Precambrian Era
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Large basins were formed, eventually filled
with water (oceans)
The crust was formed and was split into
'plates’
Oceans became home to bacteria which
eventually put oxygen into the water
Lots of volcanic activity and mountain
building; the Canadian Shield is made
Precambrian Era
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The Precambrian era ends with a global ice
age and life-forms more complicated than
bacteria were evolving
Precambrian Era
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Fish, amphibians and reptiles all evolved
during this era
Life started in the oceans but moved onto
land
Great forests of primitive forests covered the
continents
The Appalachian mountains are made
Africa was down near the south pole
Paleozoic Era
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The Paleozoic era ends with a mass extinction
called ‘the Great Dying’
70-95% of all species went extinct
Scientists don’t know exactly why, it could
have been rapid climate change, or an
asteroid hitting Earth
The continents are now all part of Pangaea
Paleozoic Era
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Pangaea breaks apart
Called the ‘Age of the Dinosaurs’
Mesozoic Era
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Lived 155-150 million
years ago
30 feet long
Mesozoic Era
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An extinct kind of
crocodile, the largest
crocodile ever
It lived 112 million
years again Africa and
South America
It was almost twice as
long as the modern
crocodile and
weighed up to 8 tons
and was 38 ft long
Mesozoic Era
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It is the largest
dinosaur ever
It lived 97-94 million
years ago
Was about 70-85
feet long
Mesozoic Era
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It lived 67-66 million
years ago
40 feet long
One of the largest
land predators ever
Mesozoic Era
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The Mesozoic Era ends with another mass
extinction, most of the dinosaurs killed off
Mesozoic Era
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The continents move into their current
positions
Called the ‘Age of Mammals’
Cenozoic Era
An extinct snake that
lived approximately 60–
58 million years ago
 It was the largest,
longest, and heaviest
snake ever discovered
 It reached a maximum
length of 40 to 50 ft and
weighed about 2,502 lb
 Lived in South America
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Cenozoic Era
The largest land
mammal ever
• It weighed 12 tons, and
was 16 ft tall at the
shoulders and 26.2 ft
long
• It was an extinct type of
gigantic hornless
rhinoceros-like mammal
• Lived 33.9 million to 23
million years ago
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Cenozoic Era
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An extinct type of
giant ape
It lived 9 million years
ago to 100,000 years
ago
The largest ape ever,
it stood nearly 10 feet
tall and weighed over
half a ton
Cenozoic Era
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An extinct kind of
giant turtle, the
biggest turtle ever
It lived in South
America about 6 to 5
million years ago
Its shell was 11 ft
long
Cenozoic Era
A type of elephant-sized
sloth, it lived in Central
and South America
• Lived 3 million years ago
until 10,500 years ago
• One of the largest
land mammals ever
• Weighing up to 4 tons
and up to 20 ft in length (
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Cenozoic Era
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The biggest rodent
ever, an extinct kind
of South American
giant rat
It lived 4 to 2 million
years
It weighed 2,200 lbs
and was 10 feet long
Cenozoic Era
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An extinct kind of
giant rhinoceros
Lived 2.6 million
years ago to
50,000 years ago
It was the size of a
mammoth and is
thought to have had
a large, thick horn on
its forehead
Cenozoic Era
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The best
known sabertoothed cat
It lived in North
America 2.5 million
years ago–10,000
years ago
Cenozoic Era
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2.3 to 1.4 million
years ago
It stood 3-4 feet tall
and had super long
arms compared to
modern humans
They had small
brains but used
primitive stone tools
Cenozoic Era
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1.8 million years ago
– 10,000 years ago
Lived in North
America
Like a modern gray
wolf except much
bigger, 5 feet long
Cenozoic Era
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1.8 million years ago 143,000 years ago
It started to look like
modern humans
Found outside of Africa
in Eurasia
Its brain was a bit
smaller, they stood
nearly 6 feet tall
They discovered fire ad
were fully bipedal
They evolved from
Homo Habilis
Cenozoic Era
It lived in Africa,
Europe and western
Asia from 600,000
years ago to 200,000
years ago
 It went extinct
 They are our ancient
cousin but probably
not our ancestor
 They were very tall,
around 7 feet tall
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Cenozoic Era
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Lived 600,000 years ago –
35,000 years ago
Lived in Western Europe
and central Asia during the
Ice Age
They are not our direct
ancestor and went extinct
Theories say they probably
mated with Homo
Sapiens, many people
have small percentage of
Neanderthal DNA
They made tools and had a
language
Cenozoic Era
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Lived in North
America 340,000
years ago – 11,000
years ago
One of the largest
types of cat ever
Cenozoic Era
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They evolved from
Homo Erectus about
200,000 years ago
They had a
language,
complicated tools,
and complex social
structures
Cenozoic Era
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A bit bigger than modern
elephants, they stood 9-11 feet tall
at the shoulder and weighed up to
6 tons
The woolly mammoth was well
adapted to the cold environment
during the last ice age.
It lived at the same time as early
humans, who hunted it for food
and for its tusks
Lived from 150,000 years ago to
just 10,000 years ago, when it died
off from climate change and
hunting by humans
Isolated populations survived on
Wrangel Island in northern Russia
until 4,000 years ago
It has been proposed the species
could be recreated through cloning
Cenozoic Era
Lived 95,000 – 17,000
years ago
 An extinct ancient
cousin of ours
 They used stone tools
and fire and hunted
dwarf elephants also
found on the island in
Indonesia
 They were only 3 feet
tall and nicknamed
‘hobbits’
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Cenozoic Era
An extinct flightless bird
that lived on the island
of Mauritius in the Indian
Ocean
 Humans destroyed their
habitat and food source
 The pigs and dogs that
we introduced to the
island also killed many of
them
 The last dodo died
sometime in the late
1600s
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Cenozoic Era
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It looked like half tiger
half dog
It lived on the island
of Tasmania off
Australia
The tiger was hunted
to extinction by
humans
The last one was
caught in 1933 and
died three years later
in a zoo
Cenozoic Era
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It lived in the
Yangtze River in
China
Humans had
overhunted it
It was last seen in
2007
Cenozoic Era
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Modern humans are less hairy, we have
smaller molars, and are taller
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We still have leftovers from when we were
monkeys, like goose bumps, extra ear
muscles, wisdom teeth, a tailbone, and an
appendix
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Try and guess what will happen to us. Think
about how most modern humans live:
indoors, much easier and sedentary lives, less
exposure to elements
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With a partner/small group, try and think of
ways that humans might evolve in the future.
What will happen to our bodies?
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We will all become the same race as we
continue to intermarry
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As we rely more and more on medication to
stay healthy, our immune systems will have
less to do and become weaker
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Our muscles will get smaller as we move
around less
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Human height has been growing rapidly for
the last two centuries.
Over the last 150 years alone, the average
height of the species has increased by 10cm.
It is believed that the main driving force
behind this growth is the abundance of
nutrition available to many of us
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Hair was originally to protect our bodies from
the elements. But now we are not exposed to
the elements as much, and we are becoming
less hairy.
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Our teeth will get smaller
Evidence has shown that in the last 100,000
years alone, our teeth have halved in size
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Our other toes – especially the biggest –
serve to aid balance and walking, our little
toes serve no purpose, and humans can get
by very well without them
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Some scientists are predicting that 2050
people could grow to be 120 years old