History/Origins/Future of Energy, Matter, Space, Time, and Life (2 of 4)
Dan Fake
Matter, Space, Time, and Life (2 of 4)
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From ~230 Million Years Ago
to ~1.9 Million Years Ago
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Years Ago
Event
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~230 million ....
Appearance of that most successful of reptiles,
the crocodiles.
The super continent of Pangea drifts northward,
covering an area which occupies the current day
United States, most of the Atlantic, Central America,
Gulf of Mexico, east Pacific, South America,
south Pacific, south Africa, and Antarctica;
Siberia is over what occupies the current day
north Atlantic and Europe:
http://vishnu.glg.nau.edu/rcb/Trias.jpg
~225 million ....
First mammals, small and nocturnal, inhabit small
niches in a dinosaur world; original amphibians
(labyrinthodonts) become extinct; ammonites
flourish in the sea; dinosaurs evolving during this
period (Triassic) include the winged Pterosaur,
Dicynodants, Herrerasaurus, Plateosaurus,
Ornithosuchus, Coelophysis, Melenosaurus,
Eoraptor, Staurikosaurus.
BBC - Walking With Dinosaurs:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dinosaurs/index.shtml
Chronological Map of Dinosaur Discoveries,
an audio and picture tour through time:
http://www.discovery.com/exp/fossilzone/discoveries.html
Discovery.com Fossil Zone, fossil and
dinosaur multimedia:
http://www.discovery.com/exp/fossilzone/fossilzone.html
Unofficial Dinosaur home page:
http://home.rmi.net/~shasta/
The Dinosauricon:
http://dinosaur.umbc.edu/
Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs, and More Dinosaurs:
http://www.dinodon.com/
~220 million ....
Some of the dinosaurs that lived at this time:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dinosaurs/chronology/220/
Flash graphic showing the earth's continental drift
in reverse, starting at the present day and going
backwards to ~220 million years ago:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dinosaurs/chronology/flash/220.html
~208 million ....
Later Triassic extinction; up to ~25% of all
families became extinct; evolution of Plesiosaurs,
ocean-going reptiles of up to 46 feet in length:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/darwin/exfiles/triassic.htm
~200 million ....
Pangea supercontinent begins to divide (opening
of Central Atlantic); dinosaurs evolving during this
period (Jurassic) include Stegosaurus, Allosaurus,
Dryosaurus, Ornitholestes, Compsagnathus, Megalo-
saurus, Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, Apatosaurus,
Dicraeosaurus, Mamenchisaurus, Leptoceratops,
Centrosaurus; evolution of Icthyosaurus, a marine
reptile.
~170 million ....
Huge dinosaurs roam the earth; Pangea super-
continent continues to divide (opening of North
Atlantic); presence of islands of Eurasia and China:
http://vishnu.glg.nau.edu/rcb/Jur.jpg
~152 million ....
Some of the dinosaurs that lived at this time:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dinosaurs/chronology/152/
Flash graphic showing the earth's continental drift
in reverse, starting at the present day and going
backwards to ~152 million years ago:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dinosaurs/chronology/flash/152.html
~150 million ....
Fossil evidence suggests mammal-like reptiles
and some dinosaurs could internally regulate their
temperatures.
~149 million ....
Some of the dinosaurs that lived at this time:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dinosaurs/chronology/149/
~145 million ....
Archeopteryx (first known bird) evolves.
~127 million ....
Some of the dinosaurs that lived at this time:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dinosaurs/chronology/127/
Flash graphic showing the earth's continental drift
in reverse, starting at the present day and going
backwards to ~127 million years ago:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dinosaurs/chronology/flash/127.html
~110 million ....
Plants with flowers evolve; dinosaurs evolving
in this period (Cretaceous) include Iguanodon,
Tyrannosaurus rex, Diplodocus, Triceratops,
Protoceratops, Hypsilophodon, Polocanthus,
Baryonyx, Styracosaurus, Brachyceratops,
Centrosaurus, Chasmosaurus, Gallimimus,
Saltasaurus, Alamosaurus, Corythosaurus,
Ankylosaurus.
Islands collide with Eurasia adding to what is
to become the massive continent of Asia which
is now separate from Europe by a vast shallow
sea; Gondwana still connects the land masses
of South America and Africa although most
of these continents-to-be are already separated;
The island of North America is separated by
a shallow sea:
http://vishnu.glg.nau.edu/rcb/Late_Cret.jpg
~106 million ....
Some of the dinosaurs that lived at this time:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dinosaurs/chronology/106/
Flash graphic showing the earth's continental drift
in reverse, starting at the present day and going
backwards to ~106 million years ago:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dinosaurs/chronology/flash/106.html
~100 million ....
Marsupials (including kangaroos, koalas, and
opossums) evolve; insectivores (the first placental
mammals) evolve; almost all are small and nocturnal
or crepuscular (active at dusk or dawn).
~69 million ....
