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History of Earth

Earth's history with time-spans of the eons to scale

The history of Earth concerns the development of planet Earth from its formation to the present
day.[1][2] Nearly all branches of natural science have contributed to understanding of the main events
of Earth's past, characterized by constant geological change and biological evolution.

The geological time scale (GTS), as defined by international convention,[3] depicts the large spans of
time from the beginning of the Earth to the present, and its divisions chronicle some definitive events
of Earth history. (In the graphic, Ma means "million years ago".) Earth formed around 4.54 billion
years ago, approximately one-third the age of the universe, by accretion from the solar nebula.[4][5][6]
Volcanic outgassing probably created the primordial atmosphere and then the ocean, but the early
atmosphere contained almost no oxygen. Much of the Earth was molten because of frequent collisions
with other bodies which led to extreme volcanism. While the Earth was in its earliest stage (Early
Earth), a giant impact collision with a planet-sized body named Theia is thought to have formed the
Moon. Over time, the Earth cooled, causing the formation of a solid crust, and allowing liquid water
on the surface. In June 2023, scientists reported evidence that the planet Earth may have formed in
just three million years, much faster than the 10−100 million years thought earlier.[7][8]

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The Hadean eon represents the time before a reliable (fossil) record of life; it began with the
formation of the planet and ended 4.0 billion years ago. The following Archean and Proterozoic eons
produced the beginnings of life on Earth and its earliest evolution. The succeeding eon is the
Phanerozoic, divided into three eras: the Palaeozoic, an era of arthropods, fishes, and the first life on
land; the Mesozoic, which spanned the rise, reign, and climactic extinction of the non-avian
dinosaurs; and the Cenozoic, which saw the rise of mammals. Recognizable humans emerged at most
2 million years ago, a vanishingly small period on the geological scale.

The earliest undisputed evidence of life on Earth dates at least from 3.5 billion years ago,[9][10][11]
during the Eoarchean Era, after a geological crust started to solidify following the earlier molten
Hadean Eon. There are microbial mat fossils such as stromatolites found in 3.48 billion-year-old
sandstone discovered in Western Australia.[12][13][14] Other early physical evidence of a biogenic
substance is graphite in 3.7 billion-year-old metasedimentary rocks discovered in southwestern
Greenland[15] as well as "remains of biotic life" found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western
Australia.[16][17] According to one of the researchers, "If life arose relatively quickly on Earth … then it
could be common in the universe."[16]

Photosynthetic organisms appeared between 3.2 and 2.4 billion years ago and began enriching the
atmosphere with oxygen. Life remained mostly small and microscopic until about 580 million years
ago, when complex multicellular life arose, developed over time, and culminated in the Cambrian
Explosion about 538.8 million years ago. This sudden diversification of life forms produced most of
the major phyla known today, and divided the Proterozoic Eon from the Cambrian Period of the
Paleozoic Era. It is estimated that 99 percent of all species that ever lived on Earth, over five
billion,[18] have gone extinct.[19][20] Estimates on the number of Earth's current species range from 10
million to 14 million,[21] of which about 1.2 million are documented, but over 86 percent have not
been described.[22]

The Earth's crust has constantly changed since its formation, as has life since its first appearance.
Species continue to evolve, taking on new forms, splitting into daughter species, or going extinct in
the face of ever-changing physical environments. The process of plate tectonics continues to shape the
Earth's continents and oceans and the life they harbor.

Eons
In geochronology, time is generally measured in mya (million years ago), each unit representing the
period of approximately 1,000,000 years in the past. The history of Earth is divided into four great
eons, starting 4,540 mya with the formation of the planet. Each eon saw the most significant changes
in Earth's composition, climate and life. Each eon is subsequently divided into eras, which in turn are
divided into periods, which are further divided into epochs.

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Time
Eon Description
(mya)

The Earth is formed out of debris around the solar protoplanetary disk. There is no life.
Temperatures are extremely hot, with frequent volcanic activity and hellish-looking
4,540–
Hadean environments (hence the eon's name, which comes from Hades). The atmosphere is
4,000
nebular. Possible early oceans or bodies of liquid water. The Moon is formed around this
time probably due to a protoplanet's collision into Earth.

Prokaryote life, the first form of life, emerges at the very beginning of this eon, in a process
4,000–
Archean known as abiogenesis. The continents of Ur, Vaalbara and Kenorland may have existed
2,500
around this time. The atmosphere is composed of volcanic and greenhouse gases.
The name of this eon means "early life". Eukaryotes, a more complex form of life, emerge,
including some forms of multicellular organisms. Bacteria begin producing oxygen, shaping
the third and current of Earth's atmospheres. Plants, later animals and possibly earlier forms
2,500–
Proterozoic of fungi form around this time. The early and late phases of this eon may have undergone
538.8
"Snowball Earth" periods, in which all of the planet suffered below-zero temperatures. The
early continents of Columbia, Rodinia and Pannotia, in that order, may have existed in this
eon.

Complex life, including vertebrates, begin to dominate the Earth's ocean in a process known
as the Cambrian explosion. Pangaea forms and later dissolves into Laurasia and
Gondwana, which in turn dissolve into the current continents. Gradually, life expands to land
538.8– and familiar forms of plants, animals and fungi begin appearing, including annelids, insects
Phanerozoic
present and reptiles, hence the eon's name, which means "visible life". Several mass extinctions
occur, among which birds, the descendants of non-avian dinosaurs, and more recently
mammals emerge. Modern animals—including humans—evolve at the most recent phases
of this eon.

Geologic time scale

The history of the Earth can be organized chronologically according to the geologic time scale, which
is split into intervals based on stratigraphic analysis.[2][23] The following five timelines show the
geologic time scale to scale. The first shows the entire time from the formation of the Earth to the
present, but this gives little space for the most recent eon. The second timeline shows an expanded
view of the most recent eon. In a similar way, the most recent era is expanded in the third timeline,
the most recent period is expanded in the fourth timeline, and the most recent epoch is expanded in
the fifth timeline.

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Horizontal scale is Millions of years (above timelines) / Thousands of years (below timeline)

Solar System formation

An artist's rendering of a protoplanetary disk

The standard model for the formation of the Solar System (including the Earth) is the solar nebula
hypothesis.[24] In this model, the Solar System formed from a large, rotating cloud of interstellar dust
and gas called the solar nebula. It was composed of hydrogen and helium created shortly after the Big
Bang 13.8 Ga (billion years ago) and heavier elements ejected by supernovae. About 4.5 Ga, the
nebula began a contraction that may have been triggered by the shock wave from a nearby
supernova.[25] A shock wave would have also made the nebula rotate. As the cloud began to
accelerate, its angular momentum, gravity, and inertia flattened it into a protoplanetary disk
perpendicular to its axis of rotation. Small perturbations due to collisions and the angular momentum
of other large debris created the means by which kilometer-sized protoplanets began to form, orbiting
the nebular center.[26]

The center of the nebula, not having much angular momentum, collapsed rapidly, the compression
heating it until nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium began. After more contraction, a T Tauri star
ignited and evolved into the Sun. Meanwhile, in the outer part of the nebula gravity caused matter to

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condense around density perturbations and dust particles, and the rest of the protoplanetary disk
began separating into rings. In a process known as runaway accretion, successively larger fragments
of dust and debris clumped together to form planets.[26] Earth formed in this manner about
4.54 billion years ago (with an uncertainty of 1%)[27][28][4] and was largely completed within 10–
20 million years.[29] In June 2023, scientists reported evidence that the planet Earth may have
formed in just three million years, much faster than the 10−100 million years thought earlier.[7][8]
Nonetheless, the solar wind of the newly formed T Tauri star cleared out most of the material in the
disk that had not already condensed into larger bodies. The same process is expected to produce
accretion disks around virtually all newly forming stars in the universe, some of which yield
planets.[30]

The proto-Earth grew by accretion until its interior was hot enough to melt the heavy, siderophile
metals. Having higher densities than the silicates, these metals sank. This so-called iron catastrophe
resulted in the separation of a primitive mantle and a (metallic) core only 10 million years after the
Earth began to form, producing the layered structure of Earth and setting up the formation of Earth's
magnetic field.[31] J.A. Jacobs [32] was the first to suggest that Earth's inner core—a solid center
distinct from the liquid outer core—is freezing and growing out of the liquid outer core due to the
gradual cooling of Earth's interior (about 100 degrees Celsius per billion years[33]).

Hadean and Archean Eons

Artist's conception of Hadean Eon

Earth, when it was much hotter and
inhospitable to all forms of life.

The first eon in Earth's history, the Hadean, begins with the Earth's formation and is followed by the
Archean eon at 3.8 Ga.[2]: 145 The oldest rocks found on Earth date to about 4.0 Ga, and the oldest
detrital zircon crystals in rocks to about 4.4 Ga,[34][35][36] soon after the formation of the Earth's crust
and the Earth itself. The giant impact hypothesis for the Moon's formation states that shortly after
formation of an initial crust, the proto-Earth was impacted by a smaller protoplanet, which ejected
part of the mantle and crust into space and created the Moon.[37][38][39]

From crater counts on other celestial bodies, it is inferred that a period of intense meteorite impacts,
called the Late Heavy Bombardment, began about 4.1 Ga, and concluded around 3.8 Ga, at the end of
the Hadean.[40] In addition, volcanism was severe due to the large heat flow and geothermal

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gradient.[41] Nevertheless, detrital zircon crystals dated to 4.4 Ga show evidence of having undergone
contact with liquid water, suggesting that the Earth already had oceans or seas at that time.[34]

By the beginning of the Archean, the Earth had cooled significantly. Present life forms could not have
survived at Earth's surface, because the Archean atmosphere lacked oxygen hence had no ozone layer
to block ultraviolet light. Nevertheless, it is believed that primordial life began to evolve by the early
Archean, with candidate fossils dated to around 3.5 Ga.[42] Some scientists even speculate that life
could have begun during the early Hadean, as far back as 4.4 Ga, surviving the possible Late Heavy
Bombardment period in hydrothermal vents below the Earth's surface.[43]

Formation of the Moon

Artist's impression of the enormous

collision that probably formed the
Moon

Earth's only natural satellite, the Moon, is larger relative to its planet than any other satellite in the
Solar System.[nb 1] During the Apollo program, rocks from the Moon's surface were brought to Earth.
Radiometric dating of these rocks shows that the Moon is 4.53 ± 0.01 billion years old,[46] formed at
least 30 million years after the Solar System.[47] New evidence suggests the Moon formed even later,
4.48 ± 0.02 Ga, or 70–110 million years after the start of the Solar System.[48]

Theories for the formation of the Moon must explain its late formation as well as the following facts.
First, the Moon has a low density (3.3 times that of water, compared to 5.5 for the Earth[49]) and a
small metallic core. Second, the Earth and Moon have the same oxygen isotopic signature (relative
abundance of the oxygen isotopes). Of the theories proposed to account for these phenomena, one is
widely accepted: The giant impact hypothesis proposes that the Moon originated after a body the size
of Mars (sometimes named Theia[47]) struck the proto-Earth a glancing blow.[1]: 256 [50][51]

The collision released about 100 million times more energy than the more recent Chicxulub impact
that is believed to have caused the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs. It was enough to vaporize
some of the Earth's outer layers and melt both bodies.[50][1]: 256 A portion of the mantle material was
ejected into orbit around the Earth. The giant impact hypothesis predicts that the Moon was depleted
of metallic material,[52] explaining its abnormal composition.[53] The ejecta in orbit around the Earth
could have condensed into a single body within a couple of weeks. Under the influence of its own
gravity, the ejected material became a more spherical body: the Moon.[54]

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Artist's impression of a Hadean

landscape with the relatively newly
formed Moon still looming closely
over Earth and both bodies
sustaining strong volcanism.

First continents

Geologic map of North America,

color-coded by age. From most
recent to oldest, age is indicated by
yellow, green, blue, and red. The
reds and pinks indicate rock from
the Archean.

Mantle convection, the process that drives plate tectonics, is a result of heat flow from the Earth's
interior to the Earth's surface.[55]: 2 It involves the creation of rigid tectonic plates at mid-oceanic
ridges. These plates are destroyed by subduction into the mantle at subduction zones. During the
early Archean (about 3.0 Ga) the mantle was much hotter than today, probably around 1,600 °C
(2,910 °F),[56]: 82 so convection in the mantle was faster. Although a process similar to present-day
plate tectonics did occur, this would have gone faster too. It is likely that during the Hadean and
Archean, subduction zones were more common, and therefore tectonic plates were smaller.[1]: 258 [57]

The initial crust, which formed when the Earth's surface first solidified, totally disappeared from a
combination of this fast Hadean plate tectonics and the intense impacts of the Late Heavy
Bombardment. However, it is thought that it was basaltic in composition, like today's oceanic crust,
because little crustal differentiation had yet taken place.[1]: 258 The first larger pieces of continental
crust, which is a product of differentiation of lighter elements during partial melting in the lower
crust, appeared at the end of the Hadean, about 4.0 Ga. What is left of these first small continents are
called cratons. These pieces of late Hadean and early Archean crust form the cores around which
today's continents grew.[58]

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The oldest rocks on Earth are found in the North American craton of Canada. They are tonalites from
about 4.0 Ga. They show traces of metamorphism by high temperature, but also sedimentary grains
that have been rounded by erosion during transport by water, showing that rivers and seas existed
then.[59] Cratons consist primarily of two alternating types of terranes. The first are so-called
greenstone belts, consisting of low-grade metamorphosed sedimentary rocks. These "greenstones" are
similar to the sediments today found in oceanic trenches, above subduction zones. For this reason,
greenstones are sometimes seen as evidence for subduction during the Archean. The second type is a
complex of felsic magmatic rocks. These rocks are mostly tonalite, trondhjemite or granodiorite, types
of rock similar in composition to granite (hence such terranes are called TTG-terranes). TTG-
complexes are seen as the relicts of the first continental crust, formed by partial melting in
basalt.[60]: Chapter 5

Oceans and atmosphere

Earth is often described as having had three atmospheres. The first atmosphere, captured from the
solar nebula, was composed of light (atmophile) elements from the solar nebula, mostly hydrogen and
helium. A combination of the solar wind and Earth's heat would have driven off this atmosphere, as a
result of which the atmosphere is now depleted of these elements compared to cosmic abundances.[61]
After the impact which created the Moon, the molten Earth released volatile gases; and later more
gases were released by volcanoes, completing a second atmosphere rich in greenhouse gases but poor
in oxygen. [1]: 256 Finally, the third atmosphere, rich in oxygen, emerged when bacteria began to
produce oxygen about 2.8 Ga.[62]: 83–84, 116–117

The pale orange dot, an artist's

impression of the early Earth which might
have appeared orange through its hazy
methane rich prebiotic second
atmosphere.[63][64] Earth's atmosphere at
this stage was somewhat comparable to
today's atmosphere of Titan.[65]

In early models for the formation of the atmosphere and ocean, the second atmosphere was formed by
outgassing of volatiles from the Earth's interior. Now it is considered likely that many of the volatiles
were delivered during accretion by a process known as impact degassing in which incoming bodies
vaporize on impact. The ocean and atmosphere would, therefore, have started to form even as the
Earth formed.[66] The new atmosphere probably contained water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and
smaller amounts of other gases.[67]

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Planetesimals at a distance of 1 astronomical unit (AU), the distance of the Earth from the Sun,
probably did not contribute any water to the Earth because the solar nebula was too hot for ice to
form and the hydration of rocks by water vapor would have taken too long.[66][68] The water must
have been supplied by meteorites from the outer asteroid belt and some large planetary embryos from
beyond 2.5 AU.[66][69] Comets may also have contributed. Though most comets are today in orbits
farther away from the Sun than Neptune, computer simulations show that they were originally far
more common in the inner parts of the Solar System.[59]: 130–132

