| EON |
ERA |
AMERICAN
PERIODS |
EUROPEAN
PERIODS |
EPOCHS |
LIFE EVENTS
|
Phanerozoic
570 MY-Now |
Cenozoic
66 MY-now |
Quaternary
1.6 MY-Now |
Neogene
24-1.6 MY |
Holocene
or Recent |
Man is on all the Continents |
| Pleistocene |
H. erectus, H. sapiens; extinction of megafauna
@ end of Pleistocene |
Tertiary
66-1.6 MY |
Pliocene |
Hominids |
| Miocene |
Extensive grasslands; evolution of grazing horses and
antelopes |
Paleogene
66-24 MY |
Oligocene |
Beginning of ice cap in Antarctica |
| Eocene |
Evolution of horses, camels, cats, dogs, rodents, advanced
primates |
| Paleocene |
Angiosperms dominate; Mammals
diversify; so do foraminifera |
Mesozoic
Middle Life
245-66 MY |
Cretaceous
145-66 MY |
Cretaceous |
Commonly
Paleozoic
and
Mesozoic
Periods
are
subdivided
into
EARLY
MIDDLE
and LATE
Epochs |
Extinction of dinosaurs and ammonites
first snakes; first marsupial and placental mammals;
first social insects; rapid diversification of flowering plants and insects |
Jurassic
210-145 MY |
Jurassic |
first angiosperms (flowering plants); first birds; crabs,
frogs, salamander; |
Triassic
245-210 MY |
Triassic |
first hexacorals; first oysters; first dinosaurs, mammals,
turtles, crocodiles, marine reptiles; gymnosperms (cycads conifers gingkoes)
dominant
Bivalves and ammonoids flourish. Break-up of Pangea begins |
Paleozoic
570-245 MY |
Permian
285-245 MY |
Permian |
massive invertebrate extinction @ end of Permian
first therapsid and archosaurs; bryozoans brachiopods
and fusulinids important
Pangea III |
Pennsylvanian
320-285 MY |
Carboniferous
360-285MY |
first mammal-like reptiles; first winged insects; first
conifers; major coal formation; fusulinids important. |
Mississipian
360-320 MY |
first reptiles; first pteridosperms and gymnosperms; |
Devonian
410-360 MY |
Devonian |
major extinction in marine faunas at end of devonian.
first forests; first ammonoids, sharks, amphibians, bony
fishes; plants evolve seeds and leaves |
Silurian
440-410 MY |
Silurian |
first jawed fishes; life on land becomes abundant |
Ordovician
505-440 MY |
Ordovician |
first land plants and animals. Bryozoans
crinoids and corals (rugose and tabulate) common till
end of Permian; giant nautiloids |
Cambrian
570-505 MY |
Cambrian |
Appearance of hard parts. Fossils become larger and common;
first vertebrates, first jawless fish; first gastropods, worms, brachiopods;
trilobites; first vascular plants. |
Proterozoic
2500-570 MY |
Late
900-570 MY |
Ediacaran
(=Vendian)
630-570 MY |
Ediacaran |
No epochs |
Ediacaran Fauna; first arthropods, annelid worms
and cnidaria. |
| No
other periods in Prepaleozoic |
~1.0 BY Pangea II; Sexual reproduction;
multicellular organisms; animal trace fossils |
Middle
1600-900 MY |
first plants (green algae) |
Early
2500-1600 MY |
~2.0 BY Eukaryotic cells; stromatolites common;
Pangea I;
~2.5 BY Continents about 1/2 their present size |
Archean
3900-2500 MY |
Late
3000-2500 MY |
~3.0 BY Photosynthesis (blue-green algae);
stromatolites |
Early
3900-3000 MY |
~3.6 BY Oldest stromatolites
~3.7 BY Oldest sedimentary rocks
~3.9 BY First appearance of prokaryotic life (maybe as
early as 4.0 BY) |
Hadean
4600-3900 MY |
No Eras |
~4.0BY Earliest Rocks
~4.5 BY Earliest crust |