GENERAL BIOLOGY 2 REVIEWER-YEN

GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE

- is a record of life forms and geologic events
in Earth’s history.

STRATA- stacked-up horizontal layers or bands

of sedimentary rocks.

KEY CONCEPT: Because the time span of

Earth’s past is so great, geologists use the
GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE to show Earth’s
history.

FOSSILS- remnant,impression or trace of an

animal or plant of a past geologic age that has
been reserved in Earth’s crust.
The complex data recorded in fossils EON- the largest division of geologic time
worldwide—known as the FOSSIL RECORD- is scale; half billion- nearly 2 billions of years.
the primary source of information about the
history of life on EARTH. Earth’s history is characterized by FOUR (4)
EONS; in order from oldest to youngest, these
While TRILOBITES and AMMONITES were are the HADEAN, ARCHEAN, PROTEROZOIC
both sea-living creatures, AMMONITES were AND PHANEROZOIC (visible life).
cephalopods and TRILOBITES were
arthropods. PRECAMBRIAN- 4.5 million years; about 88%
of the Earth’s history.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE 2 MAIN
WAYS/METHODS TO TELL THE AGE OF SITES HADEAN- solar system forms out of gas and
AND ARTIFACTS: dust, the sun begins to emit light and heat,
1. RELATIVE DATING METHODS- estimates Earth takes shape, and often characterized by
whether an object is younger or older than extreme volcanism as earth continued to cool.
other things found at the site. Relative dating
does not offer specific dates, it simply allows ARCHEAN- ancient life or primitive eon. The
to determine if one artifact,fossil or Earth’s crust cooled enough that rocks and
stratigraphic layer is older than another. continental plates began to form.
2. ABSOLUTE DATING METHODS- provide
more specific origin dates and time ranges, PROTEROZOIC- earlier life eon. The major
such as an age range in years. events are ozone layer thickened, an oxygen
crisis, snowball Earth, formation of the
GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE- a record of life forms supercontinent, and the evolution of
and geological events in Earth’s history. eukaryotic cells and of multicellular
organisms.
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PRECAMBRIAN TIME included simple mosses, ferns, and cone-

- at 4.6 billion years ago. bearing plants.
- this period is MOST of Earth’s history. For
nearly 4 billion years, during most of A. ORDOVICIAN PERIOD(505-440m years
Precambrian time, no plants or animals ago)
existed, Multicellular organisms develop late - the oceans were filled with invertebrates of
in the Precambrian. many types.
- very few fossils remain from this time. - the first fish evolved.
- many precambrian rocks were deeply - plants colonized the land for the first time,
buried, causing the fossils in them to be but animals still remained in the water.
changed by heat and pressure.
- most precambrian organisms lacked hard B. SILURIAN PERIOD (440-410m years ago)
parts. - in the oceans, corals appeared and fish
- cyanobacteria are blue-green algae, one of continued to evolve.
the earliest life forms to appear. - on the land, vascular plants appeared. With
special tissues to circulate water and other
ERA- division that span time periods of thens materials, they could grow larger than earlier,
to hundreds of millions of years. nonvascular plants.

