The main stages in the development of life on Earth: the table

There is a whole complex of sciences studyingthe main stages of the development of life on Earth, they all consider this question in many different ways, because this is the fundamental problem of natural science. The importance of paleontology, which studies the remains of plants and animals of past eras, is very important; it is directly related to the study of the evolution of the world.

This science studies the main stages of the development of life.on Earth by rebuilding the appearance, external similarities and differences, the way of life of prehistoric, already extinct animals and plants, the approximate time of existence of one or another species is also determined. But paleontology could not exist as a separate science without many others supporting it, this science is located at the junction of biological and geological disciplines. The main stages of the development of life on Earth are recreated with the help of such disciplines as:

• historical geology;
• stratigraphy;
• paleography;
• comparative anatomy;
• paleoclimatology and many others.

All of them are interconnected with each other, without one the others cannot exist.

Geologic time

To highlight the main stages of life development onEarth, you need to have an idea of ​​such a concept as geological time. How did people manage to isolate some temporary stages? The whole secret lies in the study of rocks. The fact is that rocks that emerged at a later time are superimposed on top of those that existed previously. And the age of these layers can be determined by studying the remaining minerals in them.

Among all their diversity stand outcalled governing fossils, which are the most numerous and widespread. Unfortunately, with the help of rocks it is impossible to establish the absolute age, but even here scientists do not stop extracting this knowledge from volcanic rocks. As you know, they arise from magma. Thus, the main stages of the development of life on earth are highlighted.

In short, the process of determining the absolute ageVolcanic rocks look like this: igneous rocks contain some elements, if you determine their content in the rock, then you can accurately determine the absolute age of the rock. Of course, errors are possible, but they do not exceed five percent. In addition, the age of our planet is also determined; all scientists adhere to their numbers, but the generally accepted value is five billion years. Now we will single out the main stages of the development of life on Earth, in this case the table will be a good helper for us.

Eras, eras and periods

Всего палеонтологи выделяют пять этапов или, in a different way, eras, each of which is divided into periods, all of them consist of eras, and the last - of centuries. The Archean and Proterozoic eras are the most ancient times, spanning about three billion years. They are distinguished by the complete absence of vertebrates and land plants, which appear in the "era of ancient life", exciting more than three hundred million years. Next comes the “average life era”, the Mesozoic (one hundred seventy five million years), its distinctive features - the development of reptiles, birds, mammals, plants, both flowering and angiosperms.

The latest, fifth, era is Cenozoic, alsoIt is called the “era of the new life”, it began seventy million years ago, and we still live in it. This era is characterized by the rapid development of mammals and the emergence of humans. Now we have analyzed the stages of the development of life on Earth briefly, we suggest examining each era separately.

Archean era

This stage covers a gap of three thousandnine hundred to two thousand six hundred million years ago. Part of the sedimentary rocks, that is, formed by the particles of the aquatic environment, remained in Africa, Greenland, Australia and Asia. They all contain:

• biogenic carbon;
• stromatolites;
• microfossils.

In this case, the origin of the second in this eraquite clearly, for example, in the Proterozoic, they are associated with cyanobacteria. In the Archean era, all organisms belonged to prokaryotes, and sulphates, nitrates, nitrites, and so on were the source of oxygen. All existing organisms on the planet looked like mold films, mostly located at the bottom of water bodies in volcanic areas.

Proterozoic era

Важно упомянуть то, что эта эра также subdivided into periods, of which there are three. In addition, this is the longest period of our history (approximately two million years). If we consider the boundary of this era and the Archean, then it was during this period that our planet changed dramatically, the land and water spaces were redistributed. The earth was an icy desert, but at the end of this period, the percentage of oxygen reached one percent, which contributed to the sustainability of unicellular organisms, bacteria and algae developed.

At the end of the Proterozoic, multicellularanimals, this period also has the name "century of jellyfish". Replacing unicellular organisms come multicellular, which qualitatively change the composition of the atmosphere, which contributes to the development of life on our planet.

Paleozoic

It includes as many as six periods, the first half is called the Early Paleozoic, and the second - the Late. The early and late Paleozoic differ in the animal and plant world.

At the first stage, evolution can be traced exclusively in the underwater world, the settlement of land began only in the Devonian, which belongs to the late Paleozoic.

Mesozoic era

Now we come to the most interesting era,rich mysterious and diverse life, developing for about one hundred and eighty-five million years. As can be seen from the table, it is also divided into three periods. The Cretaceous, compared with the Jurassic and Triassic, is the longest (seventy one million years).

As for climate, it all depends on the location of the continents. Differences from our climate are that:

• he was much warmer than the modern;
• there were no temperature differences between the equators and the poles.

In addition, the air was humid, which contributed to the rapid development of living organisms.

If we turn to questions of the fauna, thenA unique group is the well-known dinosaurs. They occupied the dominant position over the other forms of life due to the structure of their body, physiological data and reactions.

So, examining the question of what are the main stages of the development of life on Earth, we have identified five steps. For the full picture, it remains to consider one more. We offer to start right now.

The Cenozoic Era

This is a new era that lasts to this day.Continents acquired a modern look, the last dinosaurs disappeared, plants and animals dominate on Earth, which are quite familiar to us. We reviewed the main stages of the development of life on Earth briefly, dismantled all the stages separately, the goal we set was achieved.