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Supercontinent of Rodinia (1.2 Gyr–750 Ma) completed: consisting of North American, East European, Amazonian, West African, Eastern Antarctica, Australia and China blocks, largest global system yet formed – surrounded by superocean Mirovia c. 1,100 Ma – First dinoflagellate evolve; photosynthetic, some develop mixotrophic habits of ingesting prey. Thus, they become the first predators, forcing acritarchs to defensive strategies and leading to open "arms" race. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
Late Ruker (1.1–1 Gyr) and Nimrod Orogenies (1.1 Gyr) in Antarctica possibly begins: formation of Gamburtsev mountain range and Vostok Subglacial Highlands. Keweenawan Rift buckles in the south-central part of the North American plate – leaves behind thick layers of rock that are exposed in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska and creates rift valley where future Lake Superior develops. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
1,080 Ma – Musgrave Orogeny (c. 1.080 Gyr) forms Musgrave Block, an east–west trending belt of granulite-gneiss basement rocks – voluminous Kulgera Suite of granite and Birksgate Complex solidify c. 1,076 Ma – Musgrave Orogeny: Warakurna large igneous province develops – intrusion of Giles Complex and Winburn Suite of granites and deposition of Bentley Supergroup (including Tollu and Smoke Hill Volcanics) c. 1,010 Ma – Ourasphaira giraldae: multicellular organic-walled microfossils preserved in shale of the Grassy Bay Formation (Canadian Arctic) with fungal affinity. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 1,000 Ma – Neoproterozoic Era and Tonian Period start. Grenville orogeny ends. First radiation of dinoflagellates and spiny acritarchs – increase in defensive systems indicate that acritarchs are responding to carnivorous habits of dinoflagellates – decline in stromatolite reef populations begins. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
Rodinia starts to break up. First vaucherian algae. Rayner Orogeny as proto-India and Antarctica collide (to c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
900 Ma). Trace fossils of colonial Horodyskia (to c. 900 Ma): possible divergence between animal and plant kingdoms begins. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
Stabilization of Satpura Province in Northern India. Rayner Orogeny (1 Gyr – 900 Ma) as India and Antarctica collide c. 920 Ma – Edmundian Orogeny (c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
920–850 Ma) redefines Gascoyne Complex: consists of reactivation of earlier formed faults in the Gascoyne – folding and faulting of overlying Edmund and Collier basins c. 920 Ma – Adelaide Geosyncline laid down in central Australia – essentially a rift complex, consists of thick layer of sedimentary rock and minor volcanics deposited on Easter margin – limestones, shales and sandstones predominate c. 900 Ma – Bitter Springs Formation of Australia: in addition to prokaryote assemblage of fossils, cherts include eukaryotes with ghostly internal structures similar to green algae – first appearance of Glenobotrydion (900–720 Ma), among earliest plants on Earth c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
830 Ma – Rift develops on Rodinia between continental masses of Australia, eastern Antarctica, India, Congo and Kalahari on one side and Laurentia, Baltica, Amazonia, West African and Rio de la Plata cratons on other – formation of Adamastor Ocean. c. 800 Ma – With free oxygen levels much higher, carbon cycle is disrupted and once again glaciation becomes severe – beginning of second "snowball Earth" event c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
750 Ma – First Protozoa appears: as creatures like Paramecium, Amoeba and Melanocyrillium evolve, first animal-like cells become distinctive from plants – rise of herbivores (plant feeders) in the food chain. First Sponge-like animal: similar to early colonial foraminiferan Horodyskia, earliest ancestors of Sponges were colonial cells that circulated food sources using flagella to their gullet to be digested. Kaigas (c. 750 Ma): first thought o be a major glaciation of Earth, however, the Kaigas formation was later determined to be non-glacial. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 720 Ma – Cryogenian Period starts, during which Earth freezes over (Snowball Earth or Slushball Earth) at least 3 times. The Sturtian glaciation continues the process begun during Kaigas – great ice sheets cover most of the planet stunting evolutionary development of animal and plant life – survival based on small pockets of heat under the ice. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
700 Ma – Fossils of testate Amoeba first appear: first complex metazoans leave unconfirmed biomarkers – they introduce new complex body plan architecture which allows for development of complex internal and external structures. Worm trail impressions in China: because putative "burrows" under stromatolite mounds are of uneven width and tapering makes biological origin difficult to defend – structures imply simple feeding behaviours. Rifting of Rodinia is completed: formation of new superocean of Panthalassa as previous Mirovia ocean bed closes – Mozambique mobile belt develops as a suture between plates on Congo-Tanzania craton c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
