Dividing the history of the earth into eras and periods. Earth once looked like an alien place! It rained liquid hot magma

People are sure that the Earth's satellite is the only space object that appears in the night sky. However, after studying ancient sources, scientists found that three Moons illuminated the Earth 4 billion years ago before the destruction of two celestial bodies by cosmic disasters.

Ancient German mythology calls the human world Midgard, which was protected by celestial bodies from the dangerous effects of space. Thanks to the force of gravity, they could slow down the rotation of the Earth, increasing the length of the day. Experts have long been interested in this phenomenon, and researchers have suggested that the moons were created by highly developed creatures with unique technologies. There is in the Vedas detailed description the death of Lelya, which was located closer than other objects to the planet.

This happened 122,000 years ago, when its surface was invaded by a civilization of aggressive aliens who decided to capture earthlings. They built a military base on it, but the ancestors noticed the threat in time and destroyed the enemy, but the fragments of the destroyed satellite after the fall became the cause of the first Flood and ice age. The northern hemisphere was covered with snow, and people and animals were forced to move beyond the Ural Mountains.

In memory of such events, the Slavs celebrated the Easter holiday, where a tradition arose of testing the strength of colored eggs. The strongest of them was a symbol of the power of Dazhdbog, and the broken analogue personified the Moon destroyed by evil forces and was always given to animals to be devoured. Fatta was the second satellite of the planet and saw the greatness of Atlantis. But the insatiable thirst for power of a disappeared civilization, which used the forces of the elements during the creation of its destructive technologies, led to a disruption of the cosmic balance.

The satellite left orbit, and the Earth began to rotate faster around its axis, after which the year increased by 5 days. The Mayan calendars preserve information about a strong impact after the collision of celestial bodies, which shifted tectonic platforms. Oceans and seas overflowed their shores and began to sweep away everything in their path, while ancient volcanoes awakened and new natural objects were formed, rising from earth's bowels. Ash covered the Sun and caused a new end of the world, described in all religions.

Humanity was thrown back into the Stone Age and again learned to survive in unusual conditions after a planetary catastrophe. Modern scientists are confident that the missing moons were of natural origin, because they found a huge “sky field” while exploring the Argentine region of Campo del Cielo. Indian legends tell of a huge ball that fell from the sky, and the Spaniards made weapons from a piece of cosmic iron.

In the 16th century local resident also took material from here for personal needs, after which a scientific expedition arrived here along with Don Rubin de Celis. Archival documents recorded a meteorite weighing 15 tons, only then it disappeared without a trace. Another cosmic fellow was found in 1803, and a piece of the gift from heaven was bought by the Briton Woodbine Darish, who gave it to the museum staff. Until now, archaeologists are faced with a large accumulation of celestial bodies and craters in a 17-kilometer area that intrigued the American scientist Cassidy.

When he found here many small fragments of a celestial body made of 100% iron, he immediately noticed something strange. When a meteorite explodes, pieces can only fall into a 2-meter area, which cannot be said about this area. After analysis, the expert concluded that it was the missing second Moon, which was attracted to the Earth to the Roche limit, after which it fell apart.

The fire, caused by the fall of debris from a celestial body, began 6,000 years ago, and in 2016, scientists noticed a quasi-moon that had been in Earth’s orbit for 100 years and was not going to leave it for several centuries. The asteroid has a 100-meter diameter and has become a satellite of the planet, approaching the Sun or hiding in its shadow, but it is not a threat to humanity.

Our planet is more than 4.5 billion years old. At the moment it appeared, it looked completely different. What was there in ancient times on the territory modern Russia, and how it has changed over the years - in the book “Ancient Monsters of Russia”.

3000 million years ago

In the first millions of years of its life, the Earth was like hell. There was constant acid rain here, and hundreds of volcanoes erupted. There were many more asteroids. Endless meteorite showers formed the planet - they crashed and became part of it. Some meteorites reached the size of modern cities.

One day, the Earth collided with another planet, one part of which joined us, and the second flew into orbit and over the years turned into the modern Moon.

