GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE
oxygen since
The geologic time scale is the “calendar” for
events in Earth history. It subdivides
all time into named units of abstract time called
—in descending order of duration—eons,
eras, periods, epochs, and ages.
The Precambrian Time Span is the earliest time
period on the Geologic Time Scale. It stretches
from the formation of the earth 4.6 billion years
ago to around 600 million years ago and
encompasses many Eons and Eras leading up to
the Cambrian Period in the current Eon.
Beginning of Earth
The earth was formed about 4.6 billion years
ago in a violent explosion of energy and dust
according to the rock record from Earth and
other planets. For about a billion years, the
earth was a barren place of volcanic action and
a less than suitable atmosphere for most types
of life. It wasn't until about 3.5 billion years ago
that it is thought that the first signs of life
formed.
PRECAMBRIAN ERA
Most of the life that existed during the
Precambrian Time span were prokaryotic single-
celled organisms. There is actually a pretty rich
history of bacteria and related unicellular
organisms within the fossil record. In fact, it is
now thought that the first types of unicellular
organisms were extremophiles in the Archaean
domain. The oldest trace of these that have
been found so far is around 3.5 billion years old.
These earliest forms of life resembled
cyanobacteria. They were photosynthetic blue-
green algae that thrived in the extremely hot,
carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere. These trace
fossils were found on the Western Australia
coast. Other, similar fossils have been found all
over the world. Their ages span about two
billion years.
With so many photosynthetic
organisms populating the earth, it was only a
matter of time before the atmosphere started
to accumulate higher levels of 
oxygen gas is a waste product of
photosynthesis. Once the atmosphere had more
oxygen, many new species evolved that could
use oxygen to create energy.
PALEOZOIC ERA
The Paleozoic Era begins after the Pre-Cambrian
about 297 million years ago and ends with the
start of the Mesozoic period about 250 million
years ago. Each major era on the Geologic Time
Scale has been further broken down into
periods that are defined by the type of life that
evolved during that span of time. Sometimes,
periods would end when a mass
extinction would wipe out a majority of all living
species on the Earth at the time. After
Precambrian Time ended, a large and relatively
quick evolution of species occurred populating
the Earth with many diverse and interesting
forms of life during the Paleozoic Era.
Cambrian Period (542–488 Million Years Ago)
At this time, there were several continents that
were different than the ones we know today,
and all of those landmasses were huddled in the
southern hemisphere of the Earth. This left very
large expanses of ocean where sea life could
thrive and differentiate at a somewhat rapid
pace. This quick speciation led to a level of
genetic diversity of species that had never been
seen before in the history of life on Earth.
Almost all life was found in the oceans during
the Cambrian Period: If there was any life on
land at all, it was restricted to unicellular
microorganisms. Fossils dated to the Cambrian
have been found all over the world, although
there are three large areas called fossil beds
where the majority of these fossils have been
found. Those fossil beds are in Canada,
Greenland, and China. Many large carnivorous
crustaceans, similar to shrimp and crabs, have
been identified.
Ordovician Period (488–444 Million Years Ago)
After the Cambrian Period came the Ordovician
Period. This second period of the Paleozoic Era
lasted about 44 million years and saw more and
more diversification of aquatic life. Large
predators similar to mollusks feasted on smaller
animals on the bottom of the ocean.
During the Ordovician Period, multiple and fairly
rapid environmental changes occurred. Glaciers
began to move out from the poles onto the
continents and, as a result the ocean levels
decreased significantly. The combination of the
temperature change and loss of ocean water
resulted in a mass extinction that marked the
end of the period. About 75% of all living
species at the time went extinct.
Silurian Period (444–416 Million Years Ago)
After the mass extinction at the end of the
Ordovician Period, diversity of life on Earth
needed to work its way back up. One major
change in Earth’s layout was that the continents
began to merge together, creating even more
uninterrupted space in the oceans for marine
life to live and thrive as they evolved and
diversified.
Animals were able to swim and feed closer to
the surface than ever before in the history of
life on Earth.    coming together and the southernmost lands
Many different types of jawless fish and even
the first finned fish with rays were prevalent.
While life on the land was still lacking beyond
single-celled bacteria, diversity was beginning to
rebound. Oxygen levels in the atmosphere were
also nearly at our modern levels, so the stage
was being set for more types of species and
even land species to begin to appear. Toward
the end of the Silurian Period, some types of
vascular land plants as well as the first animals,
the arthropods, were seen on the continents.
Devonian Period (416–359 Million Years Ago)
Diversification was rapid and widespread during
the Devonian Period. Land plants became more
common and included ferns, mosses, and even
seeded plants. The roots of these early land
plants helped to make weathered rock into the
soil and that created even more of an
opportunity for plants to take root and grow on
land. Lots of insects began to be seen during the
Devonian Period as well. Towards the end,
amphibians made their way onto land. Since the
continents were moving even closer together,
the new land animals could easily spread out
and find a niche.
Meanwhile, back in the oceans, jawless fish had
adapted and evolved to have jaws and scales
like the modern fish we are familiar with today.
Unfortunately, the Devonian Period ended
when large meteorites hit the Earth. It is
believed the impact from these meteorites
caused a mass extinction that took out nearly
75% of the aquatic animal species that had
evolved.
Carboniferous Period (359–297 Million Years
Ago)
The Carboniferous Period was a time in which
species diversity yet again had to rebuild from a
