The following events have been listed in order from the present. They are color coded by
era, the geologic time to which they belong (Present-65 MYA: Blue, 66-250 MYA: Green,
251-540 MYA: Red, 541-4600 MYA: Black). I used centimeters as the measurement for the
toilet paper timeline activity on a 1000 sheet roll. You will find cm in the upper right hand
corner (distance from the beginning of the roll or present time period); the event is on the
left middle side of the strip; and the time period in which the event occurred in millions of
years ago (MYA) is in the bottom right corner.
Beginning of the Roll (0 cm)
Present
0 MYA
.02 cm
Modern man
10,000 MYA
0.03 cm
End of the last glaciation
12,500 MYA
22.09 cm
Antarctic ice caps begin forming
10,000,000 MYA
88.35 cm
Formation of the Cascade Mountains
40,000,000 MYA
110.43 cm
Early horses
50,000,000 MYA
125.9 cm
Early primates
60,000,000 MYA
143.57 cm
Dinosaurs became extinct
65,000,000 MYA
331.3 cm
Early flowering plants
150,000,000 MYA
397.57 cm
Early birds and mammals
180,000,000 MYA
474.87 cm
First Dinosaurs
215,000,000 MYA
618.43 cm
Formation of Pangaea
280,000,000 MYA
First reptiles
750.96 cm
325,000,000 MYA
702.37 cm
Early trees, formation of coal deposits
363,000,000 MYA
993.91 cm
Early land plants
450,000,000 MYA
1,082.26 cm
Early fish
490,000,000 MYA
1,546.09 cm
Early multicelled organisms
700,000,000 MYA
2,650.43 cm
First known animals
1,200,000,000 MYA
5,963.48 cm
Buildup of free oxygen in atmosphere
2,700,000,000 MYA
7,905.57 cm
Early bacteria & algae
3,400,000,000 MYA
8,746.43 cm
Oldest known Earth rocks
3,800,000,000 MYA
10,160 cm
Origin of earth
4,600,000,000 MYA