TIMELINE OF EXTINCTION,

MICROORGANISM,
PLANTS, AND ANIMALS
Ma’am Jhonnalyn Belo
 WHAT IS EXTINCTION?
Extinction is an evolutive process that leads to the disappearance of a species or a population. When a species becomes extinct, its
entire genetic heritage is lost for good. With evolution, a species can become another in order to adapt to the small environmental
changes or due to casual changes in its genetic heritage. This process is known as speciation, in other words the birth of a new species.
Speciation and extinction are both part of the natural evolutive process of living beings. Therefore, the natural extinction of a species in
itself must not be interpreted as a negative event (nor, obviously, as a positive event), but it must be considered simply for what it is, in
other words, an expression of biological evolution. The great extinctions in history, in fact, were accompanied by the formation of new
species that have given continuity and vigour to the diversities of life. Normally two types of extinction may be classified. There is the
background extinction that is the slow and, for us, imperceptible trend of the living creatures to transform constantly. And then there is
the episodic extinction, with massive and concomitant deaths of species, triggered by rapid changes in the environment. In general, the
extinctions that contributed most to the drastic changes in the flora and fauna in the earth’s history, were of the second type. Some
extreme events took place on a vast scale during the course of the geological eras, like climate changes or the impact of our planet with
comets and asteroids, which translated into environmental perturbations that were so radical that there were not many possibilities of
escape for a multitude of organisms. At various times of the Earth’s history, these phenomena have been very severe limiting factors for
the survival of the species, and at times these have drastically cut biodiversity in entire geographic regions, causing the so-called mass
extinctions. Palaeontology experts have discovered five great mass extinctions in the last 500 million years. From the famous one that
led to the extinction of all the dinosaurs on the Earth. During these great extinctions it is believed that 75 per cent to 95 per cent of the
number of extinct species is believed to have gone lost. However, today the extinction rate is not considered natural, but the main cause
of it all appears to be mankind, that, according to some scientists will cause a sixth mass extinction. In fact approximately 23 per cent of
the Mammals and 12 per cent of the Birds are considered to be endangered by IUCN (the International Union for Conservation of
Nature). There seem to be a number of causes that lead to this rapid mass extinction, however they are all caused by humans: constant
growth of human population with a non-sustainable life-style increase in urban areas increase in the production of waste and polluting
substances increase in alien, non autochthonous species climate changes international conflicts.
 WHAT DO WE MEAN BY
EXTINCTION?
Extinction of a particular animal or plant species occurs when
there are no more individuals of that species alive anywhere
in the world - the species has died out. This is a natural part
of evolution.
Extinction occurs when species are diminished because of
environmental forces (habitat fragmentation, global change,
natural disaster, overexploitation of species for human use) or
because of evolutionary changes in their members (genetic
inbreeding, poor reproduction, decline in population numbers).

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

 TIMELINE OF
EXTINCTION
Around 65 million years ago, something unusual
happened on our planet—we can see it in the
fossil record.
Fossils that are abundant in earlier rock layers are
simply not present in later rock layers. A wide range of
animals and plants suddenly died out, from tiny marine
organisms to large dinosaurs.
Species go extinct all the time. Scientists estimate that
at least 99.9 percent of all species of plants and
animals that ever lived are now extinct. So the demise
of dinosaurs like T. rex and Triceratops some 65
million years ago wouldn't be especially noteworthy—
except for the fact that around 50 percent of all plants
and animals alive at the same time also died out in
what scientists call a mass extinction.
 Early life forms began to flourish during the Cambrian Explosion, 540
million years ago.
 Mass extinctions—when at least half of all species die out in a relatively
short time—have occurred only a handful of times over the course of
our planet's history. The largest mass extinction event happened
around 250 million years ago, when perhaps 95 percent of all species
went extinct.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF EARTH!!!

 Ordovician-Silurian Extinction: 440 million years ago
 Devonian Extinction: 365 million years ago
 Permian-Triassic Extinction: 250 million years ago
 Triassic-Jurassic Extinction: 210 million years ago
 Cretaceous-tertiary Extinction: 65 Million Years Ago

TOP FIVE EXTINCTIONS

ORDOVICIAN-SILURIAN
EXTINCTION: 440
MILLION YEARS AGO
The first mass extinction is called the
Ordovician-Silurian Extinction. It
occurred about 440 million years ago,
at the end of the period that
paleontologists and geologists call the
Ordovician, and followed by the start
of the Silurian period. In this extinction
event, many small organisms of the
sea became extinct.
