question

List the Eons and their time period

answer

1. Hadean -4600 million yrs 2. Archean -4000 million yrs 3. Proterozoic -2500 million yrs 4. Phanerozoic -542 million yrs

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What eons were precambrian?

answer

Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic

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Hadean

answer

4600 million yrs

question

archean eon

answer

4000 million yrs

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Proterozoic eon

answer

2500 million yrs

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phanerozoic eon

answer

542 million yrs

question

List the eras and there time periods

answer

1. Paleozoic -542 million yrs 2. Mesozoic -251 million yrs 3. Cenozoic -65.5 million yrs

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Paleozoic era

answer

542 million yrs-251my Cambrian explosion 1. abundant fossil hard parts in cambrian sedimentary rocks. Fossils belong to profusion of new animals including tribolites and cephalopods 2. Plants colonized land around 400my ago and diversified into forests 3. Devonian, lobe-finned fish began to spend time out of water, evolving into 1st amphibians. Subset of amphibians evolved waterproof skin and eggs, split to form reptile line 4. ended w/largest mass extinction in geologic record: Permian-Triassic. Possibly related to eruption of Siberian Traps flood basalts.

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Mesozoic era

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251 million yrs-65.5my AKA Age of the Dinosaurs 1. plants diversified. flora dominated by gymnosperms, 1st plants w/seeds that allowed them to migrate beyond edge of water bodies. Modern descendants = conifers. 2. reptiles diversified. Dinosaurs dominated land (ultrasaurus, tyrannosaurus), pterosaurs and archeopteryx dominated air, marine reptiles like Icthyosaur in sea. 1st birds = Archaeopteryx 3. ended w/ mass extinction due to meteorite impact in what is now Chicxulub Mexico. Cretacious-Tertiary extinction

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Cenozoic era

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65.5 million yrs. Age of Mammals 1. mammals diversified on land, air, and oceans after giant reptiles went extinct. Warm blooded, harry, nurse young w/milk. Marsupials born young then move to mother's pouch to mature. Placentals spend longer time in uteral and are born relatively mature. 2. flowering plants called angiosperms diversified and spread. strongly influenced evolution of birds and mammals that fed on seeds and fruit. 3. humans evolved from primates in Africa over period of 8million years. Distinguished from apes by upright, bipedal posture, large brains, and tool use. Oldest modern fossils of humans = 200,000 years. Some migrated out of Africa and coexisted w/Neanderthals

question

List the Phanerozoic eras

answer

Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic

question

List the Paleozoic periods

answer

1. Cambrian 542 - 488 million yrs 2. Ordovician 488 - 444 million yrs 3. Silurian 444 - 416 million yrs 4. Devonian 416 - 359 million yrs 5. Mississippian 359 - 318 million yrs 6. Pennsylvanian 318 - 299 million yrs 5. Carboniferous 359 - 299 million yrs 6. Permian 299 - 251 million yrs

question

List the Mesozoic periods

answer

7. Triassic 251 - 199.6 million yrs ago 8. Jurassic 199.6 - 145.5 million yrs 9. Cretaceous 145.5 - 65.5 million yrs

question

List the Cenozoic periods

answer

1. tertiary 65.5 - 2.6 million yrs 2. Paleogene 65.5 - 23 million yrs 3. Neogene 23 - 2.6 million yrs 4. Quarternary 2.6 million yrs ago

question

List the epochs of the paleogene period

answer

1. paleoscene 2. eocene 3. oligocene

question

List the epochs of the neogene period

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1. milocene 2. pliocene

question

list the epochs of the Quarternary period

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1. pleistocene 2. holocene

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Cambrian period AKA

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Age of Trilobites 542 - 488 million yrs 1. Anomalocaris 2. Trilobites. Flexible exoskeleton. Burrowing scavengers 3. pikaia, our ancestor

question

Ordovician period AKA

answer

Age of Nautiloids Ordovician 488 - 444 million yrs Abundnat cephalopods -mobile mollusks that became major predators Nautiloids. Long tubular shell with tentacles and eyes coming out one end. Eventually tube evolved into a coil. Ancestors of modern mollusks. reached lengths of 10m Ostreacoderms: our ancestors, evolved from pikaia. Bottom feeders. We evolved from pikaia

question

Silurian period AKA

answer

Age of Sea Scorpions 444 - 416 million yrs 1. plants started evolving (psilotids) 2. Sea scorpions traveling on land by end of silurian 3. first vascular plants appear on land 4. first insects