As the Earth cooled, clouds formed. Rain created the oceans. Recent evidence suggests the oceans
may have begun forming as early as 4.4 Ga.[34] By the start of the Archean eon, they already covered
much of the Earth. This early formation has been difficult to explain because of a problem known as
the faint young Sun paradox. Stars are known to get brighter as they age, and the Sun has become
30% brighter since its formation 4.5 billion years ago.[70] Many models indicate that the early Earth
should have been covered in ice.[71][66] A likely solution is that there was enough carbon dioxide and
methane to produce a greenhouse effect. The carbon dioxide would have been produced by volcanoes
and the methane by early microbes. It is hypothesized that there also existed an organic haze created
from the products of methane photolysis that caused an anti-greenhouse effect as well.[72] Another
greenhouse gas, ammonia, would have been ejected by volcanos but quickly destroyed by ultraviolet
radiation.[62]: 83

Origin of life
One of the reasons for interest
in the early atmosphere and Life timeline
ocean is that they form the 0— ← Quaternary ice age*
P Flowers Birds Primates ← Earliest apes / humans
conditions under which life –h Mammals
first arose. There are many —a Dinosaurs
n P ← Karoo ice age*
models, but little consensus, –e l Arthropods Molluscs ← Earliest tetrapods
on how life emerged from r a ← Andean glaciation*
−500 — o n ← Cambrian explosion
non-living chemicals; –z t Ediacaran biota
s ←
o ← Cryogenian ice age*
chemical systems created in —i ← Earliest animals
the laboratory fall well short of –c ← Earliest plants
the minimum complexity for a −1000 —
living organism.[73][74] –
Multicellular life
—
The first step in the emergence
–P
of life may have been chemical
−1500 — r ← Earliest fungi
reactions that produced many o
–t ← Earliest multicellular life
of the simpler organic
compounds, including —e
r
–o Eukaryotes
nucleobases and amino acids, z
that are the building blocks of −2000 — o ← Sexual reproduction
life. An experiment in 1953 by –i
c
Stanley Miller and Harold — ← Huronian glaciation*
← Atmospheric oxygen
Urey showed that such –
molecules could form in an −2500 —

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–
atmosphere of water,
—
methane, ammonia and Photosynthesis ← Pongola glaciation*
–
hydrogen with the aid of
−3000 —
sparks to mimic the effect of
–A
lightning.[75] Although r
atmospheric composition was —c
probably different from that –h
e
used by Miller and Urey, later −3500 — a ← Earliest oxygen
n
experiments with more –
realistic compositions also — Single-celled life
managed to synthesize organic – ← LHB meteorites
molecules.[76] Computer −4000 — ← Earliest fossils
simulations show that –H
a
—d
Water
extraterrestrial organic e
molecules could have formed –a ← LUCA
n ← Earliest water
in the protoplanetary disk −4500 — ← Earth formed
before the formation of the (million years ago) *Ice Ages
Earth.[77]

Additional complexity could have been reached from at least three possible starting points: self-
replication, an organism's ability to produce offspring that are similar to itself; metabolism, its ability
to feed and repair itself; and external cell membranes, which allow food to enter and waste products
to leave, but exclude unwanted substances.[78]

Replication first: RNA world

Even the simplest members of the three modern domains of life use DNA to record their "recipes" and
a complex array of RNA and protein molecules to "read" these instructions and use them for growth,
maintenance, and self-replication.

The discovery that a kind of RNA molecule called a ribozyme can catalyze both its own replication and
the construction of proteins led to the hypothesis that earlier life-forms were based entirely on
RNA.[79] They could have formed an RNA world in which there were individuals but no species, as
mutations and horizontal gene transfers would have meant that the offspring in each generation were
quite likely to have different genomes from those that their parents started with.[80] RNA would later
have been replaced by DNA, which is more stable and therefore can build longer genomes, expanding
the range of capabilities a single organism can have.[81] Ribozymes remain as the main components of
ribosomes, the "protein factories" of modern cells.[82]

Although short, self-replicating RNA molecules have been artificially produced in laboratories,[83]
doubts have been raised about whether natural non-biological synthesis of RNA is possible.[84][85][86]
The earliest ribozymes may have been formed of simpler nucleic acids such as PNA, TNA or GNA,
which would have been replaced later by RNA.[87][88] Other pre-RNA replicators have been posited,
including crystals[89]: 150 and even quantum systems.[90]

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In 2003 it was proposed that porous metal sulfide precipitates would assist RNA synthesis at about
100 °C (212 °F) and at ocean-bottom pressures near hydrothermal vents. In this hypothesis, the
proto-cells would be confined in the pores of the metal substrate until the later development of lipid
membranes.[91]

Metabolism first: iron–sulfur world

The replicator in virtually all

known life is
deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA
is far more complex than
the original replicator and
its replication systems are
highly elaborate.

Another long-standing hypothesis is that the first life was composed of protein molecules. Amino
acids, the building blocks of proteins, are easily synthesized in plausible prebiotic conditions, as are
small peptides (polymers of amino acids) that make good catalysts.[92]: 295–297 A series of experiments
starting in 1997 showed that amino acids and peptides could form in the presence of carbon monoxide
and hydrogen sulfide with iron sulfide and nickel sulfide as catalysts. Most of the steps in their
assembly required temperatures of about 100 °C (212 °F) and moderate pressures, although one stage
required 250 °C (482 °F) and a pressure equivalent to that found under 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) of rock.
Hence, self-sustaining synthesis of proteins could have occurred near hydrothermal vents.[93]

A difficulty with the metabolism-first scenario is finding a way for organisms to evolve. Without the
ability to replicate as individuals, aggregates of molecules would have "compositional genomes"
(counts of molecular species in the aggregate) as the target of natural selection. However, a recent
model shows that such a system is unable to evolve in response to natural selection.[94]

Membranes first: Lipid world

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It has been suggested that double-walled "bubbles" of lipids like those that form the external
membranes of cells may have been an essential first step.[95] Experiments that simulated the
conditions of the early Earth have reported the formation of lipids, and these can spontaneously form
liposomes, double-walled "bubbles", and then reproduce themselves. Although they are not
intrinsically information-carriers as nucleic acids are, they would be subject to natural selection for
longevity and reproduction. Nucleic acids such as RNA might then have formed more easily within
the liposomes than they would have outside.[96]

The clay theory

Some clays, notably montmorillonite, have properties that make them plausible accelerators for the
emergence of an RNA world: they grow by self-replication of their crystalline pattern, are subject to
an analog of natural selection (as the clay "species" that grows fastest in a particular environment
rapidly becomes dominant), and can catalyze the formation of RNA molecules.[97] Although this idea
has not become the scientific consensus, it still has active supporters.[98]: 150–158 [89]

Cross-section through a
liposome

Research in 2003 reported that montmorillonite could also accelerate the conversion of fatty acids
into "bubbles", and that the bubbles could encapsulate RNA attached to the clay. Bubbles can then
grow by absorbing additional lipids and dividing. The formation of the earliest cells may have been
aided by similar processes.[99]

A similar hypothesis presents self-replicating iron-rich clays as the progenitors of nucleotides, lipids
and amino acids.[100]

Last universal common ancestor

It is believed that of this multiplicity of protocells, only one line survived. Current phylogenetic
evidence suggests that the last universal ancestor (LUA) lived during the early Archean eon, perhaps
3.5 Ga or earlier.[101][102] This LUA cell is the ancestor of all life on Earth today. It was probably a
prokaryote, possessing a cell membrane and probably ribosomes, but lacking a nucleus or membrane-
bound organelles such as mitochondria or chloroplasts. Like modern cells, it used DNA as its genetic
code, RNA for information transfer and protein synthesis, and enzymes to catalyze reactions. Some
scientists believe that instead of a single organism being the last universal common ancestor, there
were populations of organisms exchanging genes by lateral gene transfer.[103]
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Artist's impression of Earth during the later

Archean, the largely cooled planetary crust and
water-rich barren surface, marked by volcanoes
and continents, features already round
microbialites. The Moon, still orbiting Earth
much closer than today and still dominating
Earth's sky, produced strong tides.[104]

Proterozoic Eon
The Proterozoic eon lasted from 2.5 Ga to 538.8 Ma (million years) ago.[105] In this time span, cratons
grew into continents with modern sizes. The change to an oxygen-rich atmosphere was a crucial
development. Life developed from prokaryotes into eukaryotes and multicellular forms. The
Proterozoic saw a couple of severe ice ages called Snowball Earths. After the last Snowball Earth about
600 Ma, the evolution of life on Earth accelerated. About 580 Ma, the Ediacaran biota formed the
prelude for the Cambrian Explosion.

