators) may have been warm
fossils even show parents guarding nests. blooded. Fossilised bone structure is inconclusive
at present, although the bone does look more like
Movement warm-blooded birds and mammals than reptiles. More
Estimates of how fast dinosaurs could move are based research needs to be done in this area before we will
partly on their fossilised footprints (Figure 2.3.13). They know for certain.
are also based on computer simulations. By measuring
the distance between footprints and comparing this Social behaviour
with body size, scientists can estimate the dinosaur’s Dinosaur tracks are a good guide that many dinosaurs
running speed. lived in groups. There are some very good fossil sites
that show a herd of dinosaurs’ footprints.

Diet
Teeth are a good guide to diet. Carnivores have many
sharp teeth, whereas herbivores generally have flatter
teeth to grind plant material. So scientists are fairly
sure what type of food each dinosaur ate. Another
guide to diet is the fossilised dung of dinosaurs, which
is known as coprolites. These showed that herbivorous
Figure The distance between dinosaurs mainly ate plants called gymnosperms. The
2.3.13 dinosaur footprints carnivorous dinosaurs often ate
enables an estimate of
each other, according to fossil
their running speed. 2.6 2.7
sites showing dinosaurs that died
in a battle with each other.

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 Unit review
2.3
Remembering Creating
1 State the term that means ‘the time scale of life and 14 Construct a notice to be posted at the Shark Bay
geology in the past’. stromatolite site detailing reasons why tourists should
2 State what geological eras are divided into. protect the area.

3 State two possible reasons why the early part of the 15 In a group, construct a timeline for geological time
geological time scale does not show any living organisms. on A3 paper or butcher’s paper. Use a scale of 1 mm to
1 million years. Make the paper at least A4 width (about
4 List the sequence and time of appearance in the fossil
30 cm) and at least 9 A3 pages long (about 3.7 metres).
record for the current classes of vertebrates.
On your timeline add the names of the geological eras
and periods. Write the major fossil groups for each era or
Understanding period and highlight important events such as life on land.
5 Explain how the geological time scale was constructed Add diagrams or drawings of some of the major fossils.
6 Define the term stromatolite.
7 Explain why stromatolites are important in the history Inquiring
of life
1 Research the living coelacanths and lungfish and explain
8 Explain why lobe-finned fish are important in the history
why they are so important.
of life.
2 Research the latest finds of fossil birds and bird-like
9 Explain why scientists think some dinosaurs and birds
dinosaurs in China, describing the fossils and what they
are related.
tell us about the origin of birds.

Applying 3 Research the primitive fish from the Cambrian era dated at
about 525 million years ago, which have been found at the
10 Archaeopteryx would not be a useful index fossil.
Chinese fossil site called Chengjian. Explain why they are
Demonstrate why.
considered important fossils.

Analysing 4 Research three theories about the extinction of the

dinosaurs. Rate which one you think is most likely to
11 Use Figure 2.3.8 on page 60 to compare the skeletons of be true.
Archaeopteryx and modern birds, listing their similarities
5 Imagine you found some moulds of footprints of a bipedal
and differences.
dinosaur in mudstone. They are about the size of a human
footprint. The tracks go for 50 metres. Design a
Evaluating method you could use to determine its speed.
12 Propose why plants would need to spread to the land first Check your method with your teacher and run
before animals could live on land. your experiment if you get their approval.
13 Some major differences between amphibians and reptiles
are their method of respiration, how the young are born
and what the body is covered with.
Amphibians are thought to be the ancestors of reptiles.
Use the table below to propose why reptiles were
successful in moving into a wide range of habitats on land.

Feature Amphibian Reptile

Live in water as young and breathe by gills.
Respiration Live on land and breathe by lungs
Develop lungs as adults and breathe air
Eggs with thin membrane easily dehydrated. Eggs with waterproof flexible membrane.
How young are born
Laid in water and hatch into water Hatch in air
Body covering Thin moist skin Thick leathery scaly waterproof skin

