Landmark Events in the History of Life

Key events and periods covered in lecture; see Fig. 2.11 in F&H. Match this to plate tectonics, Fig. 15.5 in F&H.

Approximate Date	Era/Period/Epoch	Event
14 BYA	Archaean Era	Formation of universe
4.6 BYA	Archaean Era	Formation of earth
3.8 BYA	Archaean Era	Earliest evidence of life
1.5 BYA	Proterozoic Era	Eukaryotes appear in fossil record
610 MYA	Proterozoic Era: Pre-Cambrian	Earliest known metazoans
540 MYA	Paleozoic Era: Cambrian Period	Cambrian radiation
400 MYA	Paleozoic Era: Silurian-Devonian Periods	Age of fishes; ferns and seed plants appear
380 MYA	Paleozoic Era: Devonian Period	Abundant terrestrial fauna, including amphibians. Plants diversify
350 MYA	Paleozoic Era: Carboniferous Period	Amniotes appear
245 MYA	Mesozoic Era: Triassic Period	Reptiles diversify, first dinosaurs, gymnosperms dominate plants, cycads, first mammals
200 MYA	Mesozoic Era: Jurassic Period	Age of dinosaurs, first birds, first angiosperms
145 MYA	Mesozoic Era: Cretaceous Period	Angiosperms diversify, dinosaurs diversify through Period, followed by mass extinction event at end of Period (.65 MYA)
65 MYA	Cenozoic Era: Paleocene Epoch	Amodern@ fauna and flora begins to take shape
40 MYA	Cenozoic Era: Eocene-Oligocene Epoch	Radiation of mammals, eutherian and marsupial in parallel
5 MYA	Cenozoic Era: Pliocene Epoch	Earliest hominid fossils in Africa, Australopithecines
2 MYA	Cenozoic Era: Pleistocene Epoch	First members genus Homo
1.5 MYA	Cenozoic Era: Pleistocene Epoch	Homo erectus
0.4-0.1 MYA	Cenozoic Era: Holocene Epoch	Homo neanderthalensis
0.01 MYA	Cenozoic Era: Holocene Epoch	Humans migrate to western hemisphere