DEVONIAN
EXTINCTION: 365
MILLION YEARS AGO
The causes of these extinctions are unclear.
Leading hypotheses include changes in sea
level and ocean anoxia, possibly triggered
by global cooling or oceanic volcanism. The
impact of a comet or another extraterrestrial
body has also been suggested, such as the
Siljan Ring event in Sweden.
 DEVONIAN EXTINCTION: 365
MILLION YEARS AGO
Devonian extinctions, a series of several global extinction events primarily affecting the marine communities of the Devonian Period (419.2 million to 359 million years ago). At
present it is not possible to connect this series definitively with any single cause. It is probable that they may record a combination of several stresses—such as excessive 
sedimentation, rapid global warming or cooling, bolide (meteorite or comet) impacts, or massive nutrient runoff from the continents. Collectively, the extinctions (which include the
Lower Zilchov, Taghanic, Kellwasser, and Hangenberg events) are responsible for the elimination of 70 to 80 percent of all animal species present during the Devonian and about 20
percent of families of Devonian animals. However, the series ranks lowest in severity of the five major extinction episodes that span geologic time.
Throughout the Devonian there were periods of widespread hypoxic or anoxic sedimentation (that is, sedimentary events occurred that indicated little free oxygen or no oxygen at all
was dissolved in Devonian seas). Some of these are known to be periods of significant extinction, and all are associated with some faunal anomaly in marine strata. These events are
named according to the taxa involved. Some are associated with very wide distribution of certain taxa, such as the Monograptus uniformis, Pinacites jugleri, and Platyclymenia
annulata. The Lower Zlichov Event, which occurred at the beginning of the Emsian Stage about 407.6 million years ago, is associated with the extinction of the graptoloids (a type of 
graptolite) and the appearance of the coiled cephalopod goniatites. Three events are very significant extinction episodes: the Taghanic Event, which formerly was used to draw the
boundary between the Middle and Upper Devonian, was a marked period of extinction for goniatites, corals, and brachiopods; the Kellwasser Event saw the extinction of the
beloceratid and manticoceratid goniatite groups, many conodont species, most colonial corals, several groups of trilobites, and the atrypid and pentamerid brachiopods at the
Frasnian-Famennian boundary (about 372.2 million years ago); and the Hangenberg Event saw the extinction of phacopid trilobites, several groups of goniatites, and the unusual
Late Devonian coiled cephalopods, the clymeniids, at the end of the Famennian Stage.
Carboniferous flora
Earlier, certain writers sought to link these events with thin layers of iridium, characteristic of meteorite or bolide impacts. Evidence of a bolide impact, in the form of possible impact
ejecta, has been reported in Middle Devonian deposits and is associated with a pulse of extinction. The Siljan structure in Sweden, an impact crater about 65 km (about 40 miles) in
diameter, has been dated to approximately 377 million years ago. This places the impact within the error range for the estimated boundary between the Frasnian-Famennian stages
and also within the Kellwasser extinction. Nevertheless, the connection between this impact and the Kellwasser Event is still being debated.
A stronger environmental link to Devonian extinctions involves the layers of black shale characteristic of low oxygen conditions. Environmental stress is thought to have taken place
when high global temperatures slowed the mixing rate between the ocean’s surface and deeper layers. Bottom waters experienced a lowered reoxygenation rate, which may have
resulted in the extinction of many marine species. It is still debated whether these events were caused by climatic extremes caused by an increase in the amount of solar energy, by
an amplified greenhouse effect, or by processes wholly confined to Earth. For example, greater production of organic matter, perhaps owing to an increased influx of nutrients related
to the colonization of landmasses by rooted plants, may have made continental seas more susceptible to anoxia.
There is also evidence that extinctions may be associated with rapid global warming or cooling. Particularly in the Late Devonian, extinction events may relate to periods of abrupt
cooling associated with the development of glaciers and the substantial lowering of sea level. It has been argued that patterns of faunal change at the Kellwasser Event are
consistent with global cooling.
