Paleontology & Earth History Notes
•The Earth is over
years old
•This huge amount of time is broken up
into smaller ‘chunks’…
They are:
•
: the largest- measure
100’s of millions & billions
•
: measured in
tens of millions of years
•
: measured in
millions of years
•
are the smallestmeasured in thousands of years
How is “Time” recorded?
•The divisions are created by what’s
found in the rock record-
Name this organism:
•As one kind of life form ends, adapts or
Name the PHYLUM:
changes, a
of time begins
•To understand how life forms are different
we look at
or the
physical structure of that organism
•We
life based on physiology
•The system of classification is called
•Organisms are given scientific names
based on a system called
Taxonomy
•
•
•
Name this organism:
Name the PHYLUM:
•
•
•
•
•
Domain
Simply put:
•
Name this organism:
•
Name the PHYLUM:
•
Kingdoms
•
(AKA Metazoa; multi-cellular; feed, move, reproduce, eukaryotic;
heterotophic)
•
(specialized eukaryote; heterotophic; necrophyte; multicellular
filamentous)
•
(small, simple; can form chains or mats; prokaryotes (no membrane
around nucleus)
•
(autotrophic; multicellular; specialized eukaryotic cells; no means of
locomotion)
•
(unicellular; large, single eukaryote; some form chains or colonies)
Phylum- simplified list
•
Snails, clams (bivalves), Abalone, squid, octopus, cuttlefish
•
Corals, sea anemones, jellyfish
•
Segmented worms (of which there are about 9,000 species)
•
Means “jointed leg”; Insects (ants, bees, etc.), crustaceans (shrimp);
arachnids
•
Anything with a backbone/ vertebrae; notochord
Cnidaria: Hydra, Sea Anemone & Jellyfish
Annelida: Leech, Vermiform, Earthworm
Arthropoda: Insect, Crustacean, Arachnid
Chordata: Sea Lamprey, Ape, Snake
Class
•There are at least 80 different
classes in taxonomy…
Human lineage
•Kingdom =
•Class =
•Order =
Name this organism:
•Family =
Name the PHYLUM:
•Genus =
•Species =
Binomial Nomenclature
Carolus Linnaeus
23 May
- 10 January
The
of
Nomenclature
Part I
Eon:
What is this?
Eras:
Periods:
Precambrian Aeon
billion –
million years ago
•Its name means "
"
•All geologic time before the beginning
of the
era
•This includes about
geologic time
% of all
Who is this?
•Covers the time from the
of the earth
Hadean Era
to
million years ago
•The
Precambrian
subdivision of the
•This interval predates true
time since
known on earth
of this age are
•Formation of the
and of
•Earth is in a
state
What is this?
•Earth bombarded by
/planetesimals
•Formation of the
•Primal
starts to
form with organic amino acids
• No
in the
Planetesimal bombardment
DNA- Deoxyribonucleic Acid
Early Earth: Hadean Era
•Our satellite,
formed from debris
, was
•At this time our day was
hours long not 24 hours
•
were constant
What is this?
-speed winds
•The moon was
from earth
miles
•Tides were over
3 billion years ago
feet even
•The moon is moving away at
about
inches per year- today it is ~250,000 miles away
Archaean Era
.
