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Journey back in time to discover the incredible history of Earth before humans arrived.

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Prehistoric
Earth

Precambrian Time

  • Span: From the formation of Earth (about 4.6 billion years ago) to around 541 million years ago.

  • Historical Fact: This is the earliest part of Earth's history, where life began with simple, single-celled organisms.

  • Life forms: Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), simple multi-celled organisms.

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Cambrian Period

  • Span: About 541 to 485 million years ago.

  • Historical Fact: Known as the "Cambrian Explosion" because of the sudden appearance of many different types of life.

  • Life forms: Trilobites, Anomalocaris, early brachiopods.

trilobite-Cambrian-Period.webp

Ordovician Period

  • Span: About 485 to 443 million years ago.

  • Historical Fact: Marine life flourished, and the first fish appeared.

  • Life forms: Graptolites, early fish (like jawless fish), nautiloids.

nautiloid-Ordovician-Period.webp

Silurian Period

  • Span: About 443 to 419 million years ago.

  • Historical Fact: Life began to colonise land, including the first simple plants.

  • Life forms: Eurypterids (sea scorpions), early land plants (like Cooksonia), jawed fish.

Eurypterid.webp

Devonian Period

  • Span: About 419 to 359 million years ago.

  • Historical Fact: Known as the "Age of Fishes" because fish diversified greatly.

  • Life forms: Placoderms (armored fish), early amphibians, first forests with plants like Archaeopteris.

early-amphibian-Devonian-Period.webp

Carboniferous Period

  • Span: About 359 to 299 million years ago.

  • Historical Fact: Extensive forests of ferns and trees formed vast coal deposits.

  • Life forms: Giant insects (like Meganeura), early reptiles, amphibians.

giant_dragonfly-Carboniferous-Period.webp

Permian Period

  • Span: About 299 to 252 million years ago.

  • Historical Fact: Ended with the largest mass extinction in Earth's history, wiping out most marine and terrestrial species.

  • Life forms: Dimetrodon, early therapsids (mammal-like reptiles), trilobites (near the end).

dimetrodon-Permian-Period.webp

Triassic Period

  • Span: About 252 to 201 million years ago.

  • Historical Fact: Dinosaurs and mammals first appeared during this period.

  • Life forms: Coelophysis (early dinosaur), Lystrosaurus (therapsid), early mammals (like Morganucodon).

Coelophysis-Triassic-Period.webp

Jurassic Period

  • Span: About 201 to 145 million years ago.

  • Historical Fact: Dinosaurs dominated the land, and the first birds appeared.

  • Life forms: Allosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Archaeopteryx (early bird).

Brachiosaurus-Jurassic-Period.webp

Cretaceous Period

  • Span: About 145 to 66 million years ago.

  • Historical Fact: Ended with a mass extinction caused by an asteroid impact, wiping out the dinosaurs.

  • Life forms: Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, Velociraptor, flowering plants (like magnolias).

trex-Cretaceous-Period.webp

Paleogene Period

  • Span: About 66 to 23 million years ago.

  • Historical Fact: Mammals diversified and became the dominant land animals after the dinosaurs' extinction.

  • Life forms: Early primates, large mammals like the Paraceratherium (giant rhino), early horses.

Paraceratherium-Paleogene-Period.webp

Neogene Period

  • Span: About 23 to 2.6 million years ago.

  • Historical Fact: Further evolution of mammals and birds, with significant cooling leading to the ice ages.

  • Life forms: Mammoths, saber-toothed cats, early human ancestors (like Australopithecus).

sabre-toothed_cat-Neogene-Period.webp

Quaternary Period

  • Span: About 2.6 million years ago to the present.

  • Historical Fact: This period includes the Ice Ages and the rise of humans.

  • Life forms: Woolly mammoths, giant ground sloths, early humans (Homo sapiens).

Woolly_mammoth-Quaternary-Period.webp
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