Evolution

IIS2024

The history of life

Diego Tirira PhD
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Keywords for this class
Level 1 Level 2
• Prokaryotes and • Cambrian explosion
eukaryotes • Dating methods
• Extinction • Rocks and their types
• Mass extinction • Geological time scale
• Diversification • Continental drift
• Geology • Climatic change
• Fossils
The History
of Life

Based on
Futuyma & Kirkpatrick (2017)
 Section of an early Cretaceous ammonite.
Chambers are formed as the animal’s grew.
The history of life
• Ammonites (cephalopods related
to squids) were extremely diverse
in the Mesozoic era.
• But became entirely extinct at the
era’s end, in the final of the Permian

Futuyma and Kirkpatrick (2017)

period (252 Mya).
• How do we know this?
 Trilobites
The history of life

• Trilobites were one of the earliest

known groups of arthropods
(evolved 600 Mya).
• Last extant trilobites disappeared
in the mass extinction at the end
of the Permian (252 Mya).
• How do we know this?
• Thanks to fossil evidence.

Diego Tirira
The history of life
• Those are only two
examples of how complex
and changing is the history
of life.
• Although much progress

Futuyma and Kirkpatrick (2017)

has been made to
understanding this
complex history, much

Diego Tirira
remains to be known.
Some Geological Fundamentals
 www.freepik.es/vector-premium
Some Geological Fundamentals
• The rocks we find on the
Earth's surface originated
as fluid material (magma)
that was expelled from deep
within the planet.

Futuyma and Kirkpatrick (2017)

• Part of these rocks were
expelled through volcanoes,
but most of them comes from
the formation of new crust
(corteza) in oceanic chains.
 https://chaiuchsha.blogspot.com
Some Geological Fundamentals
• These are called igneous rocks, one
of the three types of rocks that can
be found on the planet.
• The other two types are:
• Metamorphic and sedimentary rocks.
• Metamorphic rocks are formed under
high temperatures and pressures, like

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igneous rocks.
Some Geological Fundamentals

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• Sedimentary rocks are formed by
the deposition and solidification of
sediments.
• Those sediments are usually formed
either by the breakdown
(descomposición) of older rocks
or by precipitation of minerals from

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water.
Some Geological Fundamentals
• Which is the importance of
sedimentary rocks in terms of

Diego Tirira
evolution of life?
• Because most fossils are found in
sedimentary rocks.

Diego Tirira
Some Geological Fundamentals
• A few fossils are found in other
situations:

Daniel C. Fisher
• Some mammoths and other species
have been found frozen in permafrost.
• Others in tar (brea)
deposits.

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• Some insects in

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amber (fossilized
plant resin).
 A
Fossils
• How are fossils formed?
• Where to find fossils?
C

B D

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The geological time scale
The geological time scale
• The ages of geological events on the
Earth can often be determined by
radiometric dating.
• This technique measures the
degeneration of certain radioactive

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elements in minerals that form
igneous rock (only igneous rocks).
• So the age of a fossil-bearing sedimentary
rock must be estimated by dating
igneous formations above or below it.
The geological time scale

• One of the most common es

Carbon-14 (14C or radiocarbon).
• The Carbon-14 dating method
is the most reliable technique

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for determining the age of
organic samples up to 75,000
years old.
• But what to do with older
samples?
The geological time scale
• Another method for longer dating is uranium-235 (U-235).
• Atom U-235 decay is constant over time.
• As a result, it decay in lead-207 (Pb-207)
in 700,000 My, and each element has a
specific half-life.
• It implies that that in each 700,000 My
the U-235 atoms present at the beginning
of the period will decay into Pb-207.

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• The proportion of atoms in a rock sample
provides an estimate of its age.
 https://losmensajesdelpaisaje.blogspot.com
Geological strata
• Layers of sediment deposited at
different times are called strata.
• Different strata have different features,
and they often contain
distinctive fossils of
species.

https://evolution.berkeley.edu
• Using such evidence,
it can match
contemporaneous
strata in different
localities. Gradual evolution Rock strata with fossils
of the lineage
Geological time scale

https://geocienciazone.wordpress.com/2017/01/17/eras-geologicas/
• Most of the eras and periods of
the geological time scale were
named and ordered before
Darwin’s time.
• These geological eras and periods
were distinguished, and are still
most readily recognized, by
distinctive fossil taxa.
• The absolute times of these
boundaries are subject to slight
revision as more information
accumulates.
Geological time scale
Geochronologic unit Time span
Eon (eón) Several hundred million years to two billion years
Era (era) Tens to hundreds of millions of years

