Transcript of fossils over geologic time - Fossil Mall

Fossils Across Geologic Time
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Archaean
• Strelly Pool Stromatolites
• Paleoarchaen, 3.43
Billion Years Old) ago
• Strelley Pool Formation,
Pilbara, Western Australia
• Layered rocks produced
by mats of either
Bacterial or Archaeans
Prokaryotic cells, among
the earliest primitive life
on Earth
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Proterozoic
• Banded Iron
• Lower Proterozoic, 2.2
Billion Years Ago
• Upper Michigan
• Oxygen from
photosynthetic bacteria
had largely rusted the
oceans by 2.4 billion
years ago, after which
atmospheric oxygen
increased steadily
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Ediacaran
• Dickinsonia
• Ediacaran, (600 - 550
Million Years Ago
• White Sea Summer
Coast, Archangelsk,
Russia
• Macroscopic life was first
emerging during the
Ediacaran (or Vendian)
Period (635 to 541 million
years ago) prior to the
Cambrian Explosion.
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Early Cambrian
• Haikouella lanceolata
• Early Cambrian, 525
million years ago
• Chengjiang Maotianshan
Shales, China
• 15 mm long
• Primitive Chordate, from
when ALL life was still in
the seas – an ancestor of
all animals with back
bones & thus closely
related to fishes soon to
evolve
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Middle Cambrian
• Olenellus gilberti
• Middle Cambrian, ~ 500
million years ago
• Pioche Shale Formation,
Nevada
• 41mm long
• An elegant member of
trilobites Order
Redlichiida, Family
Olenellidae
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Upper Cambrian
“First footprints on land”
• Protichnites eremita
Arthropod track way
• Upper Cambrian
(about 510 million
years ago)
• Blackberry Hill,,
near Mosinee,
Wisconsin
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Reference: Hagadorn, J. W., and Seilacher, A., Hermits 500 million years ago?:
Geology 37(4), 295-298 (2009).
Ordovician
• Asteroidea Starfish
• Ordovician, ~ 480
million years ago
• El Kaid Errami,
Morocco
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Late Ordovician
• Triarthrus eatoni
Ptychopariid Trilobite
• Ordovician, ~ 460
million years ago
• Lorraine Shale, Lewis
County, New York
• With rare soft tissue
preservation of legs
and antennae
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Silurian
• Arctinurus boltoni
Lichid Trilobite
Silurian, ~ 425 million
years ago
• Rochester Shale
Formation, Middleport,
New York
• The species is referred
to by some as the
“Emperor of North
American trilobites”
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Devonian
• Bothriolepis Canadensis
Armored Fish
• Upper Devonian, ~ 410
million years ago
• Escumiac Bay,
Miguasha, Quebec,
Canada
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Carboniferous
• Caridosuctor
populosum Coelacanth
Fish Fossil
• Mississippian , ~ 310
million years ago
• Bear Gulch Limestone,
Heath Shale
Formation, Montana
• A living fossil, as
Coelacanths are still
extant
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Carboniferous
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• Stigmaria Fossil Root of
Lycopsid Tree
• Middle Pennsylvanian, ~
310 million years ago
• Pocahontas Formation,
West Virginia
• Stigmaria is the name
given to fossil roots of the
various tree species of the
Carboniferous. Stigmaria
are often impregnated with
coal, or have coal sticking
to their surface.
Permian
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• Trimerorhachis
insignis Permian
Amphibian Fossil
• Lower Permian, ~ 300
million years ago
• Hennessy Formation,
Tillman County,
Oklahoma
• Described by Cope in
1878, it had scales
and a bony integument
of osteoderms much
like modern-day
crocodylians.
Triassic
• Neocalamites Plant
Fossil
• Triassic, ~ 245 million
years ago
• Tasmania, Australia
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Jurassic
• Acanthochirana
Dragonfly Fossil
• Jurassic, ~ 175 million
years ago
• Solnhofen Limestone,
Germany
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Cretaceous
• Repenomamus
robustus mammal
• Late Jurassic to Early
Cretaceous, ~ 145
million years ago
• Yixian Formation,
Liaoning Province,
China
• An early mammal that
dined on dinosaurs
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Reference Prehistoric badger had dinosaurs for breakfast". Michael
Hopkin. Nature.com. January 12, 2005.
Paleogene
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• Cynodicuis gregarius
• Oligocene – 30 million
years ago
• Brule Formation,
South Dakota
• Animals appear more
modern, particularly
the mammals
• This primitive dog-like
animal was a speedy
and fierce little
carnivore that could
chase down rabbits
and probably could
climb trees
Paleogene
• Palaeochiropteryx
tupaiodon Bat Fossil
• Eocene, ~ 50 million
years ago
• Messel Pit, Darmstadt,
Germany
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Neogene
• Libellula (dragonfly
“skimmer”)
• Upper Miocene, ~ 6
million years ago
• Piedmont Area, Italy
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Neogene
• Neptunus granulatus
Crab Fossil
• Bosa Beds, Sardinia,
Italy
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Quaternary
• Ursus speleaus
Cave Bear
• Pleistocene – 250 to
25 thousand years ago
• Ural Mountains,
Russia
• Up to 500 pounds
• The Neanderthals
probably knew they
didn’t have to outrun
Ursus, so long as they
could outrun other
members of their tribe
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