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Cambrian 570-500 MYA
Triolobites were dominent and the whole Earth was covered in water with the emerging of small granite continents. All life was marine. -
Ordovician 500-450 MYA
Almost entirely ocean, with a southern supercontinent starting to form. This period was full of diverse marine invertebrates, including graptolites, trilobites, brachiopods, and the conodonts. -
Silurian 435-395 MYA
Earliest terrestrial plants and animals. Tiktaalik Eurypterids develop along with bony and jawed fish. There was a major extinction event, causing 60% of marine species to be wiped out. -
Devonian 395-345 MYA
Armored fish go extinct, but several other species of fish are abundant. Ealiest amphibians and ammonites appear. It had the supercontinent of Gondwana to the south, the continent of Siberia to the north, and the early formation of the small continent of Euramerica in between. -
Carboniferous 345-280 MYA
Abundant sharks and amphibians. Large swamps and coal forming forests. Earliest reptiles emerged. Scale trees and seed ferns made up the main flora. The atmospheric content of oxygen reached their highest levels in history during the period, 35%. -
Permian 280-225 MYA
Great volcanic activity caused the extinction of many types of marine animals, including trilobites. 95% of all life became extinct. There was a single supercontinent known as Pangaea. -
Triassic 225-195
Earliest Dinosaurs, abundant cycads and conifers. First true mammals evolved during this period. The vast supercontinent of Pangaea existed until the mid-Triassic, after which it began to gradually rift into two separate landmasses. The end of the period was marked by another major mass extinction, the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, wiping out many groups and allowing dinosaurs to assume dominance in the Jurassic. -
Jurassic 195-136 MYA
Earliest birds and mammals with abundant dinosaurs and ammonites. There was a shift in climate from dry to humid, and many of the arid deserts of the Triassic were replaced by lush rainforests. -
Cretaceous 136-65 MYA
Earliest flowering plants, climax of dinosaurs followed by their extinction due to a meteorite impact. Great decline of brachiopods. Abundance of bony fish. Relatively warm climate, resulting in high sea levels, creating numerous shallow inland seas. -
Tertiary 65-1.8 MYA
Earliest Placental Mammals as well as modern mammals and large running mammals. The continents move to thier recongnizable places. -
Quaternary 1.8 MYA-present
This period is known for its large carnivores, Neanderthals, mastodons, and humans. The continents are now in their modern positions.