TRIASSIC-JURASSIC EXTINCTION: 210 MILLION
YEARS AGO
The Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, sometimes called the end-
Triassic extinction, marks the boundary between the Triassic and
Jurassic periods, 201.3 million years ago, and is one of the major
extinction events of the Phanerozoic eon, profoundly affecting life on
land and in the oceans.
Huge and widespread volcanic eruptions triggered the end-Triassic
extinction. Some 200 million years ago, an increase in atmospheric
CO2 caused acidification of the oceans and global warming that killed
off 76 percent of marine and terrestrial species on Earth.
Volcanic Activity: One possible explanation for this catastrophic
mass extinction event is unusually high levels of volcanic activity. It is
known that large numbers of flood basalts around the Central America
region occurred around the time of the Triassic-Jurassic mass
extinction event.
Many families of brachiopods, gastropods, bivalves, and marine
reptiles also became extinct. On land a great part of the vertebrate
fauna disappeared at the end of the Triassic, although the dinosaurs,
pterosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, mammals, and fishes were little
affected by the transition.
All major groups of marine invertebrates survived the extinction,
although most suffered losses. Brachiopods, shelled cephalopods,
sponges and corals were particularly hard hit. On land, casualties
included the phytosaurs, a group of crocodile-like animals.
PERMIAN-TRIASSIC
EXTINCTION: 250
MILLION YEARS AGO
Siberian volcanic eruptions caused
extinction 250 million years ago, new
evidence shows. A team of scientists has
found new evidence that the Great Permian
Extinction, which occurred approximately
250 million years ago, was caused
by massive volcanic eruptions that led to
significant environmental changes.
It is the Earth's most severe known
extinction event, with the extinction of 57%
of biological families, 83% of genera, 81%
of marine species and 70% of terrestrial
vertebrate species.
Scientists have debated until now what
made Earth's oceans so inhospitable to life
that some 96 percent of marine species
died off at the end of the Permian period.
New research shows the "Great Dying" was
caused by global warming that left ocean
animals unable to breathe.
 CRETACEOUS-
TERTIARY EXTINCTION:
65 MILLION YEARS AGO
The Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was a sudden mass
extinction of three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth,
approximately 66 million years ago. With the exception of some
ectothermic species such as sea turtles and crocodilians, no tetrapods
weighing more than 25 kilograms survived.
K–T extinction, abbreviation of Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction, also called
K–Pg extinction or Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction, a global extinction
event responsible for eliminating approximately 80 percent of all species
of animals at or very close to the boundary between the Cretaceous and
Paleogene periods, about 66.
To explain what caused this mass extinction, scientists have focused on
events that would have altered our planet's climate in dramatic, powerful
ways. The leading theory is that a huge asteroid or comet slammed
into Earth 65 million years ago, blocking sunlight, changing the climate
and setting off global wildfires.
The Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, or the K-T event, is the name
given to the die-off of the dinosaurs and other species that took place
some 65.5 million years ago. For many years, paleontologists believed
this event was caused by climate and geological changes that
interrupted the dinosaurs' food supply.
Dinosaurs went extinct about 65 million years ago (at the end of the
Cretaceous Period), after living on Earth for about 165 million years.
 TIMELINE OF MICROORGANISM
Microbiology has a long and rich history, initially focused on the causes of infectious diseases but now including
many practical applications of the science. Many people have contributed to microbiology over the years, but a man
called Antonie Phillips van Leewenhoek is generally considered to be the ‘father of microbiology’. Other famous
names include Robert Hooke, an English scientist made famous by his key observation with a microscope in the
1600’s, and Louis Pasteur, a French biologist, renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial
fermentation and pasteurization.
The history of microbiology goes back a lot further than you may think though – Aristotle pondered the existence of
microorganisms in 4 B. C when he suggested that living organisms are made up of cells.
However, the so-called ‘golden age of microbiology’ began in 1857, with the work of Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch,
and lasted about 60 years. This is a period when many important discoveries were made, and techniques devised
which are still used to this day.
The existence of microscopic organisms was discovered during the period 1665-83 by two Fellows of The Royal
Society, Robert Hooke and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. In Micrographia (1665), Hooke presented the first published
depiction of a microganism, the microfungus Mucor.
A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic size, which may exist in its single-celled form or as a
colony of cells. There are also many multicellular organisms that are microscopic, namely micro-animals, some
fungi, and some algae, but these are generally not considered microorganisms.
 A BRIEF INTRODUCTION OF
MICROORGANISM
Microorganisms are divided into seven types: bacteria, archaea, protozoa, algae, fungi, viruses, and multicellular animal
parasites ( helminths ).
Microscopic creatures—including bacteria, fungi and viruses—can make you ill. But what you may not realize is that trillions of microbes
are living in and on your body right now. Most don't harm you at all. In fact, they help you digest food, protect against infection and even
maintain your reproductive health.
There are ten uses of microbes. The uses are:
1. Production of Antibiotics
2. Production of Dairy Products
3. Production of Alcoholic Beverages
4. Production of Bread
5. Production of Food Yeast
6. Production of Organic Acids
7. Production of Vitamins
8. Production of Enzymes
9. Production of Steroids
10. Production of Dextran.
 BACTERIA, ARCHAEA, FUNGI
Bacteria
Bacteria are unicellular organisms. The cells are described as prokaryotic because they lack a nucleus. They exist in four major shapes:
bacillus (rod shape), coccus (spherical shape), spirilla (spiral shape), and vibrio (curved shape). Most bacteria have a peptidoglycan cell wall;
they divide by binary fission; and they may possess flagella for motility. The difference in their cell wall structure is a major feature used in
classifying these organisms.
According to the way their cell wall structure stains, bacteria can be classified as either Gram-positive or Gram-negative when using the Gram
staining. Bacteria can be further divided based on their response to gaseous oxygen into the following groups: aerobic (living in the presence
of oxygen), anaerobic (living without oxygen), and facultative anaerobes (can live in both environments).
According to the way they obtain energy, bacteria are classified as heterotrophs or autotrophs. Autotrophs make their own food by using the
energy of sunlight or chemical reactions, in which case they are called chemoautotrophs. Heterotrophs obtain their energy by consuming other
organisms. Bacteria that use decaying life forms as a source of energy are called saprophytes.
Archaea
Archaea or Archaebacteria differ from true bacteria in their cell wall structure and lack peptidoglycans. They are prokaryotic cells with avidity to
extreme environmental conditions. Based on their habitat, all Archaeans can be divided into the following groups: methanogens (methane-
producing organisms), halophiles (archaeans that live in salty environments), thermophiles (archaeans that live at extremely hot temperatures),
and psychrophiles (cold-temperature Archaeans). Archaeans use different energy sources like hydrogen gas, carbon dioxide, and sulphur.
Some of them use sunlight to make energy, but not the same way plants do. They absorb sunlight using their membrane pigment,
bacteriorhodopsin. This reacts with light, leading to the formation of the energy molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
Fungi
Fungi (mushroom, molds, and yeasts) are eukaryotic cells (with a true nucleus). Most fungi are multicellular and their cell wall is composed of
chitin. They obtain nutrients by absorbing organic material from their environment (decomposers), through symbiotic relationships with plants
(symbionts), or harmful relationships with a host (parasites). They form characteristic filamentous tubes called hyphae that help absorb
material. The collection of hyphae is called mycelium. Fungi reproduce by releasing spores.
PROTOZOA, ALGAE, VIRUSES, AND MULTICELLULAR ANIMAL PARASITES
Protozoa
Protozoa are unicellular aerobic eukaryotes. They have a nucleus, complex organelles, and obtain nourishment by absorption
or ingestion through specialized structures. They make up the largest group of organisms in the world in terms of numbers,
biomass, and diversity. Their cell walls are made up of cellulose. Protozoa have been traditionally divided based on their mode
of locomotion: flagellates produce their own food and use their whip-like structure to propel forward, ciliates have tiny hair that
beat to produce movement, amoeboids have false feet or pseudopodia used for feeding and locomotion, and sporozoans are
non-motile. They also have different means of nutrition, which groups them as autotrophs or heterotrophs.
Algae
Algae, also called cyanobacteria or blue-green algae, are unicellular or multicellular eukaryotes that obtain nourishment by
photosynthesis. They live in water, damp soil, and rocks and produce oxygen and carbohydrates used by other organisms. It is
believed that cyanobacteria are the origins of green land plants.