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Devonian period aka

answer

Age of Fishes 416 - 359 million yrs 1. Arthrodires or jointed jorror. Head made of bony plates. long body 2. Acanthodeans 3. end of Devonian, things start to get be born into shells 4. 100ft tall ferns, no flowers or modern plants 5. primitive sharks evolved w/cartilage skeletons. Elasmobranchs. 6. bony fish evolved 7. lobe-finned fish adapted to terrestrial environment through internal sacks that filled with air to supplement gill breathing. Evolved into air breathing amphibians by end of Devonian. Strong legs, w/fishlike head and tail.

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Mississippian period aka

answer

Age of Cockroaches 359 - 318 million yrs 1. 300ft tall ferns and giant forests 2. 30% more oxygen than today 3. giant cockroaches, dragonflies, maggots, spiders, salamanders 4. warm and oxygen rich 5. rotting vegetation = our coal today 6. first reptiles appear 7. Gymnosperms flourish throughout Mesozoic period

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Pennsylvanian

answer

Age of parammamls 318 - 299 million yrs 1. paramammals w/ fur, k9 teeth, ears, whiskers 2. 1st glaciers, 02 drops to normal levels 3. w/temp change, reptile/mammal hybrids with fur appear 4. extensive coal swamps 5. dominance of amphibians at end

question

Permian period

answer

299 - 251 million yrs Carboniferous rainforests disappeared leaving vast regions of arid desert. Reptiles rose to dominance. Ended with Permotriassic extinction which wiped out 90% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial species

question

Triassic/Jurassic/Cretacious

answer

Age of Dinosaurs

question

Describe life in the Silurian period

answer

Sea scorpions.

question

Elasmobranchs

answer

sharks, rays, etc

question

How did reptiles come about?

answer

Osteichthys produced offspring capable of being on land for some time. Amniotic eggs which held water allowed fish and amphibians to lay eggs on land.

question

What creates divisions in the geologic time scale?

answer

mass extinctions caused by our Sun's companion star Gliese 710 that passes into our solar system's Oort cloud and distorting gravitational forces, causing meteorites to fly into earth.

question

Framian Ferminian extinction

answer

wiped out 97% of life on earth.

question

Gondwana

answer

a giant continent that covered earth in the Mississippian period

question

summarize formation of modern continents

answer

Siberia, North America, and Europe joined to form large northern continent of Laurasia through collisions. Tropical, warm, wet. South America, Africa, Australia, Antartica, and India joined to form large southern continent of Gondwana through collision. eventually Gondwana and Laurasia collided, forming Pangea

question

Some dinosaurs in Jurassic period:

answer

1. Apatosaurus or brontosaurus 2. brachiosaurus 3. stegosaurus

question

How did coal form in Western NA?

answer

In beginning of Cretacious, shallow seas encroached on western NA, creating wetlands and swamps. Rotting vegetation became our coal today

question

How did Pangea break up?

answer

185my atgo, rift developed between NA and west Africa. Birth of Atlantic ocean. NA plate began to override pacific basin, triggering continuous wave of deformation

question

first life forms?

answer

prokaryotes, single-cell bacteria. DNA not separated in nucleus

question

cyanobacteria

answer

type of prokaryote that evolved to use photosynthesis. Contributed to rise of oxygen levels

question

stromatolites

answer

layered mats of slimy material secreted by ancient cyanobacteria

question

Eukaryotes

answer

single cell bacteria. DNA separated in nucleus

question

Triassic period

answer

251-199.6my Age of Dinosaurs 1. first dinosaurs (small) 2. first mammals 3. few marine fossils, indicating terrestrial environment. Arid desert regions. Hot and dry Ended with Norian extinction. Giant asteroid landed in ocean destroying 50% of life. Mammals reduced, dinos come to dominance.