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Period (período) Millions of years to tens of millions of years
Epoch (época) Hundreds of thousands of years to tens of millions of years
Sub-epoch (subépoca) Thousands of years to millions of years
Age (edad) Thousands of years to millions of years
Wikipedia
The History of Life
The History of Life
• Traces the processes by which
living organisms (present and
fossil) evolved from the
earliest emergence of life to

www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle
present day.
• Evidence from living organisms
indicates that all living beings
are descended from a single
common ancestor.
Precambrian

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 Precambrian

• 4570–542 Mya (Precámbrico).

• Earliest part of Earth's history.
• The name is used because it
preceded the Cambrian.

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• Precambrian accounts for
88% of the Earth's geologic time.

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 Precambrian

• It spans from the formation of Earth

(about 4600 Mya) to the beginning of Hadean
the Cambrian Period (about 540 Mya).
Archean
• This period finish when hard-shelled
creatures first appeared in abundance. Proterozoic
• Includes three eons:

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Precambrian
Hadean

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 Eon Hadean

• 4567–4031 Mya (Eón Hádico).

• Hadean is the first and oldest of the
geologic eons of Earth’s history.
• Early in this eon occurred the
proposed interplanetary collision
that created the Moon.
• Earth in the early Hadean had a very
thick carbon dioxide and methane-rich

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atmosphere, but eventually oceans
made of liquid water formed.
Precambrian
Archean

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 Eon Archean

• 4031–2500 Mya (Eón Arcaico).

• Origin of life in remote past (first
fossil evidence at ca. 3500 Mya)
that is 800 My after the formation
of Earth.
• Evidence suggests that life emerged
prior to 3700 Mya (although there
is some evidence of life as early as

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4100 to 4280 Mya).
 Eon Archean

• Life began in the sea.

• The first life forms for which Monera Archaea
(bacteria) (archaea)
there is evidence are prokaryotic
cells (bacteria and archaea).
• Photosynthesis generates

medicoplus.com/ciencia
oxygen, replacing oxygen-poor
atmosphere.
• Evolution of aerobic respiration.

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Precambrian
Proterozoic

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 Eon Proterozoic

• 2500–539 Mya (Eón Proterozoico).

• Earliest eukaryotes
(ca. 1900–1700 Mya).
• Origin of sex (1300 Mya).
• First multicellular life (1200 Mya).
• Animal lineages from DNA (720 Mya).

https://i.pinimg.com
• Animal fossils (Ediacaran fauna).
 Eon Proterozoic

Ediacaran biota
• Composed by enigmatic tubular and
frond-shaped (fern-like), mostly
sessile organisms.
• Trace fossils (635–539 Mya) of these
organisms have been found

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worldwide.
• Represent the earliest known
complex multicellular organisms.
 Eon Proterozoic

• Caveasphaera: not easily defined

as an animal or non-animal.
• This animal-like development
arose much earlier than the
oldest clearly defined animal
fossils (750 Mya).

www.focus.it/scienza
 Eon Proterozoic

• First lineages of metazoans:

sponges, cnidarians,
bilaterians (635 Mya).
• Porifera (Sponges):
• 750 Mya (suspected).
• 580 Mya (confirmed).

Diego Tirira
Eon Phanerozoic
Era Paleozoic

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 Paleozoic

• 539–252 Mya (Era Paleozoica). “Old animals”

• The Paleozoic was a time of dramatic geological, climatic,
and evolutionary change.
• The Cambrian saw the most rapid and widespread
diversification of life in Earth's history, known as
the Cambrian explosion, in which most
modern phyla first appeared.
• Arthropods, molluscs, fish, amphibians, reptiles,
and synapsids all evolved during the Paleozoic.
 Paleozoic

• Life began in the ocean but eventually

transitioned onto land, and by the late Cambrian
Paleozoic, great forests of primitive plants
covered the continents. Ordovician
• Towards the end of the era, large, sophisticated Silurian
synapsids and diapsids were dominant and the
first modern plants (conifers) appeared. Devonian
• This is the first of the three eras in which life on
Permian
Earth diversified. It is divided into five periods:
Paleozoic
Cambrian

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Early Cambrian 600 Mya

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 Cambrian

• 539–485 Mya (Período Cámbrico).

