The Geologic Time Scale

The Paleozoic
and Mesozoic
Eras
Group 2 | Gen. Bio. 2 | '22-'23 Pythagoras
Contents
Paleozoic Era

Carboniferous ( Pennsylvanian , Mississippian )

Permian
Contents
Mesozoic Era

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretacious
Paleozoic Era 541 mya - 252 mya

From an explosion of early life to the greatest extinction in history, the Paleozoic was a time of change.

❀ living things developed vertebral columns and hard body parts like jaws, bones and teeth.
❀ fish evolved, and plants and animals started the move from the ocean onto dry land.
❀ most plants and animals from this time are extinct in our modern world, which is why the Paleozoic is
named for “ancient life."

❀ multicelled animals underwent a dramatic "explosion" in diversity, and almost all living animal phyla
appeared within a few million years.
❀ at the other end of the Paleozoic, the largest mass extinction in history wiped out approximately 90% of
all marine animal species.

The causes of both these events are still not fully understood and are the subject of much research and
controversy.
Paleozoic Era 541 mya - 252 mya
Carboniferous Period
359.2 mya - 299 mya
The term "Carboniferous" comes from England, in reference to the rich deposits of coal that occur there.
These deposits of coal occur throughout northern Europe, Asia, and midwestern and eastern North
America.

❀ Amphibians diversified into several groups one of which evolved increased agility and the ability to lay
shelled eggs on land -- thus becoming the first reptiles.
❀Insects, already abundant, developed wings and became the first flying animals.
❀Some geologists split this period into the “Mississippian” (early Carboniferous) and “Pennsylvanian” (late
Carboniferous) Periods, based on rock exposures in the eastern United States.
Carboniferous Period
359.2 mya - 299 mya
In addition to having the ideal conditions for the formation of coal, several major biological, geological, and
climatic events occurred during this time.

❀Biologically, we see one of the greatest evolutionary innovations of the Carboniferous: the amniote egg,
which allowed for the further exploitation of the land by certain tetrapods.
It gave the ancestors of birds, mammals, and reptiles the ability to lay their eggs on land without fear of
desiccation.

The beginning of the Carboniferous generally had a more uniform, tropical, and humid climate than exists
today. Seasons if any were indistinct. These observations are based on comparisons between fossil and
modern-day plant morphology. The Carboniferous plants resemble those that live in tropical and mildly
temperate areas today. Many of them lack growth rings, which suggests a uniform climate.
Carboniferous Period
Mississippian
Period
The Mississippian environment of North America was
heavily marine, with seas covering parts of the
continent. As a result, most Mississippian rocks are
limestone, which are composed of the remains of
crinoids, lime-encrusted green algae, or calcium
carbonate shaped by waves.
Pennsylvanian
Period
The North American Pennsylvanian environment was
alternately terrestrial and marine, with the
transgression and regression of the seas caused by
glaciation. These environmental conditions, with the
vast amount of plant material provided by the
extensive coal forests, allowed for the formation of
coal. Plant material did not decay when the seas
covered them, and pressure and heat eventually built
up over millions of years to transform the plant
material to coal.
Permian Period
299 mya - 252.2 mya
At the beginning of the period, glaciation was widespread, and latitudinal climatic belts were strongly
developed.

❀ Climate warmed throughout the Permian times, and, by the end of the period, hot and dry conditions
were so extensive that they caused a crisis in Permian marine and terrestrial life. This dramatic climatic shift
may have been partially triggered by the assembly of smaller continents into the supercontinent of Pangea.

Most of Earth’s land area was incorporated into Pangea, which was surrounded by an immense world
ocean called Panthalassa.
Permian Period
299 mya - 252.2 mya
Terrestrial plants broadly diversified during the Permian Period, and insects evolved rapidly as they
followed the plants into new habitats. In addition, several important reptile lineages first appeared during
this period, including those that eventually gave rise to mammals in the Mesozoic Era.

The largest mass extinction in the Earth’s history occurred during the latter part of the Permian Period. This
mass extinction was so severe that only 10 percent or less of the species present during the time of
maximum biodiversity in the Permian survived to the end of the period.

The Permian Period constitutes an important crossroads both in the history of the Earth’s continents and in
the evolution of life. The principal geographic features of the Permian world were a supercontinent,
Pangea, and a huge ocean basin, Panthalassa, with its branch, the Tethys Sea (a large indentation in the
tropical eastern side of Pangea).
Permian Period
Marine and Terrestrial Life
Life during the Permian Period was very diverse—the marine life of the period was perhaps more diverse
than that of modern times. The gradual climatic warming that took place during the Early Permian
(Cisuralian) Epoch (298.9 million to 272.3 million years ago) encouraged great evolutionary expansion
(diversification) among both marine and terrestrial faunas that had survived the relatively cold conditions of
the Carboniferous Period.

Terrestrial life in Permian times was closely keyed to the evolution of terrestrial plants, which were the
primary food source for land animals. The fossil plant record for the Early Permian Epoch consists
predominantly of ferns, seed ferns, and lycophytes (a group of vascular plants containing club mosses and
scale trees), which were adapted to marshes and swampy environments.
Permian Period
Marine and Terrestrial Life
Evidence of broad plant diversification also is found in the rapid evolution of insects, which quickly
followed plants into new habitats. As these insects adapted to their new surroundings and formed very
specialized associations with plants, many new species emerged. Permian insects included at least 23
orders, 11 of which are now extinct.
Permian Period
Emergence of important reptiles
Several important reptile lineages, which descended from several orders of relatively large amphibians, first
appeared during the Permian Period.

Although a few primitive and generalized reptile fossils are found in Carboniferous deposits, Permian
reptile fossils are common in certain locations and include the protorosaurs, aquatic reptiles ancestral to
archosaurs (dinosaurs, crocodiles, and birds); the captorhinomorphs, “stem reptiles” from which most other
reptiles are thought to have evolved; eosuchians, early ancestors of the snakes and lizards; early anapsids,
ancestors of turtles; early archosaurs, ancestors of the large ruling reptiles of the Mesozoic; and synapsids,
a common and varied group of mammal-like reptiles that eventually gave rise to mammals in the Mesozoic.
Permian Period
Mass extinction
The greatest mass extinction episodes in Earth’s history occurred in the latter part of the Permian Period.

Although much debate surrounds the timing of the Permian mass extinction, most scientists agree that the
episode profoundly affected life on Earth by eliminating about half of all families, some 95 percent of
marine species (nearly wiping out brachiopods and corals), and about 70 percent of land species. Many
geologists and paleontologists maintain that the extinction events that took place during both the last
stage of the Middle Permian Epoch and throughout the Late Permian Epoch, each apparently more severe
than the previous one, extended over about 15 million years.

Other scientists, however, argue that the extinction interval was much more rapid, lasting only about
200,000 years with the bulk of the species loss occurring over a 20,000-year span near the end of the
period.
Permian Period
Mass extinction: causes
Temperature crises
Alteration of the carbon cycle
Population explosion of methane-producing microbes
Large icy meteoric impact
Mesozoic Era 252 mya - 66 mya

Mesozoic means 'middle life' and this is the time of the dinosaurs.

This era includes the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods, names that may be familiar to you.

It ended with a massive meteorite impact that caused a mass extinction, wiping out the dinosaurs and up to
80% of life on Earth.
Triassic Period 252 mya - 201 mya

What did Earth look like during the Triassic Period?

Although the super continent Pangaea existed throughout the Triassic, the forces that formed it
immediately began to pull it apart.
Pangaea began to rotate with different plates rotating in different directions at different rates.
The resulting tension caused a series of rips in the continent, and the Earth sagged down into these rips
forming rift basins.
During the Triassic, these rift basins (or rift valleys) developed between North America and Europe and
between Africa and South America.
With continued separation throughout the Jurassic Period, these basins became the Atlantic Ocean
and the Gulf of Mexico.
Other rifts later split off Antarctica, India, and Australia.
Triassic Period
What was Earth’s climate like during the Triassic
Period?
The climate during much of the Triassic was warm with a dry continental interior and no evidence of ice
at the poles.
Triassic Period
What animals were on Earth during the Triassic
Period?
After the great extinction at the end of the Permian, many new kinds of animals evolved during the
Triassic.
The dominant land animals were reptiles.
The first dinosaurs, marine reptiles, lizards, and tortoises appeared.
Mammals appeared during the Triassic, but they remained insignificant until their competitors, the
dinosaurs, became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous.
Crocodiles were abundant. It was in this period that insects attained complete metamorphosis.
Triassic Period
What plants were on Earth during the Triassic
Period?
There were climatic variations due to alternating wet/dry and cold/hot seasons that influenced the
distribution of plant communities.
Conifers, cycads, and ferns were common.
Jurassic Period 201 mya - 145 mya

What did Earth look like during the Jurassic Period?

The breakup of Pangaea that began in the Triassic continued, and the early Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf
of Mexico appeared as shallow continental seas.
Shallow inland seas covered parts of the western United States.

What was Earth’s climate like during the Jurassic

Period?
Warm tropical greenhouse conditions occurred worldwide.
Jurassic Period 201 mya - 145 mya

What animals were on Earth during the Jurassic

Period?
Giant plant-eating dinosaurs roamed the Earth with smaller but vicious carnivores stalking them.
Flying reptiles and the first birds appeared.
Creeping about in the undergrowth were tiny mammals no bigger than rats.
The shallow oceans contained abundant life from tiny plankton to huge, whale-sized marine reptiles.

What plants were on Earth during the Jurassic

Period?
Conifers continued to be the most diverse large trees.
Cycads (evergreen, cone-bearing, palm-like plants) became so abundant and diverse that the Jurassic
is sometimes called the "Age of Cycads."
Cretaceous Period 145 mya - 66 mya

What did Earth look like during the Cretaceous

Period?
The Atlantic Ocean continued to lengthen and widen, particularly to the south, which split South
America from Africa.
India separated and became an island continent.
Much of each continent was covered with shallow continental oceans and inland seas.
North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa became a series of islands.
The part of the US between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians and Ozarks was mostly
underwater.
Cretaceous Period 145 mya - 66 mya

What was Earth’s climate like?

During the Late Cretaceous, with rising sea levels and separated continents, shallow ocean currents
carried warm water farther toward the poles.
This created a mild global climate with ice-free poles.
What animals were on Earth during the Cretaceous
Period?
At least initially, dinosaurs and marine reptiles continued to flourish, and many new species appeared.
Birds diversified and expanded in numbers, and they may have been the reason that flying reptiles
decreased significantly.
There were many new mammals, including the three groups that live today.
Due to the appearance of flowering plants, many modern groups of insects appeared and began to
diversify, including ants, termites, bees, butterflies, aphids, and grasshoppers.
Cretaceous Period 145 mya - 66 mya

What else happened during the Cretaceous Period?

A large meteorite crashed into the Gulf of Mexico 66 million years ago, causing a massive tsunami and a
climate disruption that killed up to 80% of the world's animal and plant species, the last of the dinosaurs
being the most noticeable victims.
This mass extinction event separates the Mesozoic from the Cenozoic Era.
Thank
you!
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