Viruses
Viruses are noncellular entities that consist of a nucleic acid core (DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein coat. Although viruses
are classified as microorganisms, they are not considered living organisms. Viruses cannot reproduce outside a host cell and
cannot metabolize on their own. Viruses often infest prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells causing diseases.
Multicellular Animal Parasites
A group of eukaryotic organisms consisting of the flatworms and roundworms, which are collectively referred to as the
helminths. Although they are not microorganisms by definition, since they are large enough to be easily seen with the naked
eye, they live a part of their life cycle in microscopic form. Since the parasitic helminths are of clinical importance, they are
often discussed along with the other groups of microbes.
 TIMELINE OF PLANTS
The earliest plants were algae living in the oceans more than 700 million years ago. Modern-day plants evolved from
these aquatic algae that did not have stems or roots. Pre-Cambrian Era (4000-541 Million Years Ago) - Plants first
appeared on land approximately 700 million years ago.
Plant evolution is an aspect of the study of biological evolution, predominantly involving evolution of plants suited to
live on land, greening of various land masses by the filling of their niches with land plants, and diversification of
groups of land plants.
We also have
• Earliest plants
• Paleozoic flora
• Mesozoic flora
• Cenozoic flora
 EARLIEST PLANTS
In the strictest sense, the name plant refers to those land plants that form the clade Embryophyta, comprising the bryophytes and
vascular plants. However, the clade Viridiplantae or green plants includes some other groups of photosynthetic eukaryotes, including 
green algae. It is widely believed that land plants evolved from a group of charophytes, most likely simple single-celled terrestrial algae
similar to extant Klebsormidiophyceae.
Chloroplasts in plants evolved from an endosymbiotic relationship between a cyanobacterium, a photosynthesizing prokaryote and a
non-photosynthetic eukaryotic organism, producing a lineage of photosynthesizing eukaryotic organisms in marine and freshwater
environments. These earliest photosynthesizing single-celled autotrophs evolved into multicellular organisms such as the Charophyta,
a group of freshwater green algae.
Fossil evidence of plants begins around 3000 Ma with indirect evidence of oxygen-producing photosynthesis in the geological record, in
the form of chemical and isotopic signatures in rocks and fossil evidence of colonies of cyanobacteria, photosynthesizing prokaryotic
 organisms. Cyanobacteria use water as a reducing agent, producing atmospheric oxygen as a byproduct, and they thereby profoundly
changed the early reducing atmosphere of the earth to one in which modern aerobic organisms eventually evolved. This oxygen
liberated by cyanobacteria then oxidized dissolved iron in the oceans, the iron precipitated out of the sea water, and fell to the ocean
floor to form sedimentary layers of oxidized iron called Banded Iron Formations (BIFs). These BIFs are part of the geological record of
evidence for the evolutionary history of plants by identifying when photosynthesis originated. This also provides deep time constraints
upon when enough oxygen could have been available in the atmosphere to produce the ultraviolet blocking stratospheric ozone layer.
The oxygen concentration in the ancient atmosphere subsequently rose, acting as a poison for anaerobic organisms, and resulting in a
highly oxidizing atmosphere, and opening up niches on land for occupation by aerobic organisms.
Fossil evidence for cyanobacteria also comes from the presence of stromatolites in the fossil record deep into the Precambrian.
Stromatolites are layered structures formed by the trapping, binding, and cementation of sedimentary grains by microbial biofilms, such
as those produced by cyanobacteria. The direct evidence for cyanobacteria is less certain than the evidence for their presence as
primary producers of atmospheric oxygen. Modern stromatolites containing cyanobacteria can be found on the west coast of Australia
and other areas in saline lagoons and in freshwater.
 PALEOZOIC FLORA
Besides some enigmatic elements in each flora, the late Palaeozoic terrestrial vegetation typically featured diverse  lycopsids, ferns, seed-ferns and
primitive gymnosperms. During their long evolutionary histories, the late Palaeozoic plants evolved specialised shapes and physiological traits.
