The following eras are under the Phanerozoic Eon. It covers all animals existing 541 million years to the present days.
1. PALEOZOIC ERA – This era is ruled by marine species. Fish, arthropods and amphibians evolved during the Paleozoic era.
1.1. Cambrian Period - One of the most fearsome hunters in the Cambrian seas was the Anomalocaris.
1.2. Ordovician Period - The Cephalopods became the dominant predators of this period.
1.3. Silurian Period - Sea animals evolving into land creatures during this time, like the Acanthostega.
1.4. Devonian Period - The next development was the fish with jaws, gills and paired fins, like the Placoderms.
1.5. Carboniferous Period – The life continued to evolve on land. The Pederpes were the most primitive Mississippian tetrapod.
1.6. Permian Period - The dry climate favors the reptiles. The Dimetrodon was the first dinosaur like reptile.
2. MESOZOIC ERA - This era is ruled by the dinosaurs.
2.1. Triassic Period - The first dinosaurs were evolving. Different from the reptiles, they were warm-blooded. Ichthyosaurs developed in the Triassic period.
2.2. Jurassic Period - As the most abundant large predators, Allosaurus was at the top of the food chain.
2.3. Cretaceous Period - Triceratops is a genus of herbivorous dinosaur that first appeared during the late Cretaceous period. At the end of the period the dinosaurs become extinct.
3. CENOZOIC ERA - The rise of the mammals. This era is ruled by mammals.
3.1. Paleogene Period – The first Mammoth ancestors appeared during the Eocene epoch.
3.2. Neogene Period - On land, Asian and African Apes diverged and several million years later, hominins split from their closest African ape ancestors, the chimpanzees.
3.3. Quaternary Period – One of the extinct species of the period is the Saber Tooth Cat. In the late 315 000 years ago the Homo sapiens appear, and nearly 30 000 years ago the humans formed as they are today to rule the planet.
The dinosaurs ruled the planet for 150 million years. Can humans beat their record?
