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Timeline of evolution
This '''timeline of the evolution of life''' outlines the major events in the development of life on the planet Earth (See Organism). For a thorough explanatory context, see the history of Earth, and geologic time scale. The dates given in this article are estimates based on scientific evidence.
In biology, evolution is the process by which populations of organisms acquire and pass on novel trait (biological)|traits from generation to generation. Its occurrence over large stretches of time explains the origin of speciation|new species and ultimately the vast diversity of the biological world. Contemporary species are related to each other through common descent, products of evolution and speciation over billions of years.
Basic timeline
The basic timeline is a Age of the Earth|4.6 billion year old Earth, with (very approximate) dates:
- 3.8 billion years of Prokaryote|simple cells (prokaryotes),
- 3 billion years of photosynthesis,
- 2 billion years of Eukaryote|complex cells (eukaryotes),
- 1 billion years of Evolution of multicellularity|multicellular life,
- 600 million years of simple animals,
- 570 million years of arthropods (ancestors of insects, arachnids and crustaceans),
- 550 million years of complex animals,
- 500 million years of fish and proto-amphibians,
- 475 million years of land plants,
- 400 million years of insects and seeds,
- 360 million years of amphibians,
- 300 million years of reptiles,
- 200 million years of mammals,
- 150 million years of birds,
- 130 million years of flowers,
- 65 million years since the non-avian dinosaurs Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event|died out,
- 2.5 million years since the appearance of the genus ''Homo (genus)|Homo'',
- 200,000 years since Homo (genus)|humans started looking like they do today,
- 25,000 years since Neanderthals died out.
Detailed timeline
- ''Note that annum|Ma, annum|megaannum, means "million years ago".''
=== Hadean Eon =
3800 Ma and earlier.
See also ==
- Evolutionary history of life
- Evolutionary history of plants
- Extinction events
- Geologic time scale
- History of Earth
- Natural history
- Sociocultural evolution
- Timeline of human evolution
- Timeline of plant evolution
Further reading
- ''The Ancestor's Tale'' by Richard Dawkins, for a list of ancestors common to humans and other living species
References
External links
- Berkeley Evolution
- Tree of Life Web Project - explore complete phylogenetic tree interactively
- A more compact timeline at the TalkOrigins Archive
- Palaeos - The Trace of Life on Earth
- University of Waikato - Sequence of Plant Evolution
- University of Waikato - Sequence of Animal Evolution
- Graphical Timeline of evolution
- History of Life on Earth
- Exploring Time from Planck Time to the lifespan of the universe
- Interactive Plant Evolution Timeline - from the University of Cambridge Ensemble Project
Category:Biology timelines|Evolution
Category:Evolutionary biology
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Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL
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