A Journey Through Time Since the Precambrian

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Dinosaur phylogeny, or family tree with individual dinosaurs visible.

Cambrian paleogeography

A chart showing the Ordovician period within the Paleozoic era on the geologic time scale, listing its division into Lower, Middle, and Upper epochs, with corresponding stage names and their ages in millions of years ago.

Illustration of an early Silurian coral-stromatoporoid community showing various labeled marine organisms, including corals, bryozoans, brachiopods, crinoids, trilobites, and a nautiloid, arranged on and around a block of seafloor substrate with a scale bar indicating centimeters.

Early Devonian map

A chart detailing the Carboniferous period within the Paleozoic era, showing its division into Mississippian and Pennsylvanian subperiods, with corresponding epochs, ages, and their ranges in millions of years ago.

Early Permian Epoch

Line graph showing the number of marine animal families from the Precambrian era to the present, with illustrations of key groups such as trilobites, ammonoids, marine reptiles, and diatoms. The graph highlights major extinction events and a rise to 1,900 living families today.

Pangea: Late Jurassic Period

dinosaur phylogeny

A Journey Through Time Since the Precambrian: Media

A great primer for your time-machine travels.

Images

Dinosaur phylogeny, or family tree with individual dinosaurs visible.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Cambrian paleogeography

Cambrian paleogeography

Distribution of landmasses, mountainous regions, shallow seas, and deep ocean basins...

Adapted from C.R. Scotese, The University of Texas at Arlington

A chart showing the Ordovician period within the Paleozoic era on the geologic time scale, listing its division into Lower, Middle, and Upper epochs, with corresponding stage names and their ages in millions of years ago.

Ordovician System

The Ordovician Period began 485.4 million years ago and ended 443.8 million years...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Source: International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS)

Illustration of an early Silurian coral-stromatoporoid community showing various labeled marine organisms, including corals, bryozoans, brachiopods, crinoids, trilobites, and a nautiloid, arranged on and around a block of seafloor substrate with a scale bar indicating centimeters.

Silurian coral-stromatoporoid community

An early Silurian coral-stromatoporoid community.

From E. Winson in W.S. McKerrow (ed.), The Ecology of Fossils, Gerald Duckworth & Company Ltd

Early Devonian map

Early Devonian map

Distribution of landmasses, mountainous regions, shallow seas, and deep ocean basins...

Adapted from: C.R. Scotese, The University of Texas at Arlington

A chart detailing the Carboniferous period within the Paleozoic era, showing its division into Mississippian and Pennsylvanian subperiods, with corresponding epochs, ages, and their ranges in millions of years ago.

Carboniferous Period.

The Carboniferous Period began approximately 358.9 million years ago and ended 298.9...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Source: International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS)

Early Permian Epoch

Early Permian Epoch

Distribution of landmasses, mountainous regions, shallow seas, and deep ocean basins...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Line graph showing the number of marine animal families from the Precambrian era to the present, with illustrations of key groups such as trilobites, ammonoids, marine reptiles, and diatoms. The graph highlights major extinction events and a rise to 1,900 living families today.

marine family diversity

The diversity of marine animal families since late Precambrian time. The data for...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Pangea: Late Jurassic Period

Pangea: Late Jurassic Period

Paleogeography and paleoceanography of Late Jurassic time. Present-day coastlines...

Adapted from: C.R. Scotese, The University of Texas at Arlington

dinosaur phylogeny

dinosaur phylogeny

Dinosaur family tree.

Courtesy of Paul C. Sereno (1997), University of Chicago

Tertiary paleogeography

Tertiary paleogeography

Distribution of landmasses, mountainous regions, shallow seas, and deep ocean basins...

Adapted from C.R. Scotese, The University of Texas at Arlington

A geologic time scale chart highlighting the Quaternary period, showing the Pleistocene, Holocene, and proposed Anthropocene epochs, with divisions by age and corresponding millions of years ago.

Anthropocene Epoch

The Quaternary Period, reconfigured to accommodate the Anthropocene Epoch.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.