Illustration from the book

3 billion years ago, a day lasted only 5 hours, and there were 1500 days in a year. Happened once every 50 hours lunar eclipse, and once in 100 - sunny. It probably looked very beautiful, just admire natural phenomena there was no one back then.

Science

Today, our neighbor Mars is a cold, red-desert planet. Liquid water no longer exists on its surface due to low atmospheric pressure and temperature. However, there is evidence that streams once flowed along its surface brackish liquid with a low freezing point.

Water on Mars at modern conditions can be ice, or can turn into steam, bypassing the liquid state.

Ancient Mars

It turns out that approximately 4 billion years ago When Mars was a young planet, its atmosphere was denser and its surface was warm enough to support liquid water, which is very an important condition for the existence of life.

On the surface of Mars, as on the surface of the Earth, there are characteristic branched channels, which were formed by fluid flows. In the interior of some impact craters there are pools in which lakes once splashed.

Small craters disappeared over time, while larger ones retained signs of erosion. The water destroyed the rocks around 3.7 billion years ago. Layers of sediment are visible on the walls of the craters. There are also minerals that could have formed solely in the presence of water.

The animation presented in the following video shows what the Red Planet might have been like in those distant times when on its surface liquid water existed. Fast moving clouds symbolize the passage of time. A gradual transition from a warm and humid to a cold and dry climate is shown. The lakes dry up and freeze, and the sky changes color from soft blue to dirty pink:

It is not yet clear exactly is it long enough whether a favorable climate remained on Mars and whether life had time to arise on it during this time.

The earliest signs of earthly life presented in organic form chemical structure, discovered in rocks on the island of Greenland. These rocks were once on the seabed. Approximate age of the structure – 3.8 billion years, that is, after the formation of our planet, only 700 million years. No fossilized remains of life that date back to this period have yet been discovered.

Fossils of actually existing microorganisms, according to some estimates, 3.5 billion years. By that time, conditions favorable to the emergence of life had already disappeared on Mars.

Comparisons between the histories of the two planets should be made with caution, the researchers warn, as chemical composition The surfaces of Earth and Mars are different, as is their volcanic activity.

How did life begin on Earth?

The earth appeared approximately 4.5 -5 billion years ago from cosmic dust and at first it was a hot ball.

The ancestor of all creatures living on our planet was called Last universal common ancestor. He lived approximately 3.5-3.8 billion years ago. This ancestor cannot be considered the first living creature of our planet.

There are several hypotheses for the origin of life on our planet, including the spontaneous generation hypothesis and the bringing life from space, including from other planets, for example, from Mars.

According to one of the most popular versions, life on Earth appeared after it was enough liquid water and special climatic conditions developed.

The first living creatures were prokaryotes, single-celled creatures without a formed nucleus. These creatures looked like modern bacteria. Living organisms have evolved and become more complex over the course of many millions of years.

- 1000-600 million years ago there were already jellyfish, mollusks, echinoderms, polyps and flatworms on Earth.

Having appeared in the ancient ocean, some animals gradually began to move onto land, while others remained floating in the water. It happened 416-360 million years ago V Devonian period.

Our planet is about 4.5 billion years old. One day something happened that changed our Earth once and for all - life arose on the planet! Every person, every animal, every insect or flower owes its origin to the organism that gave rise to all the modern diversity of life on Earth - the protocell! Do you want to see our evolutionary path from cell to Homo sapiens? Here you go!

4.54 billion years ago, the Earth formed from an accretion disk orbiting the Sun...

Much of the Earth was molten due to active volcanism and frequent collisions with other space objects. It is believed that one of these large impacts led to the tilt of the Earth's axis and the formation of the Moon.

Over time, such cosmic bombardment ceased, allowing the planet to cool and form a solid crust.

Source: charter97.org

Volcanic degassing created the primordial atmosphere, but it had almost no oxygen and would have been toxic and unlivable for humans in the modern world.

The water delivered to the planet by comets and asteroids condensed into clouds and oceans. Water is full of chemical and organic elements. The earth finally became hospitable to life, and its earliest forms enriched the atmosphere with oxygen.

