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I. The Geologic Time Scale

A. The Geologic Time Scale
1. The geologic time scale is a record of the life forms and Geologic Time Scale
geologic events in Earth’s history.
2. Eras are the three long units between Precambrian Time Eras
and the present. Eras are subdivided into periods. Periods
B. Early Earth
1. Less than 500 million years after Earth’s formation, rock on
the surface formed continents.
2. But scientists have found fossils of single celled organisms
in rocks that formed about 3.5 billion years ago.
3. They are still alive today and have changed very little.
4. One product of photosynthesis is oxygen.
C. The Paleozoic Era
1. You are about to see the period of rapid change.
D. The Cambrian Explosion
1. Invertebrates are animals without backbones. Invertebrates
2. Fossils provide evidence of a watery environment.
E. Vertebrates Arise
1. A vertebrate is an animal that has a backbone. Vertebrate
F. Life Reaches Land
1. The first insects appeared during the Silurian Period.
2. Both invertebrates and vertebrates lived in the Devonian
seas.
3. An amphibian is an animal that lives part of its life on land Amphibian
and the other part in water.
G. The Carboniferous Period
1. Reptiles have scaly skin and lay eggs with tough, leathery Reptiles
shells.
2. The remains of these plants formed thick deposits of
sediment that changed into coal over millions of years.
H. Mass Extinction Ends the Paleozoic
1. This is a mass extinction, in which many types of living Mass extinction
things became extinct at the same time.
I. The Supercontinent Pangaea
1. Earth’s continents moved together to form a great What is Pangaea? A
landmass called Pangaea. supercontinent.
J. The Mesozoic Era
1. Watch out!
K. The Triassic Period Mammal
2. A mammal is a warm blooded vertebrate that feeds its What is a mammal? A warm
young milk. blooded vertebrate.
L. The Jurassic Period
1. Dinosaurs ruled the earth for about 150 million years.
2. Many paleontologists now think that birds evolve from
dinosaurs.
M. The Cretaceous Period
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1. Fruit helps seed disperse.
N. Another Mass Extinction
1. At the close of the Cretaceous Period, about 65 million
years ago, another mass extinction happened.
2. Many organisms on land and in water died immediately How did Earth’s climate
O. The Cenozoic Era change during the Quaternary
1. Mammals had a hard time competing with dinosaurs for Period? Its climate cooled
food and places to live. causing a series of ice ages.
P. Tertiary period
1. Some mammals and birds became very large.
Q. The Quaternary Period
1. Earth’s climate cooled, causing a series of ice ages during
the Quaternary Period.
2. Insects and birds share the sky.
3. Your time machine has now reached the present.
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