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 Practical activities
2.3
1 Vertebrate skeletons
Purpose Discussion
To compare different vertebrate skeletons. 1 Using Table 2, deduce which two animal skeletons seem
to be most alike, and which two are least alike.
Materials
• skeletons of human, cat, bird, frog, bony fish and lizard 2 Fish live in the ocean and the rest of these animals live
on land. Look very carefully again at the specimens and
• If actual skeletons are not available, then there are
note how the fins and limbs are attached to the rest of
excellent images on the internet.
the skeleton. Propose how the large differences in these
Procedure parts of the skeletons are related to the environment in
1 Copy Tables 1 and 2 shown in the Results section into which these creatures live.
your notes. 3 Most of these animals have remarkably similar skeletons.
2 Carefully observe each specimen and complete Table 1 They have many bones that are in the same places and
by placing a tick in the table if the feature is present. doing the same jobs. Describe some examples of this.
3 Use Table 1 to complete Table 2 in your notes. You can 4 Propose why these animals have skeletons which are
observe the animals again if necessary. Record the so similar.
animals that are most alike and least alike for each of 5 If fossil bones from the limbs of these creatures were
the features. discovered, then discuss whether you think you could
easily identify which of these creatures the bones
belonged to.
6 The fish fins were very different from the frog limbs.
Discuss whether there is any evidence of fish fins having
Results bones in them as land animals do.
Table 1 Vertebrate skeletons

Vertebral Front limb Rear limb

Animal Skull Ribs Front limbs Rear limbs
column girdle girdle
Human
Cat
Bird
Frog
Bony fish
Lizard

Table 2 Comparing vertebrate skeletons

Feature Most alike Least alike

Skull
Vertebral column
Ribs
Front limbs
Rear limbs
Front limb girdle
Rear limb girdle

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 Chapter review 2
Remembering Applying
1 List the sequence of appearance for the vertebrate groups 11 Some scientists have estimated that only 25% of the
in the geological time scale. dinosaurs that existed have been discovered as fossils. Use
2 Name a major event from the geological record for each of your knowledge of fossils to explain why we will never find
the following. examples of all the dinosaurs.
a Ediacaran b Cambrian 12 Use the decay curve for potassium to argon in Figure 2.2.6
c Devonian d Permian on page 51 to calculate the age of a fossil that had
e Triassic f Jurassic one-tenth of its potassium-40 remaining.
g Cretaceous h Pleistocene
Analysing
Understanding 13 Birds and bats that fly over swamps can sometimes be
3 Define the following terms. exposed to poisonous gases. Analyse how this may affect
a fossil their chances of being fossilised.
b index fossil 14 Compare relative and absolute dating.
c radioactive dating
15 Contrast a fossil mould and a cast.
d geological time scale
4 Describe five different types of fossils and how they form. Evaluating
5 Explain why the fossil record is incomplete.
16 Scientists have extensive knowledge of trilobites,
6 Describe how the age of a fossil or rock can be ammonites, molluscs, coral and fish, but know very little
determined. of ancient marine worms, earthworms, bats and desert
7 Explain how the geological time scale was constructed plants. Propose reasons why.
using absolute and relative dating methods. 17 a Refer to Figure 2.3.1 on page 57 and assess which are
8 Describe how a replacement fossil of a trilobite may form. the ten most important events in the history of life on
9 Outline how you could reconstruct the appearance of Earth.
a dinosaur from a fossilised skeleton, but with half the b Justify your choice.
bones missing.
10 Modify the following statements to make them correct.
Creating
a Only a preserved body part can be considered a fossil. 18 Use the following ten key terms to construct a visual
b Palaeontologists cannot interpret fossils to determine summary of the information presented in this chapter.
the appearance of an organism. fossil
c There is no way to tell how long ago a particular fossil preserving environments
was formed. fossil record
d All species lived at all times throughout the history of absolute dating
the Earth. relative dating
e All species were equally distributed over the Earth in index fossil
the past. stratigraphy
f The fossil record would be complete if all the geological time scale
vertebrate history 2.8
sedimentary rocks with the fossils could be exposed.
g Palaeontologists should stop looking for fossils dinosaurs
because they already know the history of life on Earth.
h The geological time scale will not change as new
fossils are discovered.