Source: charter97.org

Chemical atoms are combined in a precise and necessary sequence, creating a layer of genetic materials. Reproduction of such organisms required resources: energy, space and tiny amounts of matter, which soon became scarce, leading to competition and natural selection that selected those molecules that were more efficient at reproduction. Then DNA became the main reproducing molecule.

The archaic genome soon developed internal membranes that provided a stable physical and chemical environment for more favorable development later, creating the first Protocell on our planet!

Source: sunely-tales.livejournal.com

Passing from one generation to the next, genes encourage cells to reproduce, thus ensuring survival. And in the next 2 billion years these cells will the only form life on earth. But one day, a random action changed everything - two cells merged into one, combining their genes, and after that the cell cloned itself. This offspring had the genes of not one, but two cells - two parents. We called this accident sex. Sex provides variety. But not everything goes smoothly, and when cells multiply, their genes mix and divide internally. Cells mutate and the mutation becomes more complex. The difference in cells increases. And there are more and more such cells. Various types are formed. And the tree of life is divided into billions of species. But only one of which will lead to us...

Source: www.youtube.com

Mutation and diversity expand in the ocean, becoming larger and more complex and leading us to an 8-centimeter ancestor - and this is an aquatic worm. Yes, this is probably what we looked like 550 million years ago!

Source: www.youtube.com

Mutation creates a division of species into male and female feminine. We create more offspring, pass on more genes. But finding a partner is almost impossible when everyone around you is completely blind. In a sea of ​​absolute darkness, being able to see will give us a very important advantage. And nature's most amazing innovation begins to take shape. Several skin cells mutate. We can now distinguish light from dark, find more food, and better avoid predators. We began to live longer and produce more offspring. And very soon, creatures with light-sensitive cells dominate in number. Cells improve through mutation and countless generations. Natural selection begins to act, allowing all living beings to adapt in this world. And so our ancestors developed eyes.

Source: www.youtube.com

Now we need to draw conclusions from what we saw. And behind our eyes, a tiny number of nerve endings are grouped into one whole. They are no bigger than the head of a pin. One day it will become one of the most complex and amazing organs given by nature - the brain!

Source: www.youtube.com

So, 521 million years ago, Milokunmingia appeared, a fish-like creature only 2.8 cm long, which can make simple decisions and process simple information.

Source: www.archo-cheirus.com

But we are no longer alone in this underwater world...

Source: student.societyforscience.org

Source: www.bbc.com

Formation various types led to the existence of many other creatures, one of which was Anomalocaris. With a body length of up to 60 cm, this creature represented for us real threat and in order to survive, you need to mutate and adapt...

Source: ru.wikipedia.org

The jaws and teeth of Milokunmingia become stronger and stronger, and the body becomes covered with a shell. This is how the 30-centimeter armored fish Sarcopterygium appears.

Source: www.youtube.com

But staying in a world with too many predators becomes even more difficult. And the fish are saved from extinction in shallow waters, where predators can hardly reach them.

Source: www.nkj.ru

And here natural selection comes to our aid again. Thanks to millions of years of evolution and changes of thousands of generations, our bodies have adapted and we have done something that no fish has ever done - we inhaled air. The air penetrates into a new organ for us - the lungs. Now we are the amphibian Ichsthyostega. We can breathe both on land and under water, closing our throats and switching from lungs to gills and vice versa. Today we do not have gills, but the mechanism of their action still works in the form of spasms, which we call hiccups. Even 550 million years ago, thanks to atmospheric oxygen reserves, the ozone layer was formed. It blocks ultraviolet radiation, allowing organisms to escape to the ground. And then, 365 million years ago, Ichstyostega emerges from the water onto land. The ground is hot. Our skin is dried out by the sun's rays, and now finding food is very difficult for us.

Once again, natural selection helped adapt. Thick skin saved us from the scorching sun, and strong claws, which would one day become our nails, helped us move in difficult terrain. And we become Casineria, only 15 cm long.

Source: www.the-submarine.ru

We have already adapted to life on land, but the eggs we lay have not yