Timeline

THE GEOLOGIC TIMELINE

EON	*PRECAMBRIAN*	*PRECAMBRIAN*	*PRECAMBRIAN*	PHANEROZOIC
EON	*HADEAN*	*ARCHEAN*	*PROTERZOIC*	PHANEROZOIC

ERA

EOARCHEAN

PALEOARCHEAN

MESOARCHEAN

NEOARCHEAN

PALEOPROTERZOIC

MESOPROTERZOIC

NEOPROTERZOIC

PALEOZOIC

MESOZOIC

CENOZOIC

PERIOD

Siderian

Rhyacian

Orosirian

Statherian

Calymmian

Ectasian

Stenian

Tonian

Cryogenian

Ediacaran

Cambrian

Ordovician

Silurian

Devonian

Carboniferous

Permian

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

Paleogene

Neogene

Quaternary

TIME

4.6 Billion Years Ago

4 Billion Years Ago

3.6 Billion Years Ago

3.2 Billion Years Ago

2.8 Billion Years Ago

2.5 Billion Years Ago

2.3 Billion Years Ago

2.05 Billion Years Ago

1.8 Billion Years Ago

1.6 Billion Years Ago

1.4 Billion Years Ago

1.2 Billion Years Ago

1 Billion Years Ago

850 Million Yrs Ago

635 Million Yrs Ago

542 Million Yrs Ago

488 Million Yrs Ago

444 Million Yrs Ago

416 Million Yrs Ago

359 Million Yrs Ago

299 Million Yrs Ago

251 Million Yrs Ago

200 Million Yrs Ago

146 Million Yrs Ago

65 Million Yrs Ago

23 Mya

2.5

4.6 Bya

Formation of the Earth

4.5 Bya

The Moon is carved out of the Earth by a huge impact

4.1 BYA

Rain falls upon the Earth for the first time and the oceans form

3.8 Bya

Approx age of the oldest rocks

3.4 Bya

Stromatolites form in shallow waters

cyanobacteria

2.1 Bya

Water based photosynthesis is created by blue green cyanobacteria

1.5 Bya

Meiotic sex emerges in eukarya

Ediacaran Period

Age of Marine Invertebrates

Age of Fishes

Age of amphibians

Age of reptiles

Age of mammals

The first life evolves - the first single-celled organisms

Ediacaran Geological boundry Golden Spike

534 MYA Early Cambrian Mass Extinction

440 MYA Mass Extinction

367 MYA Late Devonian Mass Extinction

245 MYA Permian Mass Extinction - the most devastating extinction Earth endured

210 MYA Triassic Mass Extinction

65 MYA KT Mass Extinction - all life over 50lbs went extinct

65 MYA late Eocene mini extinction

Oldest definite soft body multicellular organisms

Cambrian Explosion

First fish appear

Jawed fish appear

Ancestors of modern shark appear

Large primative trees form

Abundant amount of shark teeth in the fossil record

Thick shells and spines evolve in marine life for protection

Mammals develop and become dominant

Mammoths venture into N.America

Charina fossil

First shelled organisms, trilobites dominant, jellyfish and sponges

First land plant fossils

Vascular plants evolve - plants that allow water to move upwards

Earth learns to hear. Temnospondyl amphibians evolved ears capable of hearing

Pangaea forms, a single supercontinent

Pangaea breakup

Frogs and birds evolve

Flowering plants and insects co-evolve using pollination

Whale ancestors return to the sea

4.4 Mya Human ancestors walked fully upright

Spriggina fossil

Sight is invented in the compound eyes of trilobite anthropods

First sea urchins evolve

First amphibians

First land worthy eggs appear

First dinosaurs

Dinosaurs are abundant

Height of the dinosaurs

Hoofed mammals appear with great diversity

2.5 Mya Human ancestors developed stone tools

Aspidella Terranovica fossil

Earlist corals begin to build reefs

Earth learns to fly. Abundant insects evolve flight

First small mammals evolve

Mammals diversify and evolve with separate orfices including a vagina

Chimpanzees diverge from a common ancestor in Africa

1.4 Mya Human ancestors domesticated fire

Dickinsonia fossil

Terapods, four footed vertebrates originate and move to land

First reptiles appear

Conifer trees such as Redwoods originate

Fruit tree families originate

.5 Mya Human ancestors developed symbolic language

First complicated Trace fossil

The Appalachian mountains begin to rise

Reptiles invent the penis - but not yet a distinct vagina

Rocky mountains form for a second time

3200 years ago classic religions emerged