Cambrian flora
Early plants were small, unicellular or filamentous, with simple branching. The identification of plant fossils in Cambrian strata is an uncertain area in
the evolutionary history of plants because of the small and soft-bodied nature of these plants. It is also difficult in a fossil of this age to distinguish
among various similar appearing groups with simple branching patterns, and not all of these groups are plants. One exception to the uncertainty of
fossils from this age is the group of calcareous green algae, Dasycladales found in the fossil record since the middle Cambrian. These algae do not
belong to the lineage that is ancestral to the land plants. Other major groups of green algae had been established by this time, but there were no  
land plants with vascular tissues until the mid-Silurian.
Ordovician flora
The evidence of plant evolution changes dramatically in the Ordovician with the first extensive appearance of spores in the fossil record (Cambrian
spores have been found, also). The first terrestrial plants were probably in the form of tiny plants resembling liverworts when, around the Middle
Ordovician, evidence for the beginning of the terrestrialization of the land is found in the form of tetrads of spores with resistant polymers in their outer
walls. These early plants did not have conducting tissues, severely limiting their size. They were, in effect, tied to wet terrestrial environments by their
inability to conduct water, like extant liverworts, hornworts, and mosses, although they reproduced with spores, important dispersal units that have
hard protective outer coatings, allowing for their preservation in the fossil record, in addition to protecting the future offspring against the desiccating
environment of life on land. With spores, plants on land could have sent out large numbers of spores that could grow into an adult plant when
sufficient environmental moisture was present.
Silurian Flora
The first fossil records of vascular plants, that is, land plants with vascular tissues, appeared in the Silurian period. The earliest known representatives
of this group (mostly from the northern hemisphere) are placed in the genus Cooksonia. They had very simple branching patterns, with the branches
terminated by flattened sporangia. By the end of the Silurian much more complex vascular plants, the  zosterophylls, had diversified[3] and primitive 
lycopods, such as Baragwanathia (originally discovered in Silurian deposits in Victoria, Australia), [4] had become widespread.
Devonian flora
By the Devonian Period, the colonization of the land by plants was well underway. The bacterial and algal mats were joined early in the
period by primitive plants that created the first recognizable soils and harbored some arthropods like mites, scorpions and myriapods.
Early Devonian plants did not have roots or leaves like the plants most common today, and many had no vascular tissue at all. They
probably relied on arbuscular mycorrhizal symbioses with fungi to provide them with water and mineral nutrients such as phosphorus.[5]
 They probably spread by a combination of vegetative reproduction forming clonal colonies, and sexual reproduction via spores and did
not grow much more than a few centimeters tall.
By the Late Devonian, forests of large, primitive plants existed: lycophytes, sphenophytes, ferns, and progymnosperms had evolved. Most
of these plants have true roots and leaves, and many were quite tall. The tree-like Archaeopteris, ancestral to the gymnosperms, and the
giant cladoxylopsid trees had true wood. These are the oldest known trees of the world's first forests. Prototaxites was the fruiting body of
an enormous fungus that stood more than 8 meters tall. By the end of the Devonian, the first seed-forming plants had appeared. This
rapid appearance of so many plant groups and growth forms has been called the "Devonian Explosion". The primitive arthropods co-
evolved with this diversified terrestrial vegetation structure. The evolving co-dependence of insects and seed-plants that characterizes a
recognizably modern world had its genesis in the late Devonian. The development of soils and plant root systems probably led to changes
in the speed and pattern of erosion and sediment deposition.
The 'greening' of the continents acted as a carbon dioxide sink, and atmospheric concentrations of this greenhouse gas may have
dropped.[6] This may have cooled the climate and led to a massive extinction event. see Late Devonian extinction.
Also in the Devonian, both vertebrates and arthropods were solidly established on the land.
Carboniferous flora
Early Carboniferous land plants were very similar to those of the preceding Latest Devonian, but new groups also appeared at this time.
The main Early Carboniferous plants were the Equisetales (Horse-tails), Sphenophyllales (scrambling plants), Lycopodiales (Club mosses), 
Lepidodendrales (arborescent clubmosses or scale trees), Filicales (Ferns), Medullosales (previously included in the "seed ferns", an artificial
assemblage of a number of early gymnosperm groups) and the Cordaitales. These continued to dominate throughout the period, but during 
late Carboniferous, several other groups, Cycadophyta (cycads), the Callistophytales (another group of "seed ferns"), and the Voltziales (related
to and sometimes included under the conifers), appeared.
