Timeline of life
By: Arttu Pietari
The formation of Earth (4.6 BYA)
• Earth was formed around 4.6 billion years ago when clusters of rock
were pulled together by their gravitational fields.
• The young earth's atmosphere was full of chemicals such as CO, CO₂,
N₂, H₂, H₂O, ammonia and methane. These molecules appeared from
volcanic activity, radiation, lightning and meteor showers.
• These formed into simple organic compounds such as nucleotides and
amino acids.
• These further evolved through chemical evolution into Nucleon acids
and Proteins.
The beginning of life
• Since there isn't concrete evidence to how life started, we can
only hypothesize that life started off from simple prokaryotic
resembling cells. These cells were very simple consisting
of organic compounds like RNA surrounded by a simple cell-
membrane that separated the inside from the outside. These
cells were heterotrophs and got their energy from eating
other cells. Over time the cells developed into more Drawing of a hypothetical
of a hypothetical first cell.
complex bodies once DNA and proteins developed.
• The last universal common ancestor appeared around 3.5
billion years ago when a cell ate another cell but didn't kill it.
They formed an endosymbiosis and resulted in the first
prokaryotic cells with mitochondria and chloroplast.
Photosynthesising algae
The end of the Precambrian era. (600 MYA)
• These developments allowed cells to photosynthesize using sunlight,
carbon dioxide and water. This resulted in oxygen being released into
the atmosphere. These cells were the earliest autotrophs.
• With excess amounts of oxygen, some cells produced a way to gain
more energy from organic compounds through means of cellular
respiration.
• By the end of the Precambrian era two crucial developments
occurred. First was multicellular organisms that allowed for cell
specialization and second was sexual reproduction that resulted in
genetic diversity and played a key part in the Cambrian explosion that
followed.
Specialization allowed for
algae to have special cells for [Link]
latching on to surfaces
Palezoic era
Cambrian. (600 MYA)
• The Cambrian explosion was a time of vast diversification of life
and quick multicellular growth.
• Ozone (O₃) was in the atmosphere shielding live from radiation.
• The marine life was mostly habited by arthropods, but there
were other living things such as Trilobites.
• Many old living things died from the change in
the environment and later in the Cambria more creatures
died to hypoxia when creatures started becoming extinct faster
than they were appearing. This didn't change until the Great
Ordovician Biodiversity Event.
Cambrian - Wikipedia
Cambrian Pictures (Pictures)
Anomalocaris was an arthropod and Opabinia was suspected to be an
an early marine predator arthropod and had 5 eyes and a
clawed proboscis
Ordovician. (500 MYA)
• During this period seas and oceans flooded over continents and
marine life diversified even more.
• Many invertebrates were very common and proper vertebrate
fishes were appearing, but they lacked jaws.
• The first plants moved onto land and were called bryophytes. These
plants lacked vascular tissue and resembled modern day mosses and
during this era they didn't evolve much.
• Although no fossils of land animals from this time have been
found, burrows have been found from late-Ordovician period that
appear to have been made by some sort of millipede.
• The Ordovician period ended with an extinction event caused
by coldness and lowering of sea levels due to glaciation
Ordovician period Britannica
Ordovician Pictures
Illustration of A diorama that shows flora and
Pentecopterus, the fauna from the period
earliest sea scorpions.
A drawing of an Endoceras, which
was one of the largest predators of
its time. ->
Silurian. (430 MYA)
• Temperatures rose and glaciers melted which raised the sea level
drastically and species started to thrive once more.
• The sea floor was inhabited by reef mounds and small critters.
• Fish continued to develop, and different orders of jawless fish emerged as
well as even fishes with primitive jaws.
• Terrestrial fungi and bacteria eating dead plant material (detritus)
resulted in nutritious soil that allowed for plant live to develop.
• The first vascular plants emerged allowing them to gain more sunlight
using their leafless stems to photosynthesise and reproduced via spore
sacks at the tip of the stems.
• The period ended over a series of extinctions related to climate change
Silurian period Britannica
Silurian pictures
• Reconstruction of the first vascular • Illustrations of Early Silurian fish
plants belonging to the genus species that lived in Scotland. (Made
Cooksonia. Picture by Nobu Tamura)
Devonian. (405 MYA)
• Invertebrates continued to diversify. Corals and marine moss we important in
building reefs and housed plenty of different brachiopods and molluscs.