1. PALEOZOIC ERA (520-245 MILLION CORALS- a branching vascular plant with

YEARS AGO) sporangia at the tips of each branch.
- invertebrates with shells evolved in the
warm, shallow seas. C. DEVONIAN PERIOD(410-360m years
- amphibians evolved to survive in water and ago)
on land. - the first seed plants evolved. Seeds had a
- reptiles evolved from amphibians to survive protective coat and stored food to help them
farther from water. survive. Seed plants eventually became the
- plate tectonics caused mountains to form as most common type of land plants.
Pangaea comes together. - fish with lob fins evolved. They could
- most marine species became the extinct at breathe air when they raised their heads
the end of the Paleozoic Era. above water. Breathing would be necessary
- Mass Extinction= marine species like for animals to eventually colonize the land.
trilobites and ammonites.
- “ancient or old life”; started more than 540 D. CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD (360-290m
million years ago. years ago)
- many organisms that have emerged during - is formally divided into 2 major subdivisions:
this time were invertebrates. MISSISSIPPIAN- most of the rocks found from
- the era began with a spectacular burst of Mississippian time are marine limestone.
new life; The cambrian explosion. PENNSYLVANIAN- many non-marine areas
near the equator became coal swamps during
Life explodes! at the beginning of the the pennsylvanian.
Paleozoic era, all life lived in the oceans. Early
invertebrates developed and later amphibians E. PERMIAN PERIOD( 290-245m years
became dominant on land. Early plant ago)
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- all the major land masses collided to form a evolved from reptile ancestors.
supercontinent called PANGAEA. - all the major groups of mammals evolved,
- temperatures were extreme, and the climate through individual mammals were still small
was dry. in size.
- plants and animals evolved adaptions to - Flowering plants appeared for the first time,
dryness, such as waxy leaves or leathery skin and new insects also evolved to pollinate the
to prevent water loss. flowers.
- the premian ended with a mass extinction. - the continents continued to move apart and
volcanic activity was especially intense.
The era ended with the biggest mass
extinction the world had ever seen, PERMIAN C. CRETACEOUS PERIOD
EXTINCTION. - dinosaurs reached their peak in size and
distributions.
2. MESOZOIC ERA (245-65m years ago) - by the end of cretaceous, the continents
-age of the reptile/dinosaurs were close to their present locations. This
- dinosaurs lived along with the first period ended with the dramatic extinction of
mammals, insects,birds and flowering plants. the dinosaurs.
Reptiles were dominant. - Earth’s overall climate was warm; even the
-Pangaea separated into continents and the poles lacked ice.
climate became drier.
- dinosaurs dominate. 3. CENOZOIC ERA
- birds appear during the Jurassic period. - recent life
- small, mouse-like mammals appear in the - started 65m years ago and continues up to
Triassic period. the present.
- Flowering plants appeared during the - age of mammals
Cretaceous period. - the first humans appeared in the later part
- due to extreme climate change from of the cenozoic era, which continues today.
volcanic activity and meteors, the dinosaurs the diversity of life forms increased. New
die off. mammals and birds appeared while others
MASS EXTINCTION= DINOSAURS became instinct. Flowering plants became
most common.
A. TRIASSIC PERIOD - many mountain ranges formed.
- the first dinosaurs branched off from the - colder climates; 3 major ice ages occur
reptiles and colonized the land,air and water. during this era.
- huge seed ferns and conifers dominated the - mammals continued to evolve.
forests, and modern corals,fish and insects - many species become isolated as the
evolved. continents continued to separate.
- The supercontinent Pangaea started to -fossils of homo sapiens (humans) show their
separate into Laurasia and Gondwanaland. appearance about 400,000 years ago.
- The Triassic Period ended with a mass - no mass extinction yet.. when one occurs a
extinction. new era will begin.

B. JURASSIC PERIOD A. TERTIARY PERIOD

- “the golden age of dinosaurs”, earliest birds - 65-1.8m years ago
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- earths climate was generally warm and time frame.

humid. The end of an era is marked by a MASS
- mammals evolved to fill virtually all niches EXTINCTION.
vacated by dinosaurs. Many mammals The most severe occurred at the end of the
increased in size. Paleozoic Era when 96% of all species
- mammals called primates evolved, including perished
human ancestors.
- modern rain forests and grasslands
appeared.
- flowering plants and insects were numerous
and widespread.

B. QUATERNARY PERIOD
- 1.8m years ago-present
- earths climate cooled,, leading to a series of
ice ages. Sea levels fell because so much
water frozen in glaciers. This created land
animals to move to new areas.
- some mammals, like wooly mammoths
shown here adopted to the cold by evolving
very large size and thick fur. Other animals
moved closer to the equator or went extinct,
along with many plants.

WE LIVE IN THE CENOZOIC ERA!

- present day earth is in the cennozoic era and
the quaternary period in the holocene epoch.
- geologic time has not ended!!

CAMBRIAN PERIOD- explosion of life.

EPOCH- smallest division of the geologic time
scale.
THE FOSISL RECORD- indicates that species
have changed and adapted over time.
CHARLES DARWIN- is responsible for
proposing NATURAL SELECTION to explain
change in species (Theory of Evolution).
THE PLATE TECTONIC THEORY- explains how
continents moving throughout time have
influenced the environments of past
organisms.
MASS EXTINCTION- periods in earth’s history
when abnormally large numbers of species
die out simultaneously or within a limited