660 Ma – As Sturtian glaciers retreat, Cadomian orogeny (660–540 Ma) begins on north coast of Armorica: involving one or more collisions of island arcs on margin of future Gondwana, terranes of Avalonia, Armorica and Iberia are laid down c. 650 Ma – First Demosponges appear: form first skeletons of spicules made from protein spongin and silica – brightly coloured these colonial creatures filter feed since they lack nervous, digestive or circulatory systems and reproduce both sexually and asexually c. 650 Ma – Final period of worldwide glaciation, Marinoan (650–635 Ma) begins: most significant "snowball Earth" event, global in scope and longer – evidence from Diamictite deposits in South Australia laid down on Adelaide Geosyncline | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 635 Ma – Ediacaran period begins. End of Marinoan Glaciation: last major "snowball Earth" event as future ice ages will feature less overall ice coverage of the planet c. 633 Ma – Beardmore Orogeny (to c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
620 Ma) in Antarctica: reflection of final break-up of Rodinia as pieces of the supercontinent begin moving together again to form Pannotia c. 620 Ma – Timanide Orogeny (to c. 550 Ma) affects northern Baltic Shield: gneiss province divided into several north–south trending segments experiences numerous metasedimentary and metavolcanic deposits – last major orogenic event of Precambrian c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
600 Ma – Pan-African Orogeny begins: Arabian-Nubian Shield formed between plates separating supercontinent fragments Gondwana and Pannotia – Supercontinent Pannotia (to c. 500 Ma) completed, bordered by Iapetus and Panthalassa oceans. Accumulation of atmospheric oxygen allows for the formation of ozone layer: prior to this, land-based life would probably have required other chemicals to attenuate ultraviolet radiation enough to permit colonization of the land c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
575 Ma – First Ediacaran-type fossils. c. 565 Ma – Charnia, a frond-like organism, first evolves. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 560 Ma – Trace fossils, e.g., worm burrows, and small bilaterally symmetrical animals. Earliest arthropods. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
Earliest fungi. c. 558 Ma – Dickinsonia, a large slow moving disc-like creature, first appears – the discovery of fat molecules in its tissues make it the first confirmed true metazoan animal of the fossil record. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 555 Ma – The first possible mollusk Kimberella appears. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 550 Ma – First possible comb-jellies, sponges, corals, and anemones. c. 550 Ma – Uluru or Ayers Rock begins forming during the Petermann Orogeny in Australia c. 544 Ma – The small shelly fauna first appears. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 538.8 ± 0.2 Ma – beginning of the Cambrian Period, the Paleozoic Era and the current Phanerozoic Eon. End of the Ediacaran Period, the Proterozoic Eon and the Precambrian Supereon. The Ediacaran fauna disappears, while the Cambrian explosion initiates the emergence of most forms of complex life, including vertebrates (fish), arthropods, echinoderms and molluscs. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
Pannotia breaks up into several smaller continents: Laurentia, Baltica and Gondwana. c. 530 Ma – First fish – appearance of Myllokunmingia c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
525 Ma – First graptolites. c. 521 Ma – First trilobites. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 518 Ma – Chengjiang biota flourishes – Maotianshan Shales reveal numerous invertebrates and arthropods that appear in the Burgess shales suggesting their range is global and includes a number of chordates including Haikouella, Yunnanozoon and early fish like Haikouichthys. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
514 Ma – Paradoxides trilobites appear, the largest members of the Cambrian Trilobites. c. 511 Ma – Earliest crustaceans. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 505 Ma – Deposition of the Burgess Shale – Biota includes numerous strange invertebrates and arthropods like Opabinia; First great apex predator Anomalocaris dominates. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
490 Ma – Beginning of the Caledonian Orogeny as three continents and terranes of Laurentia, Baltica and Avalonia collide resulting in mountain-building recorded in the northern parts of Ireland and Britain, the Scandinavian Mountains, Svalbard, eastern Greenland and parts of north-central Europe. c. 488 Ma – Earliest brittle stars. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 485.4 ± 1.9 Ma – Beginning of the Ordovician and the end of the Cambrian Period. c. 485 Ma – First jawless fish – radiation of Thelodont fish into the Silurian c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
460 Ma – First crinoids evolve. c. 450 Ma – Late Ordovician microfossils of scales indicate the earliest evidence for the existence of jawed fish or Gnathostomata. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 450 Ma – Plants and arthropods colonize the land. Sharks evolve. First horseshoe crabs and starfish. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 443.8 ± 1.5 Ma – Beginning of the Silurian and the end of the Ordovician Period. c. 433 Ma – Great Glen Fault begins shaping the Scottish Highlands as the Caledonian Orogeny reaches its close. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 430 Ma – First appearance of Cooksonia, the oldest known plant to have a stem with vascular tissue and is thus a transitional form between the primitive non-vascular bryophytes and the vascular plants c. 420 Ma – First creature took a breath of air. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