question

Jurassic period

answer

199.6-145.5my Age of Dinosaurs 1. Dinos dominate. Allosaurus largest land predator. Plesiosaurs and Ichthyosaurs in ocean. 2. first birds = Proto avis. Ancestor of Trex, as evidenced through wishbone fossil. Archaeopteryx appeared late jurassic. 3. Pangea began rifting into Laurasia in North and Gondwana in South. 4. More coastlines, so Triassic deserts replaced with rainforests

question

Cretaceous period

answer

145.5 - 65.5 million yrs ago. 3rd wave of dinosaurs, included horned dinosaurs. 1. flowering plants and angiosperms. 2. mammals still small 3. dominated by dinosaurs like Trex, velociraptor, triceratops on land, pterosaurs in sky. Rays and modern sharks common in oceans. Marine reptiles include ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs. 4. Ended with Cretaceous/Tertiary extinction. Huge asteroid hit Chicxulub, Mexico.

question

Permian Extinction

answer

occurred at end of Permian period. 70% of all land dwelling vertebrates and 90% of all marine organisms wiped out. hardy survivors created more diverse biological communities, as they filled more niches than those left behind by victims. Most widely held belief about cause is volcanic activity occurring in north russia over 1 million years. Area known as Siberian Traps. Large release of C02 changed atmosphere and sulfur dioxide created acid rain.

question

What major development allowed reptiles to move inland?

answer

amniotic eggs. Watery fluid trapped inside shelled egg. Eliminated water-dwelling stage. Eggs also called private aquarium.

question

Archaeopteryx

answer

feathered wings, but maintained reptile characteristics like sharp teeth, clawed digits in wings, and long tail w/many vertebrae. Some say it was unable to use flapping flight. Instead, ran, leaped into air, to glide and downstroke. Lived late Jurassic

question

What causes mass extinctions?

answer

Sun's companion star, Gliese 710 enters our Oort cloud, upsetting gravitational forces and sending a meteor flying towards earth.

question

Effects of these meteor impacts

answer

suspended dust reduces sunlight reaching earth's surface, resulting in global cooling (impact winter) and inhibited photosynthesis, disrupting food production. After dust settled, greenhouse gasses like water vapor, CO2, and sulfur oxides that were added to atmosphere by blast lead to long term rise in temperature, killing more survivors of initial impact

question

Evidence for meteor impacts

answer

1cm thick layer of sediment containing iridium, rare in earth's crust but found in high proportions in stony meteorites

question

Earliest mammals

answer

coexisted w/dinosaurs for 100million years. Small rodent like creatures that collected food at night. short legs, flat, 5toed feet, small brains.

question

Early humans

answer

apes evolved in Africa 8 million years ago. Genus Australopithecus from 4.2 million years ago showed characteristics between our apelike ancestors and modern humans. Over 1.3 million years of evolution, our ancestors developed larger brains and slender legs w/hip joints for long distance walking

question

When did modern humans evolve?

answer

originated in Africa 200,000 years ago

question

volcanic trap

answer

huge lava flow that covers basalt crust

question

Paleocene epoch

answer

66-56 million yrs ago included small mammals that survived cretaceous/tertiary extinction. low brain to body mass ratio. Birds included large flightless terror birds in south america.

question

Eocene epoch

answer

56-34 my ago 1. rainforests, hot and humid 2. hyracotherean = chihuahua sized horses.

question

Oligocene

answer

34-23 my ago 1. 3 toed horses 2. global expansion of grasslands, recession of rainforests to equator

question

Miocene epoch

answer

23-5.3 my ago 1. apes rose and diversified 2. grasslands expand, forests dwindle

question

Pliocene

answer

5my-2my Lucy/Ludwig = one of first humanoid Australopithecus leopards = man's main predators.

question

Pleistocene

answer

2my-11k yrs 1. 1 toed horses w/one big heavy nail. 2. Ice Age ended at 11k years. Humans began to evolve

question

Holocene

answer

11k years - present glaciers melt and recede

question

When did the first homo sapiens appear?

answer

pleistocene epoch

question

What is Cope's rule

answer

evolutionary trend towards larger body size to avoid predators and capture prey.

question

Who is the father of modern geology?

answer

James Hutton

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