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The first era in earth's life where organisms first appeared. Early life is dominantly marine life and single cell bacteria. Trilobites are the dominant species
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"Old Life"
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Echinoderms and invertebrates are dominant, mollusks become abundant, earliest fish life are jawless, but later become jawed and armored.
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Earliest terrestrial plants and animals. Tiktaalik eurypterids develop.
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Armored fish go extinct, but ther is still an abundance of several fish species. Earliest recorded amphibians and ammonites.
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Abundance of shark species and amphibians. Large swamps and coal froming forests are created. Earliest recorded reptiles. Scale trees and seed ferns are the most common plant life.
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First mass extinction occurs, marine animals mainly affected including trilobites.
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"Middle Life"
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Earliest dinosaurs, abundance of cycads and conifers
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Earliest evidence of birds and mammals. Dinosaurs are dominant species. Ammonites return.
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Earliest flowering of plants. Second mass extinction. Climax then extinction of dinosaurs. Great decline of brachiopods. Abundance of bony fish.
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"Modern Life"
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Earliest placental mammals, modern mammals, large running mammals.
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Large carnivores, neanderthals, humans, mastodons.