Australia and Antarctica are separated; still connected over
the South Pole; Europe consists of several islands; India is
an island, North America is split by a shallow sea with much
of its land area out in what occupies the current day Atlantic
Ocean; Greenland is connected to Northeast North America;
South America is an island; Africa is an island with its
northeast area a shallow sea:
http://vishnu.glg.nau.edu/rcb/Late_Cret.jpg
~65 million .....
Some of the dinosaurs that lived at this time:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dinosaurs/chronology/65/
Flash graphic showing the earth's continental drift
in reverse, starting at the present day and going
backwards to ~65 million years ago:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dinosaurs/chronology/flash/65.html
Cretaceous mass extinction, the 2nd largest
extinction in history with over 85% of all families
disappearing, including most dinosaurs - causality
suspects:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/darwin/exfiles/asteroid1.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/darwin/exfiles/asteroid2.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/darwin/exfiles/volcano.htm
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/asteroid_paine_october.html
Dinosaurs were not going extinct before they
were wiped out:
http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid%5F863000/863320.stm
Volcanic explosions occur - The Deccan Traps in
west-central India, consisting of basalt lava flows
covering an area of nearly 200,000 square miles
(roughly the size of the states of Washington and
Oregon combined):
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/southeast_asia/india/deccan.html
~60 million .....
Earliest-known rodents evolve, resembling small
squirrels - rodents are the largest order of
mammals in the present day, by far, with about
2,000 species in 35 families; first armadillos
evolve; creodonts, the dominant flesh-eating
mammals for 30 million years, appear on the
scene.
North America has vast remnants of a shallow sea
near the Rockies; the island of South America is
quite east of its eventual location; Europe has split
into several smaller islands; the island of Africa is
set apart from Europe and Asia; Australia has
separated from Antarctica on its northward
journey to its current location; the island of India
is still quite distant from Asia:
http://vishnu.glg.nau.edu/rcb/Eocene.jpg
~55 million .....
Mammals begin to thrive; earliest lagomorph
(ancestor to pikas, rabbits, hares) evolves.
~50 million .....
Bear-dogs, a varied and successful group of
hunting animals, originate and spread through
Europe and North America.
~45 million .....
First anteaters evolve.
Shallow seas retreat in North America; continents
appear fairly modern in form; quite a large sea area
still separates Africa from Europe and Asia; India
is now north of the equator on its journey towards
its eventual landfall in Asia.
~40 million .....
Life thrives and expands in cold but nutrient-
rich Antarctic bottom waters; toothed whales'
land-roving mammalian ancestors return to the
sea; canids (including the modern foxes, jackals,
coyotes, wolves, and dogs) originate at this
time; camels make their debut.
~35 million .....
Beavers evolve - the early beaver was small
and lived on and near freshwater lakes;
creodonts evolve to a large size in Mongolia
with one of the largest, Sarkastodon, bigger
than the biggest bear; modern raccoons and
pandas first appear; earliest cats evolve;
rhinoceroses evolve; deerlike animals evolve.
~33 million .....
New world monkeys evolve in South
America (Bolivia).
~30 million .....
Grassland and trees with fruits spread; mammals
help pollinate and fertilize as they graze and
swallow fruits; earth grows cooler and extinction
overtakes animals requiring steamy climates;
seals first appear; pigs make their debut.
~25 million .....
Onset of Antarctic ice shelf.
~20 million .....
Mountain ranges (the Cordilleras, the Andes,
the Himalayan range) form; most great groups
of mammals appear essentially modern in form;
opening of Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
India has merged with Asia; Africa is still
separate from Europe and Asia; Hawaiian
volcanic islands have been formed; South
and North America are still separated and
North America and Asia are still connected
via an Alaskan land bridge. Australia and
Antarctica are near their modern-day locations:
http://vishnu.glg.nau.edu/rcb/Mio.jpg
~18 million .....
Proconsul africanus (woodland ape) appears to be
the best candidate yet discovered to be the origin
point (distant ancestor) from which all modern
species of apes and all hominids--human beings
included--evolved.
~15 million .....
Hyenas appear.
~13 million .....
Orangutans depart from the combined great ape
and human line.
~12 million .....
Dryopithecus ("tree ape") may have begun the
evolutionary line that developed into modern apes
and Homo sapiens; Sivapethecus appears, an ape
between life in the trees and life on the ground,
chimpanzee-like feet, orangutan-like face;
Ramapithecus ape appears, a little smaller in
stature than Sivapethecus.
~10 million .....
Opening of Gulf of California.
~8 million ......
The great ape (or gorilla) line splits from the
combined chimpanzee and human line.
~7 million ......
A fall in sea level cuts off the Mediterranean from
the Atlantic Ocean - over the next 2 million years,
the Mediterranean repeatedly reflooded and dried
out; salt deposits of up to 6,500 feet have been left
in some places.
Hominids and chimps descended from the same
ancestor species of large ape, perhaps Ardipithecus:
http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/hfs1.html
~5.8 million ......