First ray-finned fish and land scorpions. c. 410 Ma – First toothed fish and nautiloids. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 419.2 ± 3.2 Ma – Beginning of the Devonian and end of the Silurian Period. First insects. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
419 Ma – Old Red Sandstone sediments begin being laid in the North Atlantic region including Britain, Ireland, Norway and in the west along the northeastern seaboard of North America. It also extends northwards into Greenland and Svalbard. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
415 Ma – Cephalaspis, an iconic member of the Osteostraci, appears, the most advanced of the jawless fish. Its boney armor serves as protection against the successful radiation of Placoderms and as a way to live in calcium-poor fresh water environments. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
395 Ma – First of many modern groups, including tetrapods. c. 375 Ma – Acadian Orogeny begins influencing mountain building along the Atlantic seaboard of North America. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 370 Ma – Cladoselache, an early shark, first appears. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 363 Ma – Vascular plants begin to create the earliest stable soils on land. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
360 Ma – First crabs and ferns. The large predatory lobe-finned fish Hyneria evolves. c. 350 Ma – First large sharks, ratfish and hagfish. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 358.9 ± 0.4 Ma – Beginning of the Carboniferous and the end of Devonian Period. Amphibians diversify. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
345 Ma – Agaricocrinus americanus a representative of the Crinoids appears as part of a successful radiation of the echinoderms. c. 330 Ma – First amniotes evolve. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 320 Ma – First synapsids evolve. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
318 Ma – First beetles. c. 315 Ma – The evolution of the first reptiles. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 312 Ma – Hylonomus makes first appearance, one of the oldest reptiles found in the fossil record. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
306 Ma – Diplocaulus evolves in the swamps with an unusual boomerang-like skull. c. 305 Ma – First diapsids evolve; Meganeura a giant dragonfly dominates the skies. c. 300 Ma – Last great period of mountain building episodes in Europe and North America in response to the final suturing together of the supercontinent Pangaea – the Ural mountains are uplifted | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 251.9 ± 0.15 Ma – End of Carboniferous and beginning of Permian Period. By this time, all continents have fused into the supercontinent of Pangaea. Seed plants and conifers diversify along with temnospondyls and pelycosaurs. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 296 Ma – Oldest known octopus fossil. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 295 Ma – Dimetrodon evolves. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 280 Ma – First cycads evolve. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
275 Ma – First therapsids evolve. c. 270 Ma – Gorgonopsians, the apex predators of the Late Permian, first evolve. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 251.4 Ma – Permian mass extinction. End of Permian Period and of the Palaeozoic Era. Beginning of Triassic Period, the Mesozoic era and of the age of the dinosaurs. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 251.9 Ma ± 0.024 Ma – Mesozoic era and Triassic Period begin. Mesozoic Marine Revolution begins. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
245 Ma – First ichthyosaurs. c. 240 Ma – Cynodonts and rhynchosaurs diversify. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 225 Ma – First dinosaurs and teleosti evolve. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
220 Ma – First crocodilians and flies. c. 215 Ma – First turtles. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
Long-necked sauropod dinosaurs and Coelophysis, one of the earliest theropod dinosaurs, evolve. First mammals. c. 214 Ma - Plateosaurus, a basal sauropodomorph or so-called “prosauropod” evolves in what is now Central and Northern Europe, Greenland and North America c. 210 Ma – Earliest elasmosauridae. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 201.4 ± 0.2 Ma – Triassic-Jurassic extinction event marks the end of Triassic and beginning of Jurassic Period. The largest dinosaurs, such as Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus evolve during this time, as do the carnosaurs; large, bipedal predatory dinosaurs such as Allosaurus. First specialized pterosaurs and sauropods. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
Ornithischians diversify. c. 199 Ma – First squamata evolve. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
Earliest lizards. c. 190 Ma – Pliosaurs evolve, along with many groups of primitive sea invertebrates. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 180 Ma – Pangaea splits into two major continents: Laurasia in the north and Gondwana in the south. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 176 Ma – First stegosaurs. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
170 Ma – First salamanders and newts evolve. Cynodonts go extinct. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
