Extinct: When an animal is extinct it is not existing mass extinction: Widespread and rapid loss of biodiversity Precambrian Era ● Age of early life ● Longest era ● Lasted for over 90% of the earth ● Hadean Time and the Phanerozoic Eon Mesozoic era: It is the age of the dinosaurs. It was between 230 and 65 years ago. Reptiles are the dominant Cenozoic era: it is the era of mammals, 65 million years ago to the present. Criteria: The requirement(s) or standard that needs to be met; prerequisite Index fossil: Fossils that are used for dating and finding geologic time periods Biodiversity: The variety of life in an ecosystem Sedimentary rock: The collection of minerals or organic matter that settles on Earth’s surface Metamorphic rock: Forms in high heat and pressure circumstances Raptors: Lived 75 - 71 million years ago First discovered in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia on August 11, 1923 How do we know the age of this fossil? This is the place you describe the difference between relative dating and radioactive dating. Scientists can