Oxygen revolution

Lithified stromatolites on the shores

of Lake Thetis, Western Australia.
Archean stromatolites are the first
direct fossil traces of life on Earth.

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A banded iron formation from the

3.15 Ga Moodies Group, Barberton
Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Red
layers represent the times when
oxygen was available; gray layers
were formed in anoxic
circumstances.

The earliest cells absorbed energy and food from the surrounding environment. They used
fermentation, the breakdown of more complex compounds into less complex compounds with less
energy, and used the energy so liberated to grow and reproduce. Fermentation can only occur in an
anaerobic (oxygen-free) environment. The evolution of photosynthesis made it possible for cells to
derive energy from the Sun.[106]: 377

Most of the life that covers the surface of the Earth depends directly or indirectly on photosynthesis.
The most common form, oxygenic photosynthesis, turns carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight into
food. It captures the energy of sunlight in energy-rich molecules such as ATP, which then provide the
energy to make sugars. To supply the electrons in the circuit, hydrogen is stripped from water, leaving
oxygen as a waste product.[107] Some organisms, including purple bacteria and green sulfur bacteria,
use an anoxygenic form of photosynthesis that uses alternatives to hydrogen stripped from water as
electron donors; examples are hydrogen sulfide, sulfur and iron. Such extremophile organisms are
restricted to otherwise inhospitable environments such as hot springs and hydrothermal
vents.[106]: 379–382 [108]

The simpler anoxygenic form arose about 3.8 Ga, not long after the appearance of life. The timing of
oxygenic photosynthesis is more controversial; it had certainly appeared by about 2.4 Ga, but some
researchers put it back as far as 3.2 Ga.[107] The latter "probably increased global productivity by at
least two or three orders of magnitude".[109][110] Among the oldest remnants of oxygen-producing
lifeforms are fossil stromatolites.[109][110][111]

At first, the released oxygen was bound up with limestone, iron, and other minerals. The oxidized iron
appears as red layers in geological strata called banded iron formations that formed in abundance
during the Siderian period (between 2500 Ma and 2300 Ma).[2]: 133 When most of the exposed readily
reacting minerals were oxidized, oxygen finally began to accumulate in the atmosphere. Though each
cell only produced a minute amount of oxygen, the combined metabolism of many cells over a vast
time transformed Earth's atmosphere to its current state. This was Earth's third
atmosphere.[112]: 50–51 [62]: 83–84, 116–117

Some oxygen was stimulated by solar ultraviolet radiation to form ozone, which collected in a layer
near the upper part of the atmosphere. The ozone layer absorbed, and still absorbs, a significant
amount of the ultraviolet radiation that once had passed through the atmosphere. It allowed cells to

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colonize the surface of the ocean and eventually the land: without the ozone layer, ultraviolet
radiation bombarding land and sea would have caused unsustainable levels of mutation in exposed
cells.[113][59]: 219–220

Graph showing range of estimated partial

pressure of atmospheric oxygen through geologic
time [111]

Photosynthesis had another major impact. Oxygen was toxic; much life on Earth probably died out as
its levels rose in what is known as the oxygen catastrophe. Resistant forms survived and thrived, and
some developed the ability to use oxygen to increase their metabolism and obtain more energy from
the same food.[113]

Snowball Earth

Artist's rendition of an oxinated fully-

frozen Snowball Earth with no remaining
liquid surface water.

The natural evolution of the Sun made it progressively more luminous during the Archean and
Proterozoic eons; the Sun's luminosity increases 6% every billion years.[59]: 165 As a result, the Earth
began to receive more heat from the Sun in the Proterozoic eon. However, the Earth did not get
warmer. Instead, the geological record suggests it cooled dramatically during the early Proterozoic.
Glacial deposits found in South Africa date back to 2.2 Ga, at which time, based on paleomagnetic
evidence, they must have been located near the equator. Thus, this glaciation, known as the Huronian
glaciation, may have been global. Some scientists suggest this was so severe that the Earth was frozen
over from the poles to the equator, a hypothesis called Snowball Earth.[114]

The Huronian ice age might have been caused by the increased oxygen concentration in the
atmosphere, which caused the decrease of methane (CH4) in the atmosphere. Methane is a strong
greenhouse gas, but with oxygen it reacts to form CO2, a less effective greenhouse gas.[59]: 172 When
free oxygen became available in the atmosphere, the concentration of methane could have decreased
dramatically, enough to counter the effect of the increasing heat flow from the Sun.[115]

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However, the term Snowball Earth is more commonly used to describe later extreme ice ages during
the Cryogenian period. There were four periods, each lasting about 10 million years, between 750 and
580 million years ago, when the Earth is thought to have been covered with ice apart from the highest
mountains, and average temperatures were about −50 °C (−58 °F).[116] The snowball may have been
partly due to the location of the supercontinent Rodinia straddling the Equator. Carbon dioxide
combines with rain to weather rocks to form carbonic acid, which is then washed out to sea, thus
extracting the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. When the continents are near the poles, the
advance of ice covers the rocks, slowing the reduction in carbon dioxide, but in the Cryogenian the
weathering of Rodinia was able to continue unchecked until the ice advanced to the tropics. The
process may have finally been reversed by the emission of carbon dioxide from volcanoes or the
destabilization of methane gas hydrates. According to the alternative Slushball Earth theory, even at
the height of the ice ages there was still open water at the Equator.[117][118]

Emergence of eukaryotes

Chloroplasts in the cells of a moss

Modern taxonomy classifies life into three domains. The time of their origin is uncertain. The Bacteria
domain probably first split off from the other forms of life (sometimes called Neomura), but this
supposition is controversial. Soon after this, by 2 Ga,[119] the Neomura split into the Archaea and the
Eukaryota. Eukaryotic cells (Eukaryota) are larger and more complex than prokaryotic cells (Bacteria
and Archaea), and the origin of that complexity is only now becoming known.[120] The earliest fossils
possessing features typical of fungi date to the Paleoproterozoic era, some 2.4 Ga ago; these
multicellular benthic organisms had filamentous structures capable of anastomosis.[121]

Around this time, the first proto-mitochondrion was formed. A bacterial cell related to today's
Rickettsia,[122] which had evolved to metabolize oxygen, entered a larger prokaryotic cell, which
lacked that capability. Perhaps the large cell attempted to digest the smaller one but failed (possibly
due to the evolution of prey defenses). The smaller cell may have tried to parasitize the larger one. In
any case, the smaller cell survived inside the larger cell. Using oxygen, it metabolized the larger cell's
waste products and derived more energy. Part of this excess energy was returned to the host. The
smaller cell replicated inside the larger one. Soon, a stable symbiosis developed between the large cell
and the smaller cells inside it. Over time, the host cell acquired some genes from the smaller cells, and
the two kinds became dependent on each other: the larger cell could not survive without the energy
produced by the smaller ones, and these, in turn, could not survive without the raw materials
provided by the larger cell. The whole cell is now considered a single organism, and the smaller cells
are classified as organelles called mitochondria.[123]