The Carboniferous lycophytes of the order Lepidodendrales, which were cousins (but not ancestors) of the tiny club-mosses of today, were huge
trees with trunks 30 meters high and up to 1.5 meters in diameter. These included Lepidodendron (with its fruit cone called Lepidostrobus), 
Halonia, Lepidophloios and Sigillaria. The roots of several of these forms are known as Stigmaria.
The fronds of some Carboniferous ferns are almost identical with those of living species. Probably many species were epiphytic. Fossil ferns
include Pecopteris and the tree ferns Megaphyton and Caulopteris. Seed ferns or Pteridospermatophyta include Cyclopteris, Neuropteris, 
Alethopteris, and Sphenopteris.
The Equisetales included the common giant form Calamites, with a trunk diameter of 30 to 60 cm and a height of up to 20 meters. 
Sphenophyllum was a slender climbing plant with whorls of leaves, which was probably related both to the calamites and the modern horsetails.
Cordaites, a tall plant (6 to over 30 meters) with strap-like leaves, was related to the cycads and conifers; the catkin-like inflorescence, which bore
yew-like berries, is called Cardiocarpus. These plants were thought to live in swamps and mangroves. True coniferous trees (Walchia, of the
order Voltziales) appear later in the Carboniferous, and preferred higher drier ground.
Permian flora
The Permian began with the Carboniferous flora still flourishing. About the middle of the Permian there was a major transition in vegetation. The
swamp-loving lycopod trees of the Carboniferous, such as Lepidodendron and Sigillaria, were replaced by the more advanced conifers, which
were better adapted to the changing climatic conditions. Lycopods and swamp forests still dominated the South China continent because it was
an isolated continent and it sat near or at the equator. The Permian saw the radiation of many important conifer groups, including the ancestors of
many present-day families. The ginkgos and cycads also appeared during this period. Rich forests were present in many areas, with a diverse
mix of plant groups. The gigantopterids thrived during this time; some of these may have been part of the ancestral flowering plant lineage,
though flowers evolved only considerably later.
 MESOZOIC FLORA
The Mesozoic was a time of geologic and biological transition. During this era the continents began to move into
their present-day configurations. A distinct modernization of life-forms occurred, partly because of the demise of
many earlier types of organisms.
Triassic flora
On land, the holdover plants included the lycophytes, the dominant cycads, Ginkgophyta (represented in modern
times by Ginkgo biloba) and glossopterids. The spermatophytes, or seed plants came to dominate the terrestrial
flora: in the northern hemisphere, conifers flourished. Dicroidium (a seed fern) was the dominant southern
hemisphere tree during the Early Triassic period.
Jurassic flora
The arid, continental conditions characteristic of the Triassic steadily eased during the Jurassic period, especially at
higher latitudes; the warm, humid climate allowed lush jungles to cover much of the landscape. Conifers dominated
the flora, as during the Triassic; they were the most diverse group and constituted the majority of large trees. Extant
conifer families that flourished during the Jurassic included the Araucariaceae, Cephalotaxaceae, Pinaceae, 
Podocarpaceae, Taxaceae and Taxodiaceae. The extinct Mesozoic conifer family Cheirolepidiaceae dominated low
latitude vegetation, as did the shrubby Bennettitales. Cycads were also common, as were ginkgos and tree ferns in
the forest. Smaller ferns were probably the dominant undergrowth. Caytoniaceous seed ferns were another group of
important plants during this time and are thought to have been shrub to small-tree sized. Ginkgo-like plants were
particularly common in the mid- to high northern latitudes. In the Southern Hemisphere, podocarps were especially
successful, while Ginkgos and Czekanowskiales were rare.
Cretaceous flora
Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms, spread during this period, although
they did not become predominant until near the end of the period (Campanian age
). Their evolution was aided by the appearance of bees; in fact angiosperms and
insects are a good example of coevolution. The first representatives of many modern
trees, including figs, planes and magnolias, appeared in the Cretaceous. At the same
time, some earlier Mesozoic gymnosperms, like Conifers continued to thrive, although
other taxa like Bennettitales died out before the end of the period.
