When Did Abundant Fossil Evidence Appear In The Geologic Record?
FOSSIL EVIDENCE – In this topic, we will ask ourselves when did plentiful fossil evidence possibly appear in the geological record.
This we ask ourselves in order for us to know which era has the most plentiful evidences in fossil in the geological record.
Answer
According to most websites, the most abundant evidence is approximately 540 million years ago in an in the first era of a trilogy of eras called the Phanerozoic Era or the Phanerozoic Eon.
So what exactly is the Phanerozoic Era?
Phanerozoic Era
It is a period of geological history that is divided into three eras: Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic
Paleozoic
This period began with the explosion of life called the Cambrian Explosion, which happened 542 million years ago and saw the evolution of a single-celled bacteria into a plentiful of diverse creatures.
Mesozoic
Dates back to 251 million years ago and started at the end of the paleozolic era and described as the implosion of life, as 96% of all marine life and 70% of all terrestrial life on Earth had gone extinct in a phenomenon known as the P-T extinction. It also saw the rise of the dinosaurs and known as the “Age of Reptiles”. Dinosaurs have become the largest and dominant form of the earth . This era faced two extinctions, with one dated back at the end of the Triassic Period.
Cenozoic
This era began at the end of the Mesozoic era, after the 200 billion reign of the dinosaurs ended when a meteor fell on the Earth and destroyed the dinosaurs. Also known as “new life”, it is also known as the Age of Mammals and still ongoing up till now. Basically we are in this era.
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