to
million years ago
•Its name means "
•The middle
"
of Precambrian time
•Permanent
similar to today
• First signs of
as sediment
begin to accumulate in the
•Life on earth indicated by the
appearance of fossil
(
or blue-green algae)
in rocks about 3.5 billion years old
•
, single-celled organisms
with no distinct organs are present
Cyanobacteria AKA: Blue-Green Algae
produces oxygen (
)
Proterozoic Era
million –
million
•Its name means "
"
•The final era of the Precambrian Aeon
•Fossils of primitive
•Also more advanced multi-cellular
organisms (
latter part of this era
) found in the
Other Prokaryotic organisms
include
and
Primitive Prokaryotes eventually
adapted into Eukaryotes
Sturtian Period
million –
million
•Very little is known about this time
•AKA:
Period
(from Greek cryos “
•
” and genesis “
”)
lasted for the entire period
•The name derived from glacial deposits
•The Earth suffered the most severe ice ages ever
•Glaciers extended to the
•Extensive glaciers led to the hypothesis of the deeply-frozen
planetary oceans called "
"
•Boulders dropped by
laminated marine sediment in Namibia
gives credence to theory
into
Period
million -
million years ago
•AKA:
•The
Proterozoic era
period of the
•Distinguished by
representing
complex soft-bodied organisms
•Mounds of
algae form
structures called
considered to be the first fossils
&
What are these?
•
creates oxygen
which kills off many early organisms
•Some simple
fossils
•First
(Greek for “stinging nettle”)
•Cnidarians have stinging cells
called
•Possibly precursors to first
• Possibly some
also present
What are these?
Part II
Aeon:
Era:
Periods:
Phanerozoic Aeon
million years ago •Means “
”
•Though it only represents about
% of earth her/history it is arguably
the most interesting
•Virtually
found during this time
Paleozoic Era
million –
million
•The word Paleozoic is from
Greek and means “
”
•Fossil
shows first shellfish, fish,
plants, insects, spiders, amphibians, and reptiles
Cambrian Period
million –
million
•AKA: “Age of Marine
•It is named after
”
, the
Roman name for
•The
•Major formation of
period of the Paleozoic era
rock
Period this depicts?
•Continents are
&
with shallow
•
climate just about world-wide
•“North America” is
•Originally thought to be the
first ‘explosion’ of
•Shelled (
organisms in oceans
)
Hallucigenia
•Every invertebrate
represented
•Early sponges called
present
•
are abundant
•
abundant
•First active
/
•Some
(“long foot”)
•Simple
(“spiny skin”)
Name this creature:
ancestors of
•Possibly some early
sea lilies
or
•Early
or snails found
(“stomach-foot”)
•A few simple
like pikaia
vertebrates
•Mass
oldest trilobites
including
Early Cambrian Earth
Cambrian
than fiction!
- Stranger
Hallucigenia sparsa is less than
cm long and really bizarre!
Phylum:
Name this creature:
Common early Cambrian
predatory invertebrates:
A.
, ranging from
2.5 to 19 mm long
B.
, 43 to 70 mm long
C. Sidneyia, another Cambrian
D. Two species of Anomalocaris;
the biggest specimens are estimated
to have been nearly 2 ft long –
Name this creature:
of early Cambrian animals
Many of the Paleozoic fossils were
discovered by
Charles D.
March 31,
- February 9
in a layer of rock called the
Shale
near British Columbia, Canada
He and four others collected over
fossils in
Early
Archaeocyathid
Modern Sponges haven’t
much in millions of years
Who is this?
- Wisconsin’s State Fossil
Mass Extinction
•Trilobites were quite abundant in the Cambrian
and most went
•There were
by the end of this period
mass extinctions in the Cambrian
•Several theories try to explain these events
•The
depletion theory states that cold water
from deep in the ocean rose to the upper levels
chilling and starving life into extinction
•Some global warming
phenomenon in the near future
warn of the same
What is this?
Ordovician Period
505 million – 440 million
•It is named after a Celtic tribe
called the
•The second earliest period of the
•Seas over
era
Hemisphere at greatest extent
•Rocks are mostly
•Mature marine ecosystems develop with some
deep-water life but most of life centers around
What is this?
•Super-continent called Gondwana in southern
hemisphere shifts toward south pole
•North America, Europe and Africa colliding
forming first
•Massive glaciers dropped
cause mass extinction
;
•
(“moss-animals”) are present
•
saw blades
- whose fossils look like
•Many
over 19 ft long
present- some
•Fish with
present
(early backbones)
•
and other sea life widespread
•Some plant
•Mass extinction of
have been found
% of all marine
invertebrate genera (genus) and
all families
% of
•Possible reasons for extinction are cooling
of ocean and/or oxygen depletion
•The Ordovician extinction occurred about
million years ago
What is this?
