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THE BIG PICTURE by Dr. Jack Horer ....................................... 5
EXTINCTION- A WAY OF LIFE ............................................. 8
CHAPTER 1 : IN THE BEGINNING ................................... 10
Precambrian Era-4.6 billion to 543 million years ago
A single land mass begins to separate. The first single-celled life appears,
followed by the very first animals made of more than one cell.
CHAPTER 2 : EARLY AND EERIE LIFE ................................14
Cambrian Period-543 million to 490 million years ago
In the sea, jellyfish, sponges, worms, and many other relatives of modern animals
appear. Creatures with shells develop, some of them unlike any now alive.
CHAPTER 3 : A NEW UNDERWATER WORLD ........................ 18
Ordovician Period-490 million to 439 million years ago
The land masses head south. Ice covers much of the land. Early fish
without jaws multiply in numbers and kinds.
CHAPTER 4 : ONTO THE LAND ................................... 26
Silurian and Devonian Periods-439 million to 363 million years ago
One huge southern continent and one huge northern continent form. Coral
reefs arise. Insects, spiders, and the first amphibians appear.
CHAPTER 5 : WET AND WILD ..................................... 34
Carboniferous and Permian Periods-363 million to 251 million years ago
A single supercontinent forms. The first animals settle on land. This time period
ends with the greatest extinction event of all time, which kills most living things.
CHAPTER 6 : THE RISE OF REPTILES ................................46
Triassic Period-251 million to 208 million years ago
Earth's single continent begins to break in two. Reptiles take to the air and go
back to the sea. On land, many large reptiles appear, and the first dinosaurs.
CHAPTER 7 : DINOSAUR GIANTS .................................. 60
Jurassic Period-208 million to 146 million years ago
The two supercontinents separate completely into northern and southern
masses. Dinosaurs become by far the largest animals on land.
CHAPTER 8 : THE GREAT DINOSAUR PERIOD ......................... 66
Cretaceous Period-146 million to 65 million years ago
Flowering plants and many new kinds of dinosaurs appear, along with new
giant reptiles in the sea and air. An asteroid may have wiped them all out.
CHAPTER 9 : MAMMALS AGAINST BIRDS ............................ 76
Paleocene and Eocene Epochs-65 million to 35 million years ago
Rodents, early primates, and large flightless birds evolve. Whales and sea
cows, bats, early horses, and elephants appear.
CHAPTER 10 : MAMMALS RULE .................................. 84
Oligocene, Miocene, and Pliocene Epochs-35 million to 1.6 million years ago
Dogs, rats, pigs, and giant sloths develop in the cooler climate. Saber-
toothed cats, apes, and humans appear as grasslands spread. Continents
take on their modern positions.
CHAPTER 11 : COLD TIMES, HARD TIMES ............................92
Pleistocene Epoch-1.6 million to 10,000 years ago
Ice covers northern lands. Woolly mammoths, cave lions, giant Australian
marsupials, and human hunters emerge as the Ice Age begins.
CHAPTER 12 : HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW ...................... 100
Holocene Epoch-10,000 years ago to today
Human civilization spreads and many animals become extinct. The
greatest extinction event of all is now going on as record numbers of
creatures and their habitats are in danger.
GLOSSARY .. ................. ... ................. ....... . .. ....... 108
INDEX ............................................................. 110
RESOURCES ......................................... ............... 112
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