• It is characterized by the
diversification of marine animals.
• First appearance of most animal
phyla and many classes within
relatively short interval.
• Earliest agnathan vertebrates.

Wikipedia
• Diverse algae.
 Cambrian

• This phenomenon is called

Cambrian explosion, Cambrian
diversification, Cambrian radiation
or the “Biological Big Bang”.
• The fossil record displays an
explosive diversification of the
animal phyla near 540 Mya (the
beginning of the Cambrian period).

Wikipedia
• It lasted for about 13–40 My.
 Cambrian

• Basic patterns and morphologies

observed were the basis of
modern animals.
• The rates of physical and genetic
modification of many animals
were 4 and 5.5 times faster.
• An evolutionary process that
would take 150 My, took only

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30 My.
Paleozoic
Ordovician

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 Ordovician

• 485.4–443.8 Mya
(Período Ordovícico).
• Diversification of echinoderms
and other invertebrate phyla
• Diversification agnathan
vertebrates.

Stella Spinoza
Starfish
Middle Ordovician 470 Mya

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 Ordovician

• Mass extinction at
end of this period
(440 Mya).

https://evolution.berkeley.edu/
Paleozoic
Silurian

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 Silurian

• 443.8–419.2 Mya (Período Silúrico).

• Diversification of agnathans.
• Origin of jawed fishes: Agnatha
Spiny sharks
acanthodians (spiny sharks and
other cartilaginous fish),
placoderms, and Osteichthyes).

Wikipedia (all)
Placoderm
 Silurian

• First terrestrial forms appear in

the Silurian period (< 440 Mya):
• Arthropods (amphibian forms)
similar to myriapods.
• At this time begins to be
vegetation around the very
water while the soil was not
yet supported by the

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vegetation (first Vascular plants).
Eurypterida
Silurian 430 Mya

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Paleozoic
Devonian

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 Devonian

• 419.2–358.9 Mya
(Período Devónico).
• Trilobites diverse.
• Origin of ammonoids,
tetrapod, insects, ferns,
seed plants.

Wikipedia (both)
• Diversification of bony
fishes: “Age of fish”.
 Devonian

• Vertebrates first colonized the

earth about 400 Mya.
• Amphibians evolved from
freshwater fish.
• The first tetrapod (precursors to
amphibians, reptiles, mammals,
dinosaurs, and birds) originated
from lobe-finned fish

Wikipedia
(Sarcopterygians).
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First amphibians
• Terrestrial vertebrates shared a common
ancestor with lungfish.
• This is the Tiktaalik (385 Mya), an intermediate
form between fishes and tetrapod.
• Colonize the terrestrial environment
represented a significant change in
body plan suited to organisms that
respired and swam in water, to
organisms that breathed air and

Wikipedia
moved onto land.
First amphibians
• Acanthostega (365 Mya) is considered the first “amphibian”
ever. It lived in a shallow water.
• Fossils show that it had gills similar to fishes. However, it also
had four limbs, with the skeletal structure of limbs found in
present-day tetrapod.
• The early tetrapod that moved onto land had access to new
nutrient sources and relatively few predators.
• This was the beginning of the

Wikipedia
"Age of the Amphibians."
 Devonian

Michael Benton (2005)

 Devonian

• Mass extinction late

in this period.

https://evolution.berkeley.edu/
Late Devonian 370 Mya

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Paleozoic
Carboniferous

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 Carboniferous

• 358.9–298.9 Mya (Período Carbonífero).

• Gondwana and small northern
continents form.
• Extensive forests of early vascular
plants, especially lycopsids and ferns.
• These forests would come to form the
coal mines (minas de carbón).

Diego Tirira
 Carboniferous

• In other animals, early orders of

winged insects (giant Odonata).
• Giant centipedes.
• Diverse amphibians (“Age of
amphibians”).
• First reptiles at the end of this
period.