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A similar event occurred with photosynthetic cyanobacteria[124] entering large heterotrophic cells and
becoming chloroplasts.[112]: 60–61 [125]: 536–539 Probably as a result of these changes, a line of cells
capable of photosynthesis split off from the other eukaryotes more than 1 billion years ago. There
were probably several such inclusion events. Besides the well-established endosymbiotic theory of the
cellular origin of mitochondria and chloroplasts, there are theories that cells led to peroxisomes,
spirochetes led to cilia and flagella, and that perhaps a DNA virus led to the cell nucleus,[126][127]
though none of them are widely accepted.[128]

Archaeans, bacteria, and eukaryotes continued to diversify and to become more complex and better
adapted to their environments. Each domain repeatedly split into multiple lineages. Around 1.1 Ga,
the plant, animal, and fungi lines had split, though they still existed as solitary cells. Some of these
lived in colonies, and gradually a division of labor began to take place; for instance, cells on the
periphery might have started to assume different roles from those in the interior. Although the
division between a colony with specialized cells and a multicellular organism is not always clear,
around 1 billion years ago[129], the first multicellular plants emerged, probably green algae.[130]
Possibly by around 900 Ma[125]: 488 true multicellularity had also evolved in animals.[131]

At first, it probably resembled today's sponges, which have totipotent cells that allow a disrupted
organism to reassemble itself.[125]: 483–487 As the division of labor was completed in the different
lineages of multicellular organisms, cells became more specialized and more dependent on each
other.[132]

Supercontinents in the Proterozoic

A reconstruction of Pannotia
(550 Ma).

Reconstructions of tectonic plate movement in the past 250 million years (the Cenozoic and Mesozoic
eras) can be made reliably using fitting of continental margins, ocean floor magnetic anomalies and
paleomagnetic poles. No ocean crust dates back further than that, so earlier reconstructions are more
difficult. Paleomagnetic poles are supplemented by geologic evidence such as orogenic belts, which
mark the edges of ancient plates, and past distributions of flora and fauna. The further back in time,
the scarcer and harder to interpret the data get and the more uncertain the reconstructions.[133]: 370

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Throughout the history of the Earth, there have been times when continents collided and formed a
supercontinent, which later broke up into new continents. About 1000 to 830 Ma, most continental
mass was united in the supercontinent Rodinia.[133]: 370 [134] Rodinia may have been preceded by
Early-Middle Proterozoic continents called Nuna and Columbia.[133]: 374 [135][136]

After the break-up of Rodinia about 800 Ma, the continents may have formed another short-lived
supercontinent around 550 Ma. The hypothetical supercontinent is sometimes referred to as Pannotia
or Vendia.[137]: 321–322 The evidence for it is a phase of continental collision known as the Pan-African
orogeny, which joined the continental masses of current-day Africa, South America, Antarctica and
Australia. The existence of Pannotia depends on the timing of the rifting between Gondwana (which
included most of the landmass now in the Southern Hemisphere, as well as the Arabian Peninsula and
the Indian subcontinent) and Laurentia (roughly equivalent to current-day North America).[133]: 374 It
is at least certain that by the end of the Proterozoic eon, most of the continental mass lay united in a
position around the south pole.[138]

Late Proterozoic climate and life

A 580 million year old fossil of

Spriggina floundensi, an animal
from the Ediacaran period. Such life
forms could have been ancestors to
the many new forms that originated
in the Cambrian Explosion.

The end of the Proterozoic saw at least two Snowball Earths, so severe that the surface of the oceans
may have been completely frozen. This happened about 716.5 and 635 Ma, in the Cryogenian
period.[139] The intensity and mechanism of both glaciations are still under investigation and harder
to explain than the early Proterozoic Snowball Earth.[140] Most paleoclimatologists think the cold
episodes were linked to the formation of the supercontinent Rodinia.[141] Because Rodinia was
centered on the equator, rates of chemical weathering increased and carbon dioxide (CO2) was taken
from the atmosphere. Because CO2 is an important greenhouse gas, climates cooled globally.[142]

In the same way, during the Snowball Earths most of the continental surface was covered with
permafrost, which decreased chemical weathering again, leading to the end of the glaciations. An
alternative hypothesis is that enough carbon dioxide escaped through volcanic outgassing that the
resulting greenhouse effect raised global temperatures.[141] Increased volcanic activity resulted from
the break-up of Rodinia at about the same time.[143]

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The Cryogenian period was followed by the Ediacaran period, which was characterized by a rapid
development of new multicellular lifeforms.[144] Whether there is a connection between the end of the
severe ice ages and the increase in diversity of life is not clear, but it does not seem coincidental. The
new forms of life, called Ediacara biota, were larger and more diverse than ever. Though the
taxonomy of most Ediacaran life forms is unclear, some were ancestors of groups of modern life.[145]
Important developments were the origin of muscular and neural cells. None of the Ediacaran fossils
had hard body parts like skeletons. These first appear after the boundary between the Proterozoic and
Phanerozoic eons or Ediacaran and Cambrian periods.[146]

Phanerozoic Eon
The Phanerozoic is the current eon on Earth, which started approximately 538.8 million years ago. It
consists of three eras: The Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic,[105] and is the time when multi-cellular
life greatly diversified into almost all the organisms known today.[147]

The Paleozoic ("old life") era was the first and longest era of the Phanerozoic eon, lasting from 538.8
to 251.9 Ma.[105] During the Paleozoic, many modern groups of life came into existence. Life colonized
the land, first plants, then animals. Two major extinctions occurred. The continents formed at the
break-up of Pannotia and Rodinia at the end of the Proterozoic slowly moved together again, forming
the supercontinent Pangaea in the late Paleozoic.[148]

The Mesozoic ("middle life") era lasted from 251.9 Ma to 66 Ma.[105] It is subdivided into the Triassic,
Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. The era began with the Permian–Triassic extinction event, the most
severe extinction event in the fossil record; 95% of the species on Earth died out.[149] It ended with
the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs.[150]

The Cenozoic ("new life") era began at 66 Ma, and is subdivided into the Paleogene, Neogene, and
Quaternary periods. These three periods are further split into seven subdivisions, with the Paleogene
composed of The Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene, the Neogene divided into the Miocene, Pliocene,
and the Quaternary composed of the Pleistocene, and Holocene.[151] Mammals, birds, amphibians,

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crocodilians, turtles, and lepidosaurs survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event that killed
off the non-avian dinosaurs and many other forms of life, and this is the era during which they
diversified into their modern forms.[152]

Tectonics, paleogeography and climate

Pangaea was a supercontinent that

existed from about 300 to 180 Ma.
The outlines of the modern
continents and other landmasses
are indicated on this map.

At the end of the Proterozoic, the supercontinent Pannotia had broken apart into the smaller
continents Laurentia, Baltica, Siberia and Gondwana.[153] During periods when continents move
apart, more oceanic crust is formed by volcanic activity. Because young volcanic crust is relatively
hotter and less dense than old oceanic crust, the ocean floors rise during such periods. This causes the
sea level to rise. Therefore, in the first half of the Paleozoic, large areas of the continents were below
sea level.

Early Paleozoic climates were warmer than today, but the end of the Ordovician saw a short ice age
during which glaciers covered the south pole, where the huge continent Gondwana was situated.
Traces of glaciation from this period are only found on former Gondwana. During the Late Ordovician
ice age, a few mass extinctions took place, in which many brachiopods, trilobites, Bryozoa and corals
disappeared. These marine species could probably not contend with the decreasing temperature of the
sea water.[154]

The continents Laurentia and Baltica collided between 450 and 400 Ma, during the Caledonian
Orogeny, to form Laurussia (also known as Euramerica).[155] Traces of the mountain belt this collision
caused can be found in Scandinavia, Scotland, and the northern Appalachians. In the Devonian
period (416–359 Ma)[23] Gondwana and Siberia began to move towards Laurussia. The collision of
Siberia with Laurussia caused the Uralian Orogeny, the collision of Gondwana with Laurussia is called
the Variscan or Hercynian Orogeny in Europe or the Alleghenian Orogeny in North America. The
latter phase took place during the Carboniferous period (359–299 Ma)[23] and resulted in the
formation of the last supercontinent, Pangaea.[60]

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By 180 Ma, Pangaea broke up into Laurasia and Gondwana.

