Evolution of life on earth

"Developing an understanding of history is essential for those who would influence the future."

—J. M. Freeland

Please find below your free information on the essentials on the evolution of life on Earth.

The information presented here is based on the study of rocks and of the fossils contained within them. Fossils are evidence of ancient life, and the atomic isotopes contained in the rocks carrying these fossils provide an estimate of the time when the fossils were alive. For a brief description of what is known for a given prehistoric time frame, please click on one of the periods of interest below.

If you would like to see other information included in this section (whether to improve on this topic or suggest new areas worthy of discussion), don't hesitate to send us a message.

Happy reading...and learning!

Contents

1. THE TIMELINE (Image Size: 72k)
   The name of the geological periods and eons of Earth's history
2. PRECAMBRIAN PERIOD
   6,000 to 570 million years ago
3. CAMBRIAN PERIOD
   570 to 505 million years ago
4. ORDOVICIAN PERIOD
   505 to 438 million years ago
5. SILURIAN PERIOD
   438 to 408 million years ago
6. DEVONIAN PERIOD
   408 to 380 million years ago
7. CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD
   380 to 286 million years ago
8. PERMIAN PERIOD
   286 to 245 million years ago
9. TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC PERIODS
   245 to 144 million years ago
10. CRETACEOUS PERIOD
    144 to 64.5 million years ago
11. PALEOCENE EPOCH
    64.5 to 59 million years ago
12. EOCENE EPOCH
    58.9 to 34 million years ago
13. OLIGOCENE EPOCH
    33.9 to 23.1 million years ago
14. MIOCENE EPOCH
    23 to 5.3 million years ago
15. PLIOCENE EPOCH
    5.3 to 2.7 million years ago
16. PLEISTOCENE EPOCH
    2.6 to 11,000 years ago
17. RECENT EPOCH
    11,000 years ago to the present
18. TODAY
    The present
19. THE NEXT EPOCH
    Will humans survive?
20. Bibliography

Articles appearing in this section

1. Study finds evidence of 'mass extinction': The Canberra Times. 10 September 2000.
2. Soot a key source for global warming: The Canberra Times. 17 February 2001.
3. Earth's drylands are slowly turning to dust: The Canberra Times. 12 July 2001.