Between five and six million years ago, the great
desiccation touched off what scientists call the
Messinian Salinity Crisis--a global chemical
imbalance that triggered a wrenching series of
extinctions and plunged the Earth into an ice age:
http://www.newscientist.com/nsplus/insight/disaster/vanished.html
~5 million ......
The human line splits from the chimpanzee line.
Chart of human evolution:
http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/evol.html#chart
Continents are essentially modern in form; Iceland
volcanic island appears; Atlantic Ocean rises enough
to flood back into the Mediterranean.
~4.4 million ....
Earliest known hominid fossils, Australopithecus
ramidus, found in Aramis, Ethiopia, in 1994
(hominids are any of a family of bipedal primate
mammals including recent humans together with
extinct and related forms).
~4.2 million ....
Australopithecus amenesis found in Lake Turkana,
Kenya, in 1995, likely ancestor to Australopithecus
afarensis:
http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/hfs2.html
~3.9 million ......
Australopithecus afarensis (named "Lucy" after
the Beatles' song, Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds)
found in Ethiopia, 1974; brain size (about 480 cc)
was a little larger than a chimpanzee - likely
a common ancestor of both modern humans and
the robust Australopithecines;
http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/hfs2.html
Shockwave links to skull finds regarding human
evolution (from the American Museum of Natural
History - when skulls appear, click/hold/move
your lesser used mouse button to rotate the skulls
and compare them to modern humans):
http://www.amnh.org/enews/iskulls.html
~3 million ......
Australopithecus afarensis gave rise to two distinct
evolutionary lines: one leading into the first humans,
and the other into the robust australopithecines.
Though its place is still unclear, Australopithecus
africanus (southern ape of Africa), was unearthed
in the Transvaal in 1924; brain size of 420 to 500 cc,
A. africanus is most likely the key transitional species
toward the emergence of the human line:
http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/hfs3.html
Recent discovery (in 1998) of a 1.22-meter-tall (four
feet) hominid (ape-man) north of Johannesburg,
South Africa:
http://news2.thls.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_231000/231442.stm
~2.7 million ...
Australopithecus aethiopicus lived from 2.7 to 2.3
million years ago. It may be an ancestor of A. robustus
and A. boisei, though it shows an ambiguous mixture
of traits. The brain volume is small (410 cc), and in
most respects the skull is closest to A. afarensis:
http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/hfs3.html
~2.5 million ....
Hominid Fossil Sites and Patterns
of Hominid Dispersal:
http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/disp.html
Recent discovery - earliest find of technology
being used to eat meat and scrape marrow out of
bones; fossil find, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was
of skull and tooth fragments that may be those of
a completely new hominid - a "missing link" or
human-like species with long arms and long legs.
The scientists have called their new hominid
Australopithecus garhi, after the local word for
"surprise". From anatomical analyses and measure-
ments they argue A. garhi is quite distinct from
A. africanus and from the other hominid species
known to be alive around the same time and may
be a creature that immediately preceded humans:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_326000/326037.stm
~ 2.4 million ....
Homo habilis ("Handy Man"), increase in brain
size, less massive jaws and brow ridges than its
predecessors, chipped stone tools, lived in semi-
permanent camps, had a food-gathering economy,
descended from either A. afarensis or A. africanus;
by this time, several hominines existed side-by-side
in East Africa.
Homo habilis lived from about 2.4 to 1.5 million
years ago, and is the earliest known species to
show novel differences from the chimpanzee and
australopithid skulls:
http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/hfs4.html
Oldowan tools are the oldest known, appearing first
in the Gona and Omo Basins in Ethiopia about 2.4
million years ago:
http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/stones.html
~ 2.3 million ....
Australopithecus boisei, a sideline of human
evolution, lived from 2.3 to 1.2 million years ago,
with an average brain volume of about 530 cc:
http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/hfs3.html
~2 million ......
Australopithecus robustus, a sideline of human
evolution with large build, apelike face, and
brain size of around 530 cc, lived from 2.0 to
1.0 million years ago. The last of the australopithids
had a body similar to that of A. africanus, though
with very dissimilar skull and teeth:
http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/hfs3.html
Homo ergaster appears, the anchor species for all
subsequent humans. H. ergaster presents a significant
increase over earlier hominids in both stature and bone
mass. Male H. ergasters stood close to 1.6 meters tall
and weighed around 65 kilos, making them physically
almost the equal of modern Africans.
With that robust evolutionary shift, brain capacity
increased to 850 cc and the skull acquired a definite
browridge and an elongated "football" shape (most
likely the result of expanded frontal and occipital
lobes):
http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/hfs6.html
~1.9 million ......
Homo rudolfensis (brain size 775 cc) co-existed
with H. habilis:
http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/hfs5.html
--- end 2 of 4 ---
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Dan Fake, FREELOVER #1, who cares deeply about truth,
freedom, and maxing out this one and only experience we
all know and share on this earth, at this time, in this life.
FREELOVER? Freethinking Realist Exploring Expressive
Liberty, Openness, Verity, Enlightenment, & Rationality
(also, pro-love, free from state and church authorities)
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