Cambrian explosion

Trilobites first appeared during the

Cambrian period and were among
the most widespread and diverse
groups of Paleozoic organisms.

The rate of the evolution of life as recorded by fossils accelerated in the Cambrian period (542–
488 Ma).[23] The sudden emergence of many new species, phyla, and forms in this period is called the
Cambrian Explosion. It was a form of adaptive radiation, where vacant niches left by the extinct
Ediacaran biota were filled up by the emergence of new phyla.[156] The biological fomenting in the
Cambrian Explosion was unprecedented before and since that time.[59]: 229 Whereas the Ediacaran
life forms appear yet primitive and not easy to put in any modern group, at the end of the Cambrian
most modern phyla were already present. The development of hard body parts such as shells,
skeletons or exoskeletons in animals like molluscs, echinoderms, crinoids and arthropods (a well-
known group of arthropods from the lower Paleozoic are the trilobites) made the preservation and
fossilization of such life forms easier than those of their Proterozoic ancestors. For this reason, much
more is known about life in and after the Cambrian than about that of older periods. Some of these
Cambrian groups appear complex but are seemingly quite different from modern life; examples are
Anomalocaris and Haikouichthys. More recently, however, these seem to have found a place in
modern classification.[157]

During the Cambrian, the first vertebrate animals, among them the first fishes, had appeared.[125]: 357
A creature that could have been the ancestor of the fishes, or was probably closely related to it, was
Pikaia. It had a primitive notochord, a structure that could have developed into a vertebral column
later. The first fishes with jaws (Gnathostomata) appeared during the next geological period, the
Ordovician. The colonisation of new niches resulted in massive body sizes. In this way, fishes with
increasing sizes evolved during the early Paleozoic, such as the titanic placoderm Dunkleosteus, which
could grow 7 meters (23 ft) long.[158]

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The diversity of life forms did not increase greatly because of a series of mass extinctions that define
widespread biostratigraphic units called biomeres.[159] After each extinction pulse, the continental
shelf regions were repopulated by similar life forms that may have been evolving slowly
elsewhere.[160] By the late Cambrian, the trilobites had reached their greatest diversity and dominated
nearly all fossil assemblages.[161]: 34

Colonization of land

Artist's conception of Devonian flora

Oxygen accumulation from photosynthesis resulted in the formation of an ozone layer that absorbed
much of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation, meaning unicellular organisms that reached land were less
likely to die, and prokaryotes began to multiply and become better adapted to survival out of the
water. Prokaryote lineages had probably colonized the land as early as 3 Ga[162][163] even before the
origin of the eukaryotes. For a long time, the land remained barren of multicellular organisms. The
supercontinent Pannotia formed around 600 Ma and then broke apart a short 50 million years
later.[164] Fish, the earliest vertebrates, evolved in the oceans around 530 Ma.[125]: 354 A major
extinction event occurred near the end of the Cambrian period,[165] which ended 488 Ma.[166]

Several hundred million years ago, plants (probably resembling algae) and fungi started growing at
the edges of the water, and then out of it.[167]: 138–140 The oldest fossils of land fungi and plants date
to 480–460 Ma, though molecular evidence suggests the fungi may have colonized the land as early as
1000 Ma and the plants 700 Ma.[168] Initially remaining close to the water's edge, mutations and
variations resulted in further colonization of this new environment. The timing of the first animals to
leave the oceans is not precisely known: the oldest clear evidence is of arthropods on land around
450 Ma,[169] perhaps thriving and becoming better adapted due to the vast food source provided by
the terrestrial plants. There is also unconfirmed evidence that arthropods may have appeared on land
as early as 530 Ma.[170]

Evolution of tetrapods

Tiktaalik, a fish with limb-like fins

and a predecessor of tetrapods.
Reconstruction from fossils about
375 million years old.

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At the end of the Ordovician period, 443 Ma,[23] additional extinction events occurred, perhaps due to
a concurrent ice age.[154] Around 380 to 375 Ma, the first tetrapods evolved from fish.[171] Fins
evolved to become limbs that the first tetrapods used to lift their heads out of the water to breathe air.
This would let them live in oxygen-poor water, or pursue small prey in shallow water.[171] They may
have later ventured on land for brief periods. Eventually, some of them became so well adapted to
terrestrial life that they spent their adult lives on land, although they hatched in the water and
returned to lay their eggs. This was the origin of the amphibians. About 365 Ma, another period of
extinction occurred, perhaps as a result of global cooling.[172] Plants evolved seeds, which
dramatically accelerated their spread on land, around this time (by approximately 360 Ma).[173][174]

About 20 million years later (340 Ma[125]: 293–296 ), the amniotic egg evolved, which could be laid on
land, giving a survival advantage to tetrapod embryos. This resulted in the divergence of amniotes
from amphibians. Another 30 million years (310 Ma[125]: 254–256 ) saw the divergence of the synapsids
(including mammals) from the sauropsids (including birds and reptiles). Other groups of organisms
continued to evolve, and lines diverged—in fish, insects, bacteria, and so on—but less is known of the
details.

Dinosaurs were the dominant

terrestrial vertebrates throughout
most of the Mesozoic

After yet another, the most severe extinction of the period (251~250 Ma), around 230 Ma, dinosaurs
split off from their reptilian ancestors.[175] The Triassic–Jurassic extinction event at 200 Ma spared
many of the dinosaurs,[23][176] and they soon became dominant among the vertebrates. Though some
mammalian lines began to separate during this period, existing mammals were probably small
animals resembling shrews.[125]: 169

The boundary between avian and non-avian dinosaurs is not clear, but Archaeopteryx, traditionally
considered one of the first birds, lived around 150 Ma.[177]

The earliest evidence for the angiosperms evolving flowers is during the Cretaceous period, some
20 million years later (132 Ma).[178]

Extinctions
The first of five great mass extinctions was the Ordovician-Silurian extinction. Its possible cause was
the intense glaciation of Gondwana, which eventually led to a Snowball Earth. 60% of marine
invertebrates became extinct and 25% of all families.

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The second mass extinction was the Late Devonian extinction, probably caused by the evolution of
trees, which could have led to the depletion of greenhouse gases (like CO2) or the eutrophication of
water. 70% of all species became extinct.[179]

The third mass extinction was the Permian-Triassic, or the Great Dying, event was possibly caused by
some combination of the Siberian Traps volcanic event, an asteroid impact, methane hydrate
gasification, sea level fluctuations, and a major anoxic event. Either the proposed Wilkes Land
crater[180] in Antarctica or Bedout structure off the northwest coast of Australia may indicate an
impact connection with the Permian-Triassic extinction. But it remains uncertain whether either
these or other proposed Permian-Triassic boundary craters are either real impact craters or even
contemporaneous with the Permian-Triassic extinction event. This was by far the deadliest extinction
ever, with about 57% of all families and 83% of all genera killed.[181][182]

The fourth mass extinction was the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event in which almost all synapsids
and archosaurs became extinct, probably due to new competition from dinosaurs.[183]

The fifth and most recent mass extinction was the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. In 66 Ma, a
10-kilometer (6.2 mi) asteroid struck Earth just off the Yucatán Peninsula—somewhere in the
southwestern tip of then Laurasia—where the Chicxulub crater is today. This ejected vast quantities of
particulate matter and vapor into the air that occluded sunlight, inhibiting photosynthesis. 75% of all
life, including the non-avian dinosaurs, became extinct,[184] marking the end of the Cretaceous period
and Mesozoic era.