Wikipedia
Hylonomus
Late Carboniferous 310 Mya

Pangea begans
to form

Wikipedia
 Carboniferous

• Amniotes evolved from

an amphibian ancestor,
approx. 340 Mya.
• The early amniotes
diverged into two main
lines soon after the first
amniotes arose.
• The initial split was into
synapsids and sauropsids.
Wikipedia
Amniotes

Wikipedia
First reptiles
• Reptiles originated
approximately 300 Mya.
• One of the oldest-known Hylonomus
amniotes is Casineria, which
had both amphibian and
reptilian characteristics.
• One of the earliest

Wikipedia (both)
undisputed reptiles
is Hylonomus.
Casineria
First reptiles

Nicole Wagner
First pre-mammals
• The evolution of mammals Archaeothyris, one of the
oldest synapsids found
passed through many stages
since the first appearance of
their ancestors, the Synapsid.
• That occurs in the late
Carboniferous period
(approx. 315 Mya).

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Paleozoic
Permian

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 Permian

• 298.9–251.9 Mya.
• Continents aggregated
into Pangaea.
• Characterized by glaciations,
and low sea level.
• Increasingly “advanced”
fishes.

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• Diverse orders of insects.
 Permian

• The most devastating

mass extinction of all
time, especially of
marine life.
• Occurred at the end of

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this period (252 Mya).
• It profoundly altered
the composition of
Earth’s terrestrial biota
(amphibians and reptiles).
Permian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJK0geuRcps
 Permian
• Trilobites were the main taxon affected
by this mass extinction.
• They were among the most successful
of all early animals, existing in oceans
for almost 270 My.
• The last extant trilobites disappeared
at the end of the Permian (252 Mya).
• Also Amphibians decline. But, reptiles,

Diego Tirira
including early mammal-like forms,
diversify.
Mesozoic

Wikipedia
 Mesozoic

• 251.9–66.0 Mya (era Mesozoica). “Intermedium animals”

• The Mesozoic is the middle of the three
eras since complex life evolved.
• The tectonic break-up of Pangaea.
• A hot greenhouse climate.
Triassic
• Abundance of gymnosperms (seeds plants)
and ferns. Jurassic
• The Mesozoic Era comprising three periods:
Cretaceous
 Mesozoic

• This era is characterized by the

dominance of dinosaurs: the
"Age of reptiles".
• Dinosaurs evolved in the Triassic
from reptilian archosaurs.
• First dinosaurs were quadrupeds;
later appeared the bipeds species.

Diego Tirira
 Mesozoic

• The dinosaurs were a diverse group of terrestrial reptiles

with more than 1000 species identified to date.
• Paleontologists continue to Yamanasaurus lojaensis

discover new species of dinosaurs.

• The only Ecuadorian dinosaur
is Yamanasaurus lojaensis.
• It lived at the end of the Mesozoic,
within the Cretaceous period

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(75 to 70 Mya).
Mesozoic
Triassic

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 Triassic

• 251.9–201.4 Mya (período Triásico). “Three rock layers”.

• Marked by two mass extinction periods, at the
beginning and at the end.
• Continents begin to separate.
• Marine diversity increases (appear modern corals).
• Gymnosperms become dominant (conifers, plants
with seeds, but without fruits).
• Teleost fishes diversification.
Late Triassic 210 Mya

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 Triassic

• Diversification of reptiles, including first dinosaurs.

• Transitional mammal-like forms.
• Appearance of the evolutionary
line of the first mammals.

Boundless Biology
• Early mammals evolved
200 Mya, at a time that Earth
was dominated by dinosaurs.
First pre-mammals
The early non-mammalian synapsids were divided into two
groups: the pelycosaurs and the therapsids.

Wikipedia
 Triassic

• Occurred at the end of

this period (200 Mya).
• It profoundly altered
the composition of

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Earth’s mammals and
reptiles.
Mesozoic
Jurassic

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 Jurassic
• 201.4–~145.0 Mya (período Jurásico). “Jura mountains”.
• Continents separating.
• Diverse dinosaurs and other reptiles.
• Diversification of mammals.
• Gymnosperms dominant.
• Evolution of angiosperms (fruit-bearing plants).
• At the end of this period, the first flying vertebrates appear.
• Mesozoic marine revolution.
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First flying vertebrates
• Pterosaurs evolved in the
Jurassic (150 Mya).
• Although they are sometimes called
dinosaurs, they are distinct from them.
• Their wings were formed by membranes of skin that
attached to the long, fourth finger of each arm and
extended along the body to the legs.
• Pterosaurs had a number of adaptations that allowed for
flight, including hollow bones (birds also exhibit hollow
bones, a case of convergent evolution, but they were not
ancestral to birds).
First birds
• The first primitive birds appear.
• Archaeopteryx was the avian
dinosaurs.