•This extinction is cited as the
most
devastating extinction to marine communities
in earth history
•Disappearance of
& bryozoan families
of all brachiopod
•Also numerous groups of
, trilobites,
and graptolites disappeared from the fossil record
•Much of the reef-building
decimated
was also
•In total, more than
families of
marine invertebrates perished in this extinction
•Ordovician life include
smaller invertebrates
preying on
•Cephalopods belong to the
phylum
What is this?
•Some had straight shells and others coiled
Silurian Period
million –
million
•It is named after a
the Silures
tribe called
•Earth continues its
global temps stabilize
•Sea levels
climate as
to previous levels
•Mountains forming in
•Most of the world’s
deposits occur
(halite)
What is this?
•Proof of earliest
•Extensive
present
•
spread rapidly
throughout fossil record
•First fish with jaws as well as the
first
What is this?
•
(sea lilies) abundant
•
widespread
•
, conodonts, corals,
stromatoporoids and mollusks common
•Land being invaded by arthropods like
relatives of
(arachnids) & centipedes
•Earliest
plants (plants with xylem
and phloem; ferns) found in southern hemisphere
•Most common plants belong to genus
Cooksonia; Controversial Baragwanathia
(type of advanced vascular plant called a
) found in Australia
• Modern
(ascomycete fossils)
and
Xylem & Phloem are tubes to carry
nutrition and water to the leaves
carries water
Phloem carries food
These are characteristics of
plants
Devonian Period
million –
million
•Named after Devonshire,
•AKA: “Age of
dominant life form
” as fish
•Extensive
U. S. & Canada
in eastern
•Continents are becoming
•Europe and North America
near equator
•South Pole located in Central
•
fish (ostracoderms)
•
Dunklosteous
of huge size- like
•
(a group still around today)
What is this?
•First
(Sarcopterygii)
-finned fish
•Brachiopods, echinoderms,
flourish
•Near the end of Devonianfirst
•
(four legged) on land;
closely related to lungfish and amphibians
•Psilotophyta (giant
southern hemisphere
What is this?
) in
•
plants now in northern
hemisphere- only one meter tall
•First seed plants (
)
•Mass extinction where nearly
% of life disappeared
What is this? Why is it important?
•The first rays are Chondrichthyes
(“cartilaginous fish”) along with sharks
and skates
•
were a major
advancement for life on land
•They could travel on land but needed to
be near
What is this?
at all times
Carboniferous Period
million –
million
•‘Carboniferous’ refers to the large
deposits
•AKA: “Age of
”
•Includes the Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous)
& Pennsylvanian (Upper Carboniferous) periods
•The earth’s climate is still
•Less seasonal variation of
•Great
earth’s lowlands
cover much of
What kind of eggs?
•Orogeny in eastern US
(
),
Texas, Colorado, Britain
(Hercynian Mountains),
also in Eastern Europe/ Siberia
(Ural Mountains)
•Laurussia (Europe & North America)
collides with Godwanaland (Africa &
South America)
•Two massive
the South Pole
cover
•
number & diversity
reach greatest
•Giant
are diverse
•First
Carboniferous
appear in the late
•
egg allowed tetrapods
to lay eggs away from water
•Earliest amniote fossil
Hylonomus
What is this?
-like
•Other tetrapods include Amphibiamus
(type of Temnospondyl), Anthracosaurs
•
(includes most reptiles
except turtles; dinosaurs; birds)
•
Dimetrodon)
(precursors to mammals,
•First land
•
What kind of egg?
are abundant
•Great forests of ferns,
(seed-bearing plants), horsetails
•Freshwater
appear
•Heavily armored fish from Devonian
What is this?