Diversification of mammals
The first true mammals evolved in the shadows of dinosaurs and other large archosaurs that filled the
world by the late Triassic. The first mammals were very small, and were probably nocturnal to escape
predation. Mammal diversification truly began only after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction
event.[185] By the early Paleocene the Earth recovered from the extinction, and mammalian diversity
increased. Creatures like Ambulocetus took to the oceans to eventually evolve into whales,[186]
whereas some creatures, like primates, took to the trees.[187] This all changed during the mid to late
Eocene when the circum-Antarctic current formed between Antarctica and Australia which disrupted
weather patterns on a global scale. Grassless savanna began to predominate much of the landscape,
and mammals such as Andrewsarchus rose up to become the largest known terrestrial predatory
mammal ever,[188] and early whales like Basilosaurus took control of the seas.

The evolution of grasses brought a remarkable change to the Earth's landscape, and the new open
spaces created pushed mammals to get bigger and bigger. Grass started to expand in the Miocene, and
the Miocene is where many modern- day mammals first appeared. Giant ungulates like
Paraceratherium and Deinotherium evolved to rule the grasslands. The evolution of grass also
brought primates down from the trees, and started human evolution. The first big cats evolved during
this time as well.[189] The Tethys Sea was closed off by the collision of Africa and Europe.[190]

The formation of Panama was perhaps the most important geological event to occur in the last 60
million years. Atlantic and Pacific currents were closed off from each other, which caused the
formation of the Gulf Stream, which made Europe warmer. The land bridge allowed the isolated

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creatures of South America to migrate over to North America, and vice versa.[191] Various species
migrated south, leading to the presence in South America of llamas, the spectacled bear, kinkajous
and jaguars.

Three million years ago saw the start of the Pleistocene epoch, which featured dramatic climatic
changes due to the ice ages. The ice ages led to the evolution of modern man in Saharan Africa and
expansion. The mega-fauna that dominated fed on grasslands that, by now, had taken over much of
the subtropical world. The large amounts of water held in the ice allowed for various bodies of water
to shrink and sometimes disappear such as the North Sea and the Bering Strait. It is believed by many
that a huge migration took place along Beringia which is why, today, there are camels (which evolved
and became extinct in North America), horses (which evolved and became extinct in North America),
and Native Americans. The ending of the last ice age coincided with the expansion of man, along with
a massive die out of ice age mega-fauna. This extinction is nicknamed "the Sixth Extinction".

An artist's impression of ice age Earth at glacial

maximum.

Human evolution
A small African ape living
around 6 Ma was the last Hominin timeline
animal whose descendants 0— Modern humans
Homo sapiens
←
←
would include both modern ← Earliest clothes
Denisovans Earliest rock art
humans and their closest – Neanderthals
H. heidelbergensis
relatives, the
chimpanzees. [101][125]: 100–101 −1 — H. erectus
(H. antecessor) P
Only two branches of its Pleistocene
– (H. ergaster) a
family tree have surviving (Au. sediba) r ← Earliest fire / cooking
descendants. Very soon after a
← Earliest language
−2 — n
the split, for reasons that are H. habilis t
← Dispersal beyond Africa
still unclear, apes in one – (H. rudolfensis) h
r
branch developed the ability to (Au. garhi)
o ← Earliest sign of
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o ← a es s g o
walk upright.[125]: 95–99 Brain −3 — p Homo
Australopithecus
size increased rapidly, and by u
(Au. africanus) ← Earliest stone tools
2 Ma, the first animals – (Au. afarensis)
s

classified in the genus Homo (Au. anamensis)

had appeared.[167]: 300 Around −4 —Pliocene
the same time, the other Ardipithecus H
branch split into the ancestors – ← Earliest sign of
Australopithecus
(Ar. ramidus)
o
of the common chimpanzee
and the ancestors of the −5 — Hominini m
bonobo as evolution continued
– i
simultaneously in all life Earliest sign of
forms.[125]: 100–101 (Ar. kadabba) n ← Ardipithecus
−6 — Orrorin
i
The ability to control fire (O. praegens)
–
probably began in Homo (O. tugenensis) d
erectus (or Homo ergaster), −7 — s ← Earliest bipedal
Sahelanthropus
probably at least
790,000 years ago [192] but Graecopithecus
–Miocene
perhaps as early as Oreopithecus
1.5 Ma. [125]: 67 The use and −8 — Chororapithecus
discovery of controlled fire Sivapithecus
may even predate Homo – ← Chimpanzee split
erectus. Fire was possibly used Ouranopithecus
by the early Lower Paleolithic −9 — (Ou. turkae) ← Gorilla split
(Ou. macedoniensis)
(Oldowan) hominid Homo
habilis or strong – Samburupithecus
australopithecines such as Nakalipithecus
−10 — ← Earlier apes
Paranthropus.[193]
(million years ago)

A reconstruction of human history

based on fossil data.[194]

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It is more difficult to establish the origin of language; it is unclear whether Homo erectus could speak
or if that capability had not begun until Homo sapiens.[125]: 67 As brain size increased, babies were
born earlier, before their heads grew too large to pass through the pelvis. As a result, they exhibited
more plasticity, and thus possessed an increased capacity to learn and required a longer period of
dependence. Social skills became more complex, language became more sophisticated, and tools
became more elaborate. This contributed to further cooperation and intellectual development.[195]: 7
Modern humans (Homo sapiens) are believed to have originated around 200,000 years ago or earlier
in Africa; the oldest fossils date back to around 160,000 years ago.[196]

The first humans to show signs of spirituality are the Neanderthals (usually classified as a separate
species with no surviving descendants); they buried their dead, often with no sign of food or
tools.[197]: 17 However, evidence of more sophisticated beliefs, such as the early Cro-Magnon cave
paintings (probably with magical or religious significance)[197]: 17–19 did not appear until 32,000 years
ago.[198] Cro-Magnons also left behind stone figurines such as Venus of Willendorf, probably also
signifying religious belief.[197]: 17–19 By 11,000 years ago, Homo sapiens had reached the southern tip
of South America, the last of the uninhabited continents (except for Antarctica, which remained
undiscovered until 1820 AD).[199] Tool use and communication continued to improve, and
interpersonal relationships became more intricate.

Human history

Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci

epitomizes the advances in art and
science seen during the
Renaissance.

Throughout more than 90% of its history, Homo sapiens lived in small bands as nomadic hunter-
gatherers.[195]: 8 As language became more complex, the ability to remember and communicate
information resulted, according to a theory proposed by Richard Dawkins, in a new replicator: the
meme.[200] Ideas could be exchanged quickly and passed down the generations. Cultural evolution
quickly outpaced biological evolution, and history proper began. Between 8500 and 7000 BC, humans
in the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East began the systematic husbandry of plants and animals:
agriculture.[201] This spread to neighboring regions, and developed independently elsewhere, until
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most Homo sapiens lived sedentary lives in permanent settlements as farmers. Not all societies
abandoned nomadism, especially those in isolated areas of the globe poor in domesticable plant
species, such as Australia.[202] However, among those civilizations that did adopt agriculture, the
relative stability and increased productivity provided by farming allowed the population to expand.

Agriculture had a major impact; humans began to affect the environment as never before. Surplus
food allowed a priestly or governing class to arise, followed by increasing division of labor. This led to
Earth's first civilization at Sumer in the Middle East, between 4000 and 3000 BC.[195]: 15 Additional
civilizations quickly arose in ancient Egypt, at the Indus River valley and in China. The invention of
writing enabled complex societies to arise: record-keeping and libraries served as a storehouse of
knowledge and increased the cultural transmission of information. Humans no longer had to spend
all their time working for survival, enabling the first specialized occupations (e.g. craftsmen,
merchants, priests, etc.). Curiosity and education drove the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom, and
various disciplines, including science (in a primitive form), arose. This in turn led to the emergence of
increasingly larger and more complex civilizations, such as the first empires, which at times traded
with one another, or fought for territory and resources.