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Mammals split

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• The lineage leading to today's
mammals split in the Jurassic

https://prehistopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Dryolestes
(approx. 167 Mya). Dryolestes
Ambondro

• Ambondro (related to monotremes).

• Synapsids from this period include:
Dryolestes (related to extant
placentals and marsupials)
Late Jurassic 155 Mya

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Mesozoic
Cretaceous

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 Cretaceous

• ~145.0–66.0 Mya (período Cretácico).

“Creta rock” (tiza).
• Most continents separated.
• Continued radiation of dinosaurs.
• The first flowering plants appear
(140 Mya).
• Increasing diversity of angiosperms,
and mammals.

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 Cretaceous

• Different lineages of
dinosaurs give origin to

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modern birds in the late
Cretaceous (100 Mya).
 Cretaceous

• Mass extinction at end of

period (66 Mya) including last
ammonoids and non-avian
dinosaurs.

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• This mass extinction is
attributed to the
impact of a large
meteorite.

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Ammonoids
 Dinosaurs extinction

Diego Tirira
• In the latest mass
extinction (66 Mya),
75% of plant and animal
species on Earth,
including all non-avian

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dinosaurs, were extinct.
• That occurred over a
geologically-short
period of time.
Dinosaurs extinction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFCbJmgeHmA
Late Cretaceous 70 Mya

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Cenozoic

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 Cenozoic

• 66.0–0 Mya (Era Cenozoica). “New animals”.

• The Cenozoic is Earth's current geological era,
representing the last 66 My of Earth's history.
• This is the latest of three geological eras,
preceded by the Mesozoic and Paleozoic.
• The Cenozoic started with the great dinosaurs
extinction event, when many species, including
the non-avian dinosaurs, became extinct.
 Cenozoic

• The Cenozoic is also known as the Age of mammals.

• Also, it is characterized by the dominance of birds
and flowering plants.
• In this period the mammals
dominated both hemispheres:

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• The eutherians (placentals) in the
northern hemisphere.
• The metatherians (marsupials) in
the southern hemisphere.
 Cenozoic

• After the extinction of

the dinosaurs (66 Mya),

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mammals and birds
diverged into many new
forms and occupied many
ecological niches.
• These groups are the ancestors of the

Carlos E. Boada
modern mammal and bird orders, and
became the dominant fauna of the planet.
 Cenozoic

• Also, during this period there

was a radiation of snakes,
angiosperms and pollinating
insects, and bony fish.

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• The climate during the early
Cenozoic was warmer than today.
• The continents also moved into
their nearing current positions
during this era.
Eocene 50 Mya

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Cenozoic
Quaternary

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 Quaternary

• 2.58–0 Mya (período Cuaternario).

• The 99.5% is part of the Pleistocene
epoch (2.58–0.0117 Mya).
• Continents in modern positions.
• Repeated glaciations and changes
of sea level.

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• Shifts of geographic distributions.
• Extinctions of large mammals and
birds.
 Quaternary
• Evolution of Homo
sapiens, spread out
of Africa
(200,000 years).

Diego Tirira www.kartable.fr/ressources

Cenozoic
Quaternary: Pleistocene

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 Pleistocene

• 2.58–0.0117 Mya (época

Pleistoceno).
• A series of glacial and interglacial
episodes occurred during this

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epoch.
• Some extinctions occurred and
the distributions of species were
greatly altered.
• Ends 11,700 years ago.
 Pleistocene

• The great faunal

exchange (mainly
mammals) between
North and South
America took place

Chávez Hoffmeister (2016)

during this epoch.
Cenozoic
Quaternary - Holocene

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 Holocene

• 0.0117–0 Mya (11,700 to present)

(época Holoceno).
• It began approximately 11,650 years ago
after the Last Glacial Period.

https://curiosfera-historia.com
• It is defined by the emergence of
agriculture and civilizations.
• The Holocene corresponds with the rapid
proliferation, growth and impacts of
the human species worldwide.
Holocene Actual time

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Anthropocene
 Anthropocene
• A proposed geologic epoch
but not officially accepted.
• It is suggested to be linked to
the period since when humans
have shown a significant impact
on the Earth's geology and
ecosystems, including, among
others, climate change.