165 Ma – First rays and glycymeridid bivalves. c. 164 Ma – The first gliding mammal, volaticotherium, appears in the fossil record. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 161 Ma – First ceratopsians. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
155 Ma – First birds and triconodonts. Stegosaurs and theropods diversify. c. 153 Ma – Earliest pine trees. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 145 Ma – End of Jurassic and beginning of Cretaceous Period. c. 145 Ma – First mantises. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 140 Ma – Earliest orb-weaver spiders evolve. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
130 Ma – Laurasia and Gondwana begin to split apart as the Atlantic Ocean forms. First flowering plants. Earliest anglerfish. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 125 Ma – Sinodelphys szalayi, the earliest known marsupial, evolves in China. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
122 Ma – Earliest ankylosauridae. c. 115 Ma – First monotremes. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 110 Ma – First hesperornithes. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 106 Ma – Spinosaurus evolves. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 100 Ma – First bees. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
94 Ma – First modern species of palm trees appear. c. 90 Ma – the Indian subcontinent splits from Gondwana, becoming an island continent. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
Ichthyosaurs go extinct. Snakes and ticks evolve. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
86 Ma – First hadrosauridae. c. 80 Ma – Australia splits from Antarctica. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
First ants. c. 75 Ma – First velociraptors. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 70 Ma – Multituberculates diversify. The Mosasaurus evolves. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 68 Ma – Tyrannosaurus rex evolves. Earliest species of Triceratops. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
Quetzalcoatlus, one of the largest flying animals to ever live, first appears in the fossil record. c. 66.038 ± 0.011 Ma – Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous Period marks the end of the Mesozoic era and the age of the dinosaurs; start of the Paleogene Period and the current Cenozoic era. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 63 Ma – First creodonts. c. 62 Ma – Fall in sea level and the retreat of inland seas completes the emergence of North America; First penguins appear – Genus Crossvallia, the earliest known birds suited to an aquatic lifestyle, alongside Kupoupou appear in the fossil record of Antarctica (from the Cross Valley Formation on Seymour Island) and New Zealand (Takatika Grit formation of the Chatham Islands); Pelagornithidae or bony-toothed birds, group of large seabirds noted for tooth-like points on their beak's edges first appear – Pseudoteeth of pelagornithids do not seem to have had serrated or otherwise specialized cutting edges and were useful to hold prey for swallowing whole and would have consisted of soft-bodied organisms like Cephalopods; . | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 60 Ma – Evolution of the first primates and miacids. Flightless birds diversify. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 56 Ma – Gastornis evolves. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
55 Ma – the island of the Indian subcontinent collides with Asia, thrusting up the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Many modern bird groups appear. First whale ancestors. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
First rodents, lagomorphs, armadillos, sirenians, proboscideans, perissodactyls, artiodactyls, and mako sharks. Angiosperms diversify. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
52.5 Ma – First passerine (perching) birds. c. 52 Ma – First bats. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 50 Ma – Africa collides with Eurasia, closing the Tethys Sea. Divergence of cat and dog ancestors. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
Primates diversify. Brontotheres, tapirs, and rhinos evolve. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
49 Ma – Whales return to the water. c. 45 Ma – Camels evolve in North America. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 40 Ma – Age of the Catarrhini parvorder; first canines evolve. Lepidopteran insects become recognizable. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
Gastornis goes extinct. Basilosaurus evolves. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
37 Ma – First Nimravids. c. 33.9 Ma – End of Eocene, start of Oligocene epoch. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 35 Ma – Grasslands first appear. Glyptodonts, ground sloths, peccaries, dogs, eagles, and hawks evolve. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 33 Ma – First thylacinid marsupials evolve. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
30 Ma – Brontotheres go extinct. Pigs evolve. South America separates from Antarctica, becoming an island continent. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 28 Ma – Paraceratherium evolves. First pelicans. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
c. 26 Ma – Emergence of the first true elephants. c. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
25 Ma – First deer. Cats evolve. c. 24 Ma – Earliest pinnipeds (seals). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_natural_history |
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