THE EARTH - GEOLOGICAL PERIODS
Composition of the Earth |
Global Statistics | Glossary
| Geological Periods
PERIOD
|
MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO
|
EVENTS
|
LIFE FORMS
|
PRE-CAMBRIAN
| ARCHAEAN |
4600-2500 |
Solidification of crust |
Protozoa |
| PROTEROZOIC |
2500-600 |
Free oxygen in the atmosphere |
Metazoa |
PALAEOZOIC
| CAMBRIAN |
600-500 |
|
Invertebrates (trilobites). Corals |
| ORDOVICIAN |
500-425 |
Sea covers most of the planet |
Vertebrates |
| SILURIAN |
425-405 |
|
Land plants, giant fishes |
| DEVONIAN |
405-345 |
|
Amphibians |
| CARBONIFEROUS |
345-280 |
Swamps and coal bearing rocks |
Reptiles, insects, ferns. |
| PERMIAN |
80-230 |
Formation of Pangea |
Conifers. |
MESOZOIC
| TRIASSIC |
230-181 |
|
First dinosaurs. |
| JURASSIC |
181-135 |
|
Height of dinosaurs. Mammals and birds. |
| CRETACEOUS |
123-63 |
Break up of Pangea |
End of the dinosaurs. Flowering plants. |
CENOZOIC
| TERTIARY |
63-5 |
Himalayas and Alps folded |
Evolutionary separation of apes and monkeys. Most mammals
established. |
| QUATERNARY |
5 |
Last ice age |
Modern man |
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