Diego Tirira
 Anthropocene

https://recoindu.blogspot.com/2015/06/revolucion-industrial.html
• Various start dates for the Anthropocene have been
proposed, ranging from:
• The beginning of the
Agricultural (overlapping
with the Holocene).
• The Industrial Revolution
(second half of the
18th century).
• Recent times (since 1960s).
Resumen
 The history
of life

Resumen
• Las pruebas de los organismos vivos indican que
todos los seres vivos descienden de un único
antepasado común.
• Se ha avanzado mucho en la comprensión del origen
de la vida, pero todavía queda mucho por conocer.
• Las primeras pruebas fósiles de vida datan de unos
3500 millones de años (3 500 000 000), unos 1000 millones
de años después de la formación de la Tierra.
 The history
of life

Resumen
• Las primeras formas de vida de las que tenemos
pruebas eran procariotas.
• Los eucariotas evolucionaron alrededor de
1800 millones de años.
• Las mitocondrias y cloroplastos de las células
eucariotas evolucionaron a partir de bacterias
endosimbióticas.
• Algunos linajes “madre” de varios filos modernos
evolucionaron mucho antes del Cámbrico
(> 600 millones de años).
 The history
of life

Resumen
• El registro fósil muestra una diversificación explosiva
de los filos animales cerca del comienzo del Cámbrico,
alrededor de 540 millones de años (Explosión
Cámbrica).
• Las causas de esta rápida diversificación son objeto de
debate, pero pueden incluir una combinación de
acontecimientos genéticos y ecológicos.
• Los vertebrados sin mandíbulas ni extremidades
evolucionaron a finales del Cámbrico (485 millones
de años).
 The history
of life

Resumen

• Los primeros fósiles de plantas terrestres y artrópodos

se encuentran en el Silúrico (aprox. 420 millones de años)
• Los primeros insectos aparecen en el Devónico
(400–380 millones de años).
• Los vertebrados (peces) con mandíbulas y extremidades
(aletas) evolucionaron en el Silúrico (420 millones de años).
• Los vertebrados terrestres evolucionaron a finales del
Devónico (360 millones de años), a partir de peces con aletas
lobuladas.
 The history
of life

Resumen

• La extinción masiva más devastadora de todos los

tiempos se produjo a finales del Pérmico
(unos 252 millones de años).
• Esta extinción masiva alteró profundamente la composición
taxonómica de las biotas de la Tierra.
• Durante el Mesozoico (252–66 millones de años), las
plantas y los amniotas se diversificaron y llegaron a ser
ecológicamente dominantes.
 The history
of life

Resumen
• Los primeros mamíferos evolucionaron en el Triásico
(230 millones de años).
• Los arcosaurios, sobre todo los dinosaurios, dominaron
los paisajes jurásicos y cretácicos (200 millones de
años).
• Los dinosaurios voladores, antecesores de las aves,
evolucionaron en el Jurásico (150 millones de años) y
dieron lugar a algunos linajes de aves modernas a
finales del Cretácico (70 millones de años).
 The history
of life

Resumen
• Las plantas con flores y los insectos asociados a las
plantas se diversificaron enormemente a partir de
mediados del Cretácico (hace 100 millones de años).
• Una extinción masiva a finales del Cretácico (66 millones
de años) causó la extinción de los dinosaurios no avianos.
• El clima se volvió más seco durante el Cenozoico (últimos
60 millones de años), lo que favoreció el desarrollo de
praderas y la evolución de plantas herbáceas y animales
adaptados a las praderas.
 The history
of life

Resumen
• La mayoría de los órdenes de mamíferos placentarios
se originaron a finales del Cretácico, pero
experimentaron una radiación adaptativa a principios
de la era Cenozoica (época Paleoceno) (65 millones de
años).
• Muchos grupos de mamíferos eran antes más diversos
que ahora, y algunos se han extinguido.
 The history
of life

Resumen
• Durante el Pleistoceno (los últimos 2,6 millones de
años) se produjeron una serie de episodios glaciares
e interglaciares, durante los cuales ocurrieron algunas
extinciones y se alteró en gran medida la distribución
de las especies.
• Los humanos han provocado extinciones de especies
desde que se extendió la agricultura o antes.
• El crecimiento de la población humana y la tecnología han
tenido un impacto acelerado en la diversidad biológica y
han iniciado otra gran extinción, la época del Antropoceno.