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 Thinking scientifically
Q1 In which of the following environments are soft-bodied Which layer found in location B appears to be missing
animals least likely to form fossils? from location D when it would have been expected to
be found at D?
A In a peat swamp
A B1
B In a rain forest
B B2
C In the ice of the tundra
C B3
D In dry deserts which have strong winds and dust
storms D B4

Questions 2 to 5 are based on the following diagram Q5 Which is the youngest layer in the four sites?
showing ten strata in three different locations, A, B and C. A A1
The strata are numbered.
B B4
C C1
A B C D D1

1 1 1 The following information applies to questions 6 and 7.

2
2 The half-life for a radioactive substance is the time it takes
2 for half of the original radioactive material to break down.
3
The half-life for dating using carbon-14 is 5730 years.
3 Carbon-14 decays to form nitrogen-14. For the decay of
4 3 potassium-40 to argon, the half life is 1251 million years.
Fossil birds date from about 150 million years ago. House
roof beams are usually no older than a few hundred years
even if the timber is recycled.
Q2 Which of the following strata are the same age?
A A1, B1, C1 B A3, B4, C3 Q6 Which of the following is a correct deduction using the
C A1, B4, C2 D A2, B3, C3 above information?

A Potassium-40 decays faster than carbon-14.

Q3 Which is the oldest layer of the ten strata?
B Potassium-40 could not be used to date rocks
A A3 B B4 older than 500 million years.
C C3 D B1 C Carbon-14 could not be used to find the age of the
oldest fossil bird discovered.
Q4 At location D, the following strata and fossils were D Carbon-14 would not be useful to date wooden
discovered. beams from a house.

D Q7 How many years would it take before a 1 gram sample

of carbon-14 decayed to a mass of less than 0.1 gram?
1
A less than 11 460 years
B between 11 460 and 17 190 years
2 C between 17 190 and 22 920 years
D more than 22 920 years
3

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 Glossary

Unit 2.1 Isotope: different forms of the same

element with different numbers of
Carbon film fossil: when the neutrons, and so different atomic
dead body partially decays and masses
leaves a thin black deposit of Organic matter: chemicals such as
carbon proteins that were made by a living
Cast: when an organism in rock thing
decomposes and the space Relative dating: comparing the age
in the rock fills with soil that Stratigraphy
of one fossil or rock against another
turns to rock to see if one is older or younger
Ediacaran: time period on the Carbon film fossil than the other
geological time scale when Strata: layers of sedimentary rock
complex life forms were Stratigraphy: comparing strata in
developing different locations to determine
Fossil record: a list showing the their relative ages
classification of all the species Tree ring dating: counting growth
that have been found as fossils rings in the woody trunks of
Fossils: the preserved evidence trees to find their age
in rocks or soils of organisms Tree ring dating
that were once alive Unit 2.3
Indirect fossils: preserved Archaeopteryx: bird-like dinosaur that had feathers
remains of things such as
Coelacanths: ancient group of fish related to the lobe-finned
imprints of the body (such as Fossils fish ancestors of the amphibians
footprints), fossilised dung
Geological time scale: a scale showing the history of life and
and burrows
geology
Mould: an imprint of the outside of the body in rock
Ichthyostega: early amphibians which were the first of the
Original fossils: when a part of the organism such as a
group called tetrapods
skeleton is preserved and remains in its original form
Lobe-finned fish: fish with bones in their fins similar to land
Palaeontologist: scientist who
animals
studies prehistoric life
Lungfish: relatives of the lobe-finned fish that made the move
Palaeontology: the study
from sea to land
of prehistoric life
Primates: order of mammals to which humans belong
Petrified: when wood is replaced
Stromatolite:
by minerals and fossilised
circular rocky
Replacement fossil: when a part
structures thought
of the organism is changed into
to be the earliest
another mineral Replacement fossil evidence of living
Unit 2.2 organisms called the
cyanobacteria
Absolute dating: a way of determining the actual age of rocks Tetrapods: land
and fossils animals with
Fluorine dating: finding a relative age four limbs. Living Stromatolite
for two bones from the same area by tetrapods are
comparing the amount of fluorine now classified as
in them amphibians, reptiles,
Hadrocodium: the oldest true birds and mammals
mammal yet discovered Theropods: a dinosaur
Half-life: the time it takes for half of a group closely related
radioactive sample to decay to birds and from
Index fossil: fossil that can be used which birds probably
Tetrapod
to compare the relative age of rock developed
Index fossil
strata in different locations

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