By around 500 BC, there were advanced civilizations in the Middle East, Iran, India, China, and
Greece, at times expanding, at times entering into decline.[195]: 3 In 221 BC, China became a single
polity that would grow to spread its culture throughout East Asia, and it has remained the most
populous nation in the world. During this period, famous Hindu texts known as vedas came in
existence in Indus valley civilization. This civilization developed in warfare, arts, science, mathematics
and architecture. The fundamentals of Western civilization were largely shaped in Ancient Greece,
with the world's first democratic government and major advances in philosophy and science, and in
Ancient Rome with advances in law, government, and engineering.[203] The Roman Empire was
Christianized by Emperor Constantine in the early 4th century and declined by the end of the 5th.
Beginning with the 7th century, Christianization of Europe began, and since at least the 4th century
Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western
civilization. [204][205][206][207][208][209][210][211] In 610, Islam was founded and quickly became the
dominant religion in Western Asia. The House of Wisdom was established in Abbasid-era Baghdad,
Iraq.[212] It is considered to have been a major intellectual center during the Islamic Golden Age,
where Muslim scholars in Baghdad and Cairo flourished from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries
until the Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258 AD. In 1054 AD the Great Schism between the Roman
Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church led to the prominent cultural differences between
Western and Eastern Europe.[213]

In the 14th century, the Renaissance began in Italy with advances in religion, art, and
science.[195]: 317–319 At that time the Christian Church as a political entity lost much of its power. In
1492, Christopher Columbus reached the Americas, initiating great changes to the new world.
European civilization began to change beginning in 1500, leading to the scientific and industrial
revolutions. That continent began to exert political and cultural dominance over human societies
around the world, a time known as the Colonial era (also see Age of Discovery).[195]: 295–299 In the
18th century a cultural movement known as the Age of Enlightenment further shaped the mentality of
Europe and contributed to its secularization. From 1914 to 1918 and 1939 to 1945, nations around the
world were embroiled in world wars. Established following World War I, the League of Nations was a
first step in establishing international institutions to settle disputes peacefully. After failing to prevent
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World War II, humankind's bloodiest conflict, it was replaced by the United Nations. After the war,
many new states were formed, declaring or being granted independence in a period of decolonization.
The democratic capitalist United States and the socialist Soviet Union became the world's dominant
superpowers for a time, and they held an ideological, often-violent rivalry known as the Cold War
until the dissolution of the latter. In 1992, several European nations joined in the European Union. As
transportation and communication improved, the economies and political affairs of nations around
the world have become increasingly intertwined. This globalization has often produced both conflict
and cooperation.

Recent events

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the Moon,

photographed by Neil Armstrong,
1969

Change has continued at a rapid pace from the mid-1940s to today. Technological developments
include nuclear weapons, computers, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology. Economic
globalization, spurred by advances in communication and transportation technology, has influenced
everyday life in many parts of the world. Cultural and institutional forms such as democracy,
capitalism, and environmentalism have increased influence. Major concerns and problems such as
disease, war, poverty, violent radicalism, and recently, human-caused climate change have risen as
the world population increases.

In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite into orbit and, soon afterward, Yuri
Gagarin became the first human in space. Neil Armstrong, an American, was the first to set foot on
another astronomical object, the Moon. Uncrewed probes have been sent to all the known planets in
the Solar System, with some (such as the two Voyager spacecraft) having left the Solar System. Five
space agencies, representing over fifteen countries,[214] have worked together to build the
International Space Station. Aboard it, there has been a continuous human presence in space since
2000.[215] The World Wide Web became a part of everyday life in the 1990s, and since then has
become an indispensable source of information in the developed world.

See also
Chronology of the universe – History and Detailed logarithmic timeline – Timeline of the
future of the universe history of the universe, Earth, and mankind

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Earth phase – Phases of the Earth as seen Geological history of Earth – The sequence of
from the Moon major geological events in Earth's past
Evolutionary history of life Global catastrophic risk – Potentially harmful
Future of Earth – Long-term extrapolated worldwide events
geological and biological changes of planet Timeline of the evolutionary history of life
Earth Timeline of natural history

Notes
1. Pluto's satellite Charon is relatively larger,[44] but Pluto is defined as a dwarf planet.[45]

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Further reading
Dalrymple, G.B. (1991). The Age of the Earth. California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-
8047-1569-0.
Dalrymple, G. Brent (2001). "The age of the Earth in the twentieth century: a problem (mostly)
solved" (http://sp.lyellcollection.org/content/190/1/205.abstract). Geological Society of London,
Special Publications. 190 (1): 205–221. Bibcode:2001GSLSP.190..205D (https://ui.adsabs.harvar
d.edu/abs/2001GSLSP.190..205D). doi:10.1144/GSL.SP.2001.190.01.14 (https://doi.org/10.114
4%2FGSL.SP.2001.190.01.14). S2CID 130092094 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:130
092094). Retrieved 2012-04-13.
Dawkins, Richard (2004). The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 978-0-618-00583-3.
Gradstein, F.M.; Ogg, James George; Smith, Alan Gilbert, eds. (2004). A Geological Time Scale
2004. Reprinted with corrections 2006. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-78673-7.
Gradstein, Felix M.; Ogg, James G.; van Kranendonk, Martin (2008). On the Geological Time
Scale 2008 (https://web.archive.org/web/20121028022719/http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/nysgs/reso
urces/images/geologicaltimescale.pdf) (PDF) (Report). International Commission on Stratigraphy.
Fig. 2. Archived from the original (http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/nysgs/resources/images/geologicalt
imescale.pdf) (PDF) on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
Levin, H.L. (2009). The Earth through time (9th ed.). Saunders College Publishing. ISBN 978-0-
470-38774-0.
Lunine, Jonathan I. (1999). Earth: evolution of a habitable world. United Kingdom: Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-64423-5.
McNeill, Willam H. (1999) [1967]. A World History (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
ISBN 978-0-19-511615-1.
Melosh, H. J.; Vickery, A. M. & Tonks, W. B. (1993). Impacts and the early environment and
evolution of the terrestrial planets, in Levy, H. J. & Lunine, Jonathan I. (eds.): Protostars and
Planets III, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 1339–1370.
Stanley, Steven M. (2005). Earth system history (2nd ed.). New York: Freeman. ISBN 978-0-7167-
3907-4.
Stern, T.W.; Bleeker, W. (1998). "Age of the world's oldest rocks refined using Canada's SHRIMP:
The Acasta Gneiss Complex, Northwest Territories, Canada". Geoscience Canada. 25: 27–31.
Wetherill, G.W. (1991). "Occurrence of Earth-Like Bodies in Planetary Systems". Science. 253
(5019): 535–538. Bibcode:1991Sci...253..535W (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1991Sci...25
3..535W). doi:10.1126/science.253.5019.535 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.253.5019.535).
PMID 17745185 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17745185). S2CID 10023022 (https://api.sema
nticscholar.org/CorpusID:10023022).

External links
Davies, Paul. "Quantum leap of life (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2005/dec/20/comme
nt.science)". The Guardian. 2005 December 20. – discusses speculation on the role of quantum
systems in the origin of life
Evolution timeline (http://www.johnkyrk.com/evolution.html) (uses Flash Player). Animated story of
life shows everything from the big bang to the formation of the Earth and the development of
bacteria and other organisms to the ascent of man.
25 biggest turning points in Earth History (https://www.bbc.com/earth/bespoke/story/20150123-ear
ths-25-biggest-turning-points/) BBC

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Evolution of the Earth (http://historystack.com/30_Major_Events_in_History_of_the_Earth).

Timeline of the most important events in the evolution of the Earth.
The Earth's Origins (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00547hl) on In Our Time at the BBC
Ageing the Earth (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p005493g), BBC Radio 4 discussion with
Richard Corfield, Hazel Rymer & Henry Gee (In Our Time, Nov. 20, 2003)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_Earth&oldid=1225996559"

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