Evolution Of Life On Earth

Although the Ediacaran period was well before the first appearance of dinosaurs it shows that there were fossils many years ago. When dinosaurs first appeared things had changed there was still shallow water which meant that bones could be fossilized.

The author and his colleagues specifically chose to focus on 375 million year old rocks in their search for fossils because this was the time frame that provided fish that would be useful to study from. The 385 million year old rocks provided fish that look too similar to the ones we have now and the 365 million year old rocks have fossils that don’t resemble fish. The 375 million year old rocks, however, provide fossils that show the transition between fish and land living animals.

In the following space, explain the role of fossils in developing the Geologic column. Your explanation must be between 200 and 300 words.

The first chapter of the book discusses the way we can use fossil records to study the biological world. Fossils are one of the major lines of evidence we use to understand ourselves. Surprisingly, we are able to discover them with a high amount of precision and predictability. In particular, field paleontologists have it easier than it has ever been before due to the current information age. The physical hunt for important fossils, however, is much like it has always been. Three factors limiting the number of useful fossil sites include rock age, type (whether or not it can preserve fossils), and number of exposed rocks. So, it takes a bit of luck to reliably find fossils. Thankfully, rock

The oldest fossil was the microfossils known to be found in Australia by a group from the University of Western Australia and Oxford University. The tiny fossils showed credible indication for cells and bacteria living in an oxygen free world over 3.4 billion years ago.

Almost every metazoan phylum with hard parts, and many that lack hard parts, made its first appearance in the Cambrian. The only modern phylum with an adequate fossil record to appear after the Cambrian was the phylum Bryozoa, which is not known before the early Ordovician. A few mineralized animal fossils, including sponge spicules and probable worm tubes, are known from the Vendian period immediately preceding the

They chose the time period of 375 million year old rocks because they thought that it was an ideal age to check the transition. They were only able to find fish found in 380 million year old rock and the animals with limbs in 365 million year old rocks. Sedimentary rocks are ideal because they are made due to the turns of the river, ocean and lakes. This is the place where fishes and animals are ideal to live and survive upon. Also the environment, in which they are made, doesn’t destroy the fossils and they preserve them. In 2004, the fossils were found on Ellesmere Island in Northern Canada. This location was chosen because this is the place where there are no humans or roads or any disturbance that would forbid them to dig anywhere they want.

Major Biological Event: Life evolved and diversified greatly during this Era, in an event called the Cambrian Explosion. Plants began to grow on the land and jawed fish began to appear. The first forests made of small trees and bushes forms, populated by insects, reptiles, amphibians. However, this Era ended with a max extinction in which 96% of the populus went extinct.

Evidence  for  life  on  early  Earth  (e.g.  in  the  Pre Cambrian)  has  proved  difficult  to  find  because: SELECT  ALL  THAT  APPLY Select  one  or  more: A.  rocks  from  these  early  times  are  rare  due to  the  recycling  of  the  Earth's  crust  through plate  tectonics   B.  there  was  no  oxygen  in  the  Earth's atmosphere  at  this  time C.  life  at  this  time  lacked  hard  parts  (such as  shells  or  bones)  that  fossilise  easily   D.  life  had  not  yet  emerged  onto  land E.  life  at  this  time  was  mostly  microbial

1. The author chose to focus on 375 million year old rock because the transition from fins to necks and limbs occurred then. The scientists knew that any time later than this and they would find lots of animals with limbs. But if they searched earlier than this time then there are only fish without necks. When the fish were evolving they evolved necks before they evolved limbs so this was a good sign in chronology. Sedimentary rocks are the best types of rocks for fossil due to their gradual pressure and low amounts of heat. Sedimentary rock is also found in lake beds and streams, where fish and aquatic wildlife are most likely to live.

The author and his colleagues chose to focus on 375 million year old rocks in their search for fossils because amphibians that look dissimilar to fish were discovered in 365 million year old rocks, while fish without amphibian characteristics were discovered in 385 million year old rocks. Thus, it is possible that the evolutionary intermediary, or the “missing link” between fish and amphibians, would be discovered in 375 million year old rocks, between the two time periods. The rocks examined were sedimentary in composition, as the gradual and relatively gentle formation of sedimentary rock under conditions of mild pressure and low heat are conducive to the fossilization of animal remains. Sedimentary rock is also often formed in rivers and seas, where animals are likely to live. This site provides a resource that describes means by which fossils are formed and how the fossil record may be interpreted, and shows some examples of fossils demonstrating evolution through geological periods: http://www.fossilmuseum.net/fossilrecord.htm. In 2004, Shubin and his colleagues were looking for fossils on Ellesmere Island, in northern Canada. This location was chosen because of its lack of human development, as well as of obstructing natural formations and life forms such as trees, which

Since Geology and fossils was such a broad subject, I narrowed it down to marine plankton. The article I read was written by Jorg Mutterlose. It was about the study of how micro plankton play a key role in understanding the marine biosphere in present day oceans. All understandings about ancient marine systems (fossils) must have a back ground of plankton systems and its role at the base of marine food chain. Basically that is saying the ocean organisms started out as plankton. Author Jorg Mutterlose addressed that they wanted to inform their readers about recent trends and scientific issues in the evolving field of marine plankton. Marine plankton include the oldest eukaryotic organisms which made their first appearance 2.1 million years ago.

: Fossils are the remains or traces of ancient organisms which have been preserved. For example, a fossil can exist as skeletal remains or even as a footprint. Such organisms are subjected to a slow rate of decaying since they have been rapidly buried under conditions that facilitate this. It is common for fossils to occur as hard-bodied organisms as these are more resistant to environmental influences. Fossils are usually found embedded in rock. The layers of rock are of different age and makeup. Hence fossils found in one layer would vary in characteristics from those found in another layer. They can be observed and analyzed through visual as well as radiometric means so that the age and morphology can be determined. These features indicate

According to astronomical research and geological evidence, scientist indicate the universe is approximately thirteen thousand eight hundred and twenty billion years old. The first link to humanity started with a primate group called Ardipithecus. While our ancestors have been around for about six million years, the modern form of humans only evolved about two hundred thousand years ago. The age of the Earth is estimated about four point fifty four billion years because that is the age of the oldest rocks with fossil evidence of life on earth. The oldest rocks on Earth found to date are the Acasta Gneisses in northwestern Canada near the Great Slave Lake, which are four point three billion years old. The study of the origin of life on Earth, more specifically abiogenesis, is the natural process of life arising from non-living matter. Life on Earth is believed to have began from organic compounds about three point eight to four billion years ago. Despite several competing theories for how life arose on Earth scientist only know when life first appeared on Earth and are still far from answering how it appeared. Since it is hard to prove or disprove them, no fully accepted theories of the origin of life exists.

These techniques led to the discovery of the boundary between the two eras. A single thin layer of clay found within predominantly limestone rocks established this. By comparing the marine life found in, above, and below the clay, the marine life, like the dinosaurs, had been terribly affected by the extinction event. The percentage of life in the upper layers was dramatically lower than that in the lower. This was far more compelling than what was suggested by dinosaur’s fossils.