ARCH 344 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Subfossil, Victoriapithecus, Propliopithecus
17 Jan 2017
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Geologists have divided this vast time-span (570 million years) in 3 eras named after the forms of life preserved in the rocks: palaezoic (=early life) 570-225 mya ((cid:858)million years ago(cid:859)) development of both invertebrate and vertebrate life in seas. 400 mya emergence of life from sea to land, involving plants, insects, amphibians, and finally reptiles: mesozoic (= middle life) 225-65 mya first appearance of primitive warm-blooded animals mammals and birds and evolution of flowering plants. Dominant animals = giant reptiles, dinosaurs extinction bring era to close: caenozoic (= recent life) Last 65 my mammals succeed dinosaurs as dominant forms of animal life. Principal evolutionary development of primates took place during this time (palaeocene eocene oligocene miocene pliocene . But separation of first primates from ancestral placental mammal stock almost certainly dates from final epoch of the mesozoic, the cretaceous. Factors influencing dispersal of primates after evolution.