• Fish developed proper jaws and many of them were heavily armoured. In the
mid Devonian period shark like fishes emerged as well as Rhipidistians that would
evolve to the early amphibians.
• Plants continued to diversify and develop such as Lycohpytes, horsetails, ferns
and Progymnosperms created the first shrub like forests. During the mid
Devonian period proper trees evolved and by the end of the Devonian
period proper seed plants emerged.
• Early arthropods co-evolved alongside the growing terrestrial vegetation and by
the end of the Devonian period were fully living on land and breathed air.
• The period ended with an extinction that primarily affected shallow marine life.
Devonian Period wikipedia
Devonian Period Britannica
Devonian pictures
• The Dunkleosteus lived during the • An artistic depiction of Early
Late Devonian period and is one of Devonian flora
the largest fish ever.
• Picture
Carboniferous. (345 MYA)
• During the Carboniferous period, the earlier plants from the Devonian period
continued to develop and seeds became more used. Different tree species
evolved, and they grew in the massive sizes. These plants eventually died and
became the coal we use.
• Marine live continued to evolve and adapt. Fish like the Ctenacanthiformes grew
to large sizes up to 6-9 meters and some fish had specialized teeth for spiking and
slicing prey.
• By the mid-Carboniferous period amphibians had become a very diverse and
common group. They were aquatic or semi-aquatic since they needed to lay eggs
in the water.
• They evolved and could live fully on land with the introduction of amniote eggs
and keratinized claws and where the earliest reptiles.
Carboniferous period wikipedia
Carboniferous pictures (from wikipedia)
• A sketch of the most
common and significant • A drawing of a • A drawing of a
plants during the Ctenacanthiform, one of Hymolomus, the earliest
period. the large fish during the sauropsid reptile.
period.
Permian. (280 MYA)
• During the Permian era, all major land masses were connected into one super
continent called Pangea. This made the climate very dry and resulted in a huge
desert covering the middle of Pangea.
• A lot of the older plant and animal species died because of this and only species
suitable for living in dry areas thrived.
• Synapsids thrived and diversified during the Permian period due to their unique
adaptation to survive in the dry environment and would eventually evolve into
mammals.
• During the time fish didn't diversify as much as they would in the next period.
• The Permian trees evolved from the early conifers from the Carboniferous period
but were replaced with better adapted to dry climate Voltzialeans.
• The period ended with the biggest extinction of 90 – 95% of marine life and 70%
of all land animals. This event is theorized to have been caused by volcanic
eruptions.
Permian pictures Pictures
A depiction of a Permian wetland with a A drawing of a Eryops and a Dimetrodon
Eryops Megacephalous. grandis from the Early-Permian period.
Mesozoic era
Triassic. (230 MYA)
• Sea levels during the Triassic stayed relatively stable at 10-20m above modern sea
levels. The climate was still rather dry but tropical and subtropical locations were
rather humid from excess rainfall.
• Most common vascular plants during this time were seed ferns from
the Dicroidium genus and other seed plants such as Conifers and Bennettitales.
• Marine life continued to develop, and new modern corals formed reefs. Ray-
finned fishes diversified drastically during this period and large predators such as
the Saurichthys emerged in the early Triassic and were very successful predators.
• Amphibians were mostly aquatic and semi aquatic as the fully terrasterial species
died from the Permian extinction and the first modern amphibians appeared.
• Reptiles evolved and adapted in the harsh environments and the ancestors to
birds and crocodiles, Archosaurus emerged which later became pterosaurs and
dinosaurs in the late Triassic.
• Three therapsids groups made it to the Triassic and one group would develop into
the first mammals
• The period ended with an extinction event that primarily affected marine life.
Triassic pictures
• Image of a Saurichtys, a • Staurikosaurus, • Cynognathus, a
very succesful marine one of the earliest close relative of
predator. dinosaurs mammals
• Picture • Picture • Picture
Jurassic. (180 MYA)
• During the Jurassic era, Pangea started drifting into two parts, climate was more
humid, and temperatures were hotter than in present day.
• Conifers continued to dominate the Jurassic flora, but other Genuses diversified
such as the Pinecae, Taxaceae, Ginkgoales and seed plants.
