"Developing an understanding of history is essential for those who would influence the future."
—J. M. Freeland
Below you will find your free educational topic on the evolution of life on Earth.
The information presented here is based on the study of rocks and of the fossils they contain. Fossils are evidence of ancient life, and the atomic isotopes in the rocks that contain these fossils give an estimate of the time when the fossils were alive. For a brief description of what is known about a particular prehistoric time frame, click on one of the periods of interest below.
If you would like to see more information included in this section (whether to improve on this topic or to suggest new areas worthy of discussion), please don't hesitate to send us a message.
Happy reading...and learning!
Contents
- THE TIMELINE (Image Size: 72k)
The name of the geological periods and eons of Earth's history - PRECAMBRIAN PERIOD
6,000 to 570 million years ago - CAMBRIAN PERIOD
570 to 505 million years ago - ORDOVICIAN PERIOD
505 to 438 million years ago - SILURIAN PERIOD
438 to 408 million years ago - DEVONIAN PERIOD
408 to 380 million years ago - CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD
380 to 286 million years ago - PERMIAN PERIOD
286 to 245 million years ago - TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC PERIODS
245 to 144 million years ago - CRETACEOUS PERIOD
144 to 64.5 million years ago - PALEOCENE EPOCH
64.5 to 59 million years ago - EOCENE EPOCH
58.9 to 34 million years ago - OLIGOCENE EPOCH
33.9 to 23.1 million years ago - MIOCENE EPOCH
23 to 5.3 million years ago - PLIOCENE EPOCH
5.3 to 2.7 million years ago - PLEISTOCENE EPOCH
2.6 to 11,000 years ago - RECENT EPOCH
11,000 years ago to the present - TODAY
The present - THE NEXT EPOCH
Will humans survive? - Bibliography
Articles appearing in this section
- Study finds evidence of 'mass extinction': The Canberra Times. 10 September 2000.
- Soot a key source for global warming: The Canberra Times. 17 February 2001.
- Earth's drylands are slowly turning to dust: The Canberra Times. 12 July 2001.