 CENOZOIC FLORA

The Cenozoic began at the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event with a 

massive disruption of plant communities. It then became just as much the age of
savannas, or the age of co-dependent flowering plants and insects. At 35 Ma, grasses
 evolved from among the angiosperms. About ten thousand years ago, humans in the 
Fertile Crescent of the Middle East develop agriculture. Plant domestication begins with
cultivation of Neolithic founder crops. This process of food production, coupled later with
the domestication of animals caused a massive increase in human population that has
continued to the present. In Jericho (modern Israel), there is a settlement with about
19,000 people. At the same time, Sahara is green with rivers, lakes, cattle, crocodiles
and monsoons. At 8 ka, Common (Bread) wheat (Triticum aestivum) originates in
southwest Asia due to hybridisation of emmer wheat with a goat-grass, Aegilops tauschii.
At 6.5 ka, two rice species are domesticated: Asian rice, Oryza sativa, and African rice 
Oryza glaberrima.
 TIMELINE OF ANIMALS
There are all sorts of ways to reconstruct the history of life on Earth. Pinning down when specific events
occurred is often tricky, though. For this, biologists depend mainly on dating the rocks in which 
fossils are found, and by looking at the “molecular clocks” in the DNA of living organisms.
There are problems with each of these methods. The fossil record is like a movie with most of the frames
cut out. Because it is so incomplete, it can be difficult to establish exactly when particular evolutionary
changes happened.
Modern genetics allows scientists to measure how different species are from each other at a molecular
level, and thus to estimate how much time has passed since a single lineage split into different species. 
Confounding factors rack up for species that are very distantly related, making the earlier dates more
uncertain.
These difficulties mean that the dates in the timeline should be taken as approximate. As a general rule,
they become more uncertain the further back along the geological timescale we look. Dates that are very
uncertain are marked with a question mark.
 MORE FACTS ABOUT THE
TIMELINE OF ANIMALS
A comb jelly. The evolutionary history of the comb jelly has revealed surprising clues about Earth's first
animal.
Biologists believe that new species evolve from existing species by a process called natural selection.
Organisms that inherit that favorable new gene are likely to become more abundant than others of the
species. Sometimes the population of a species becomes separated into two areas, by geography or by
climate.
All animals and plants are classified as multicellular eukaryotes: their bodies are made up of large numbers
of cells, and microscopic inspection of these cells reveals that they contain a nucleus and a number of other 
organelles. Compared to prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria, plants and animals have a relatively recent
evolutionary origin. DNA evidence suggests that the first eukaryotes evolved from prokaryotes, between 2500
and 1000 million years ago. That is, eukaryotes as a taxon date from the Proterozoic Era, the final Era of the
Precambrian. Fossils of both simple unicellular and more complex multicellular organisms are found in
abundance in rocks from this period of time. In fact, the name "Proterozoic" means "early life".
Genetic data suggest that multicellular animals evolved around 1000 million years ago; this is supported by
fossil embryos from rocks in China that date back 600 million years. ... Whatever their origins, animals may
have ventured onto land early in the Cambrian.
 TIMELINE OF ANIMALS
Compared to prokaryotic organisms such as
bacteria, plants and animals have a relatively
recent evolutionary origin. DNA evidence suggests
that the first eukaryotes evolved from prokaryotes,
between 2500 and 1000 million years ago. Groups
of species undergo various kinds of natural
selection and, over time, may engage in several
patterns of evolution: convergent evolution,
divergent evolution, parallel evolution, and
coevolution. These are the Hadean (4.6 billion to 4
billion years ago), the Archean (4 billion to 2.5
billion years ago), the Proterozoic (2.5 billion to
541 million years ago), and the Phanerozoic (541
million years ago to the present). Major
developments that occurred within the animal
kingdom include bilateral symmetry, true tissue
and organ systems, a body cavity, a centralized
nervous system, a complete digestive system, a
segmented body plan, and a notochord.
 6 EVIDENCE OF EVOLUTION
•Anatomy. Species may share similar physical features because the feature was present
in a common ancestor (homologous structures).
•Molecularbiology. DNA and the genetic code reflect the shared ancestry of life. DNA
comparisons can show how related species are.
•Biogeography. The global distribution of organisms and the unique features of island
species reflect evolution and geological change.
•Fossils. Fossils
document the existence of now-extinct past species that are related to
present-day species.
•Direct observation. We can directly observe small-scale evolution in organisms with
short lifecycles (e.g., pesticide-resistant insects).
“THE END”
Leonard C Rosales