previous mass extinction. Since the Devonian
Period’s mass extinction was mostly confined to
the oceans, land plants and animals continued
to thrive and evolve at a fast pace. Amphibians
adapted even more and split off into the early
ancestors of reptiles. The continents were still
were covered by glaciers once again. However,
there were tropical climates as well where land
plants grew large and lush and evolved into
many unique species. These plants in the
swampy marshes are the ones that would decay
into the coal we now use in our modern times
for fuels and other purposes.
As for the life in the oceans, the rate of
evolution seems to have been markedly slower
than times before. While the species that
managed to survive the last mass, extinction
continued to grow and branch off into new,
similar species, many of the kinds of animals
that were lost to extinction never returned.
Permian Period (297–251 Million Years Ago)
Finally, in the Permian Period, all of the
continents on Earth came together completely
to form the super-continent known as
Pangaea. During the early parts of this period,
life continued to evolve and new species came
into existence. Reptiles were fully formed and
they even split off into a branch that would
eventually give rise to mammals in the
Mesozoic Era. The fish from the saltwater
oceans also adapted to be able to live in the
freshwater pockets throughout the continent of
Pangaea giving rise to freshwater aquatic
animals.
Unfortunately, this time of species diversity
came to an end, thanks in part to a plethora of
volcanic explosions that depleted oxygen and
affected the climate by blocking the sunlight
and allowing large glaciers to take over. This all
led to the largest mass extinction in the history
of the Earth. It is believed that 96% of all
species were completely wiped out and the
Paleozoic Era came to an end.
MESOZOIC ERA
During the Mesozoic, or "Middle Life" era, life
diversified rapidly and giant reptiles, dinosaurs
and other monstrous beasts roamed the Earth.
The period, which spans from about 252 million
years ago to about 66 million years ago, was
also known as the age of reptiles or the age of
dinosaurs.
TRIASSIC PERIOD
At the start of the Triassic period, 250 million
years ago, the Earth was just recovering from
the Permian/Triassic Extinction, which
witnessed the demise of over two-thirds of all
land-dwelling species and a whopping 95
percent of ocean-dwelling species. In terms of
animal life, the Triassic was most notable for
the diversification of archosaurs into
pterosaurs, crocodiles, and the earliest
dinosaurs, as well as the evolution of therapsids
into the first true mammals.
JURASSIC PERIOD
Thanks to the movie Jurassic Park, people
identify the Jurassic period, more than any
other geological time span, with the age of
dinosaurs. The Jurassic is when the first gigantic
sauropod and theropod dinosaurs appeared on
Earth, a far cry from their slender, man-sized
ancestors of the preceding Triassic period. But
the fact is that dinosaur diversity reached its
peak in the ensuing Cretaceous period.
CRETACEOUS PERIOD
The Cretaceous period is when dinosaurs
attained their maximum diversity,
as ornithischian and saurischian families
branched off into a bewildering array of
armored, raptor-clawed, thick-skulled, and/or
long-toothed and long-tailed meat- and plant-
eaters. The longest period of the Mesozoic Era,
it was also during the Cretaceous that the Earth
began to assume something resembling its
modern form. At that time, life was dominated
not by mammals but by terrestrial, marine and
avian reptiles.
At the end of the Cretaceous period, 65 million
years ago, a meteor impact on the Yucatan
Peninsula raised huge clouds of dust, blotting
out the sun and causing most vegetation to die
out. Conditions may have been aggravated by
the collision of India and Asia, which fueled an
immense amount of volcanic activity in the
“Deccan Traps.” The herbivorous dinosaurs that
fed on these plants died, as did the carnivorous
dinosaurs that fed on the herbivorous
dinosaurs. The way was now clear for the
evolution and adaptation of the dinosaurs’
successors, the mammals, during the ensuing
Tertiary period.
CENOZOIC ERA
The Cenozoic era, which began about 65 million
years ago and continues into the present, is the
third documented era in the history of Earth.
The current locations of the continents and
their modern-day inhabitants, including
humans, can be traced to this period. The term
Cenozoic, first spelled “Kainozoic”. The name is
derived from the Greek phrase meaning “recent
life.”
The Cenozoic era is also known as the Age of
Mammals because the extinction of many
groups of giant mammals, allowing smaller
species to thrive and diversify because their
predators no longer existed. Due to the large
span of time covered by the period, it is
beneficial to discuss the animal population by
the milestone of the era rather than in
generalities.
The earliest hominid fossils found so far date
from the late Tertiary Period. They were found
in Africa. As the Pleistocene Epoch continued,
hominids spread throughout the world. Their
larger brains allowed a level of thought and
feeling that was, and is, unique among the
animals. We think and solve. We change and
control. The future of our planet will be greatly
affected by the Age of Humans.

PALEOGENE PERIOD
The beginning of the Paleogene period was a
time for the mammals that survived from the
Cretaceous period. Later in this period, rodents
and small horses, such as Hyracotherium, are
common and rhinoceroses and elephants
appear. As the period ends, dogs, cats and pigs
become commonplace. Other than a few birds
that were classified as dinosaurs, most notable
the Titanis, the dinosaurs were gone. Large
flightless birds, such as the Diatryma, thrived. 

NEOGENE PERIOD
The Neogene period gives rise to early primates,
including early humans. Bovids, including cattle,
sheep, goats, antelope and gazelle, flourish
during this period.

QUATERNARY PERIOD
The Quaternary Period is a geologic time period
that encompasses the most recent 2.6 million
years — including the present day.

Cave lions, saber-toothed cats, cave bears, giant

deer, woolly rhinoceroses, and woolly
mammoths were prevailing species of the
Quaternary period.

For us, the most important development of the

Quaternary Period is the development of
the hominids: Humans. From the first primates
in the Tertiary Period to modern man, the
hominid species has evolved amazing abilities.