• Dinosaurs became the dominant reptiles and very common after the Triassic
extinction. Sauropods became the main large herbivores, earliest Avilialans
emerged which were the ancestors to birds and bipedal Theropods dominated
the terrestrial land.
• Mammaliaformes diversified very much during the Jurrassic and had unique
lifestyles in different environments. Aquatic and Terrasterial.
• Marine life took a while to heal after the exctinction, but was then full of
plesiosaurs, marine crocodiles, sharks, rays as well as modern squid resembling
cephalopods and ammonites. Coral reefs became abundant in life once more.
• The period ended due to volcanic activity causing climate change and death.
[Link] Jurassic wikipedia National Geographic
Jurassic Pictures
A painting of an Allosaurus
in a forest
Link
Artistic impression of marine life during
the Jurassic period.
Link
A painting of a Jurassic
period scenery.
Link
Cretaceous. (140 MYA)
• At the start of the Cretaceous, early angiosperm plants emerged and
would go on to make up 90% of all extant plants. Angiosperms reproduce
via pollen and coevolved with insects.
• Dinosaurs were at their most diverse stage and were the apex predators
of this period. Birds diversified as well but other flying creatures the
Pterosaurs started to decline in population as time went on. The famous
T-rex was alive during this period.
• Seas and oceans were now habited by modern sharks, rays and teleostei.
Sea reptiles such as the Mosasaurs and Plesiosaurs were adapted to live
in the warm seas. Basculites and Ammonites thrived in the seas along
with small marine animals like clams, sea stars and sea urchins.
• The period ended with a sudden extinction of ¾ of all plant and animal
life caused by an asteroid. Cretaceous wikipedia
Cretaceous images
• A Mosasaur, a large marine predator. Picture
• T-rex, one of the largest land predators of all
time. Picture • A Velociraptor dinosaur restoration. Picture
Cenozoic
Paleogene. (66 MYA)
• After the mass extinction, mammals started to rapidly diversify and fill in the
gap left by the terrestererial dinosaurs.
• As temperatures started to cool down and ice formations started to form.
• Birds also started to thrive even more as they filled the niches left
by dinosaurs.
• Some mammals went to the oceans and would evolve into whales, others into
large land mammals and the ones that climbed into trees would
become primates.
• The small reptiles that managed to survive, such as snakes, lizards and
crocodiles habited the tropical coastal regions.
• Grasses and herbs took over the dying tropical plants and conifers were
established in mountanous regions.
Paleogene wikipedia National Geographic
Paleogene environment images Link 1 Link 2
Neogene. (23 MYA)
• Earth continued to get dryer and cooler. The polar icecaps on the
poles started to grow and thicken.
• The last large terresteral reptiles went extinct.
• The oceans were dominated by large megalodon sharks and killer
livyatans whales. 70% of pelagic shark species went extinct.
• Birds and mammals continued to dominate the terrestrial land.
• Due to the vast amount of grassland, prehistoric cammels, horses,
rhinoceroses, deer and pigs emerged.
• During the ice-age, mammoths and woolly rhinosceros became
common
• The first proper predecestors to humans emerged at the end,
Australophitecus afarensis and they walked up right.
[Link] Neogene wikipedia
Neogene pictures
Skeleton of "Lucy" the first fossil of a
hominin. Picture
A group of wooly mammoths, horses and a rhinoceroses
Picture
Reconstruction of megalodon jaws on
display
Picture
Quaternary. (2.58 MYA – present day)
• Glaciers moved around at the north and south of the globe, shaping the
landscape.
• Large mammals such as the sabre-toothed cats and mammoths went
extinct.
• Homo Habilis used tools and were more omnivorous than the predecestors.
• Homo erectus stood on two legs could run and walk longer distances and
had an advanced social life.
• Homo neandertalensis had sophisticated technology and cooking habits.
They lived in families and had advanced cultures. They were built for living
in colder climates. Interbred with Homo sapiens and Homo denisovans and
went extinct 30-40 thousand years ago.
• Now only one species exists, Homo sapiens. European people have
neandertalensis genes and Asian people have Denisovan genes
• 27/1/2007 marked a major event in history when, I, Arttu Pietari was born.
Quaternary images
Quaternary drawing
Mammoth painting
Quaternary period
The future