Test #2: Geological time scale

Question 1

What are the 4 major geological eras?

Answer 1

1. The Precambrian Era
2. The Paleozoic Era
3. The Mesozoic Era
4. The Cenozoic Era

Question 2

what happened in The Precambrian Era?

Answer 2

• The solar system and the earth was formed
• First life forms appeared; prokaryotes
• Appearance of eukaryotes
• Appearance of the Ediacaran fauna; animals capable of digesting and reproducing.

(SOFT CORAL)

Question 3

what happened in The Paleozoic Era?

Answer 3

• Appearance of first animals with a spine
• Appearance of first land plants; mosses, mushrooms and lichens
• Very cold climate caused a mass extinction
• APPEARANCE OF FIRST AMPHIBIANS (life gets out of the water!!)
• Major extinction
• Appearance of first conifers
• Largest mass extinction

(SHELLS)

Question 4

what happened in The Mesozoic Era?

Answer 4

• Warm climate → appearance of reptiles
• Appearance of dinosaurs
• Mass extinction
• Appearance of first birds and small mammals
• Appearance of flowering plants
• Mass extinction due to a meteorite impact in Yucatan, Mexico. This event caused the disappearance of the dinosaurs.

Question 5

what happened in The Cenozoic Era?

Answer 5

• Mammals continued to thrive
• Appearance of megafauna (very large mammals)
• Appearance of primates and hominids