Evolution and

Extinction
Topic: PALEONTOLOGY
Paleontology is the scientific study of life that existed prior
to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene Epoch.

Purpose: To educate the students and provide the facts they need
for their studies

Audience: Students

Role: A student that shares information and knowledge to other

students
BOOKS
• Oxygen was scarce on the early Earth, so the ancestral cell must
have been anaerobic (capable of living without oxygen).

Reference:
Earth and Life Sciences. (2016). Sampaloc, Manila:
Rex Bookstore, Inc.
BOOKS
• The oldest fossils show that life on earth was established at least
3.5 billion years ago.

Reference:
Tarbuck, E.J., & Lutgens, F.K. (2009). Earth Science.
Philippines: Pearson Education, Inc.
JOURNALS
• Algae are among the oldest organisms known to inhabit
the Earth’s biosphere with a record dating back 2.7
billion years ago.

Reference:
Schwark, L., & Empt, P. (2006). Sterane
Biomakers as Indicators of Palaeozoic
Algal Evolution and Extinction Events.
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,
Palaeocology, 240(1-2), 225-236.
JOURNALS
• Extinction coefficients are estimated from the rates of
disappearance of bird species from islands severed from
the Neotropical mainland at the close of the
Pleistocene.

Reference:
Teborgh, J. (1974). Preservation of Natural
Diversity: The Problem of Extinction
Prone Species. BioScience, 24(12), 715-722.
ONLINE SOURCES
• The first true vertebrate – an animal with a backbone – appeared 530
million years ago. It probably evolves from a jawless fish that has a
notochord, a stiff rod of cartilage, instead od a true backbone.

Reference:
Marshall, M. (2015). Timeline: The Evolution of
Life. Retrieved from
https://www.newscientist.com/article/
dn17435-timeline-the-evolution-of-life/ on
07/22/19.
ONLINE SOURCES
• Scientists have discovered at least five different mass extinction, referred
to as the Big 5, over history when anywhere between 50% and 75% of life
were lost.

Reference:

Pariona, A. (2005). Timeline of Mass

Extinction Events on Earth. Retrieved form
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-
timeline-of-the-mass-extinction-events-on-
earth.html on 07/22/19.