History Underground
Quaternary
1.6 Mya - Present Day
Quaternary is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy.
Event: Evolution of Humans.
Neogene
23.7 Mya - 1.6 Mya
The Neogene is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period 23.03 million years ago to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period 2.58 Mya.
Event: Flourishing of Mammals
Palaeogene
65.5 Mya - 23.7 Mya
The Paleogene is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period 66 million years ago to the beginning of the Neogene Period 23.03 Mya.
Event: Mammals Diversify
Cretaceous
144 Mya - 65.5 Mya
The Cretaceous is a geologic period and system that spans 79 million years from the end of the Jurassic Period 145 million years ago to the beginning of the Paleogene Period 66 mya. It is the last period of the Mesozoic Era.
Event: Extinction of Dinosaurs & First Primates
Jurassic
208 Mya - 144 Mya
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that spanned 56 million years from the end of the Triassic Period 201.3 million years ago to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period 145 Mya.
Event: Appearance of Birds & Flourshing of Dinosaurs
Triassic
245 Mya - 208 Mya
The Triassic is a geologic period and system which spans 50.9 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago, to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.3 Mya. The Triassic is the first period of the Mesozoic Era.
Event: First Dinosaurs & Mammals
Permian
286 Mya - 245 Mya
The Permian is a geologic period and system which spans 46.7 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period 298.9 million years ago, to the beginning of the Triassic period 251.902 Mya.
Event: Major Extinctions & Development of Reptiles
Carboniferous
360 Mya - 286 Mya
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period 358.9 million years ago, to the beginning of the Permian Period, 298.9 Mya.
Event: Appearance of Reptiles
Devonian
408 Mya - 360 Mya
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic, spanning 60 million years from the end of the Silurian, 419.2 million years ago, to the beginning of the Carboniferous, 358.9 Mya.
Event: Appearance of Amphibians & Diversification of Jawed Fish
Silurian
438 Mya - 408 Mya
The Silurian is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at 443.8 million years ago, to the beginning of the Devonian Period, 419.2 Mya.
Event: First Vascular Land Plants & Flourishing of Sea Scorpions
Ordovician
505 Mya - 438 Mya
The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.2 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period 485.4 million years ago to the start of the Silurian Period 443.8 Mya.
Event: Sudden Diversification of Metazoan Families
Cambrian
570 Mya - 505 Mya
The Cambrian Period is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 55.6 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 541 million years …
Event: Appearance of Trilobites & First Fishes
Before the Real Miracle of Life
4600 Mya - 570 Mya
Mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus, proboscideans commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair.
Gastornis
Gastornis is an extinct genus of large flightless birds that lived during the late Paleocene and Eocene epochs of the Cenozoic era.
Hyracodontidae
Hyracodontidae is an extinct family of rhinoceroses endemic to North America, Europe, and Asia during the Eocene through early Miocene living from 48.6—26.3 mya, existing for approximately 22.3 million years.
Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex, is one of the most well-represented of the large theropods.
Apatosaurus
Apatosaurus is a genus of extinct sauropod dinosaurs that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic period.
Coelophysis
Coelophysis is an extinct genus of coelophysid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 203 to 196 million years ago during the latter part of the Triassic Period in what is now the southwestern United States and also in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Eryops
Eryops meaning "drawn-out face" because most of its skull was in front of its eyes is a genus of extinct, amphibious temnospondyls.
Meganeura
Meganeura is a genus of extinct insects from the Carboniferous period, which resembled and are related to the present-day dragonflies.
Coelacanth
The coelacanths constitute a now rare order of fish that includes two extant species in the genus Latimeria: the West Indian Ocean coelacanth primarily found near the Comoro Islands off the east coast of Africa and the Indonesian coelacanth.
Eurypterid
Eurypterids, often informally called sea scorpions, are an extinct group of arthropods related to arachnids that include the largest known arthropods to have ever lived.
Nautiloid
Nautiloids are a large and diverse group of marine cephalopods belonging to the subclass Nautiloidea that began in the Late Cambrian and are represented today by the living Nautilus and Allonautilus.
Trilobite
Trilobites are a fossil group of extinct marine arachnomorph arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest known groups of arthropods.