Geologic Time Quiz Study Guide
Name: __________________________________ Date: _______
1. What is the term used that explains the ending of Precambrian Time, Paleozoic Era, and Mesozoic
Era? Mass Extinction
2. What caused the mass extinctions of the following:
Precambrian Time
Paleozoic Era
Mesozoic Era
Cenozoic Era
1. Volcanic
Asteroids, Comets, &
There is None because
Glaciation Events (Ice
Activity
Meteors collided with we are still living
Ages)
2. Climatic
the Earth
Changes
3. Lowering of Sea
Levels
3. What animals lived during the Mesozoic Era? Dinosaurs, Birds, Small Mammals, & Reptiles
4. Did humans live during the Mesozoic Era? If no, in what era did they appear? No, because they
appeared in the Cenozoic Era.
5. What types of fossils were found from Precambrian Time? Trace Fossils
6. Would Precambrian Time have a lot of fossil? Why or Why not? No, because soft bodied animals
do not leave a lot of fossils.
7. Paleozoic is known as the Age of __Fish or Trilobites______.
Mesozoic is known as the Age of ___Dinosaurs or Reptiles___________.
Cenozoic is known as the Age of ____Mammals________.
8. Identify the following as either being a period, eon, epoch, or era.
a. Triassic Period
b. Tertiary Period
c. Mesozoic Era
d. Proterozoic Eon
e. Eocene Epoch
9. Name the division or the basic units of the geologic time in the order from the largest to the
smallest. Eons, Eras, Periods, and Epochs
10. Explain an Ice Age. A glaciation event where the seas are frozen the land is covered in ice.
11. What is the oldest Era? What is the youngest Era? Oldest: Paleozoic/Youngest: Cenozoic
12. What was the 1st life form to appear on Earth? Cyanobacteria
13. What is the longest division of time? Precambrian Time What is the shortest division of time?
Cenozoic Era
14. What are the current divisions of time that we are living in? (Eons, eras, periods, & epochs)
Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Cenozic
Period: Quaternary
Epoch: Holocene
15. What caused dinosaurs to become extinct?
When the asteroid, comet, or meteor collided with Earth.
16. Complete the following chart.
Precambrian Time
st
1 Appeared
Bacteria
Stromatilites
Invertebrates
Cyanobacteria
Soft bodied Animals
Algae
Earth formed
Become Dominant Bacteria
Stromatilites
Invertebrates
Cyanobacteria
Soft bodied Animals
Paleozoic Era
Fish
Trilobites
Amphibians
Brachiopods
Forests
Plants (Gymnosperms)
Mesozoic Era
Dinosaurs
Birds
Small mammals
Flowering Plants
(Angiosperms)
Cenozoic Era
Homo sapiens
(Humans)
Reptiles
Forest
Plants
(Gymnosperms)
Dinosaurs
Mammals
Flowering
Plants
(Angiosperms)
Mountain
Ranges
Mountains
Arachnids
Insects
Vertebrates
Reptiles
Fish
Trilobites
Invertebrates
Vertebrates
Algae
Use the Geologic Time Scale to answer the following questions.
17. What was the 2nd vertebrate to appear?
Amphibians
18. In what period did the Himalayas
Mountains form?
Tertiary
19. How long did the Jurassic period last?
208-144= 64mya
20. In what Era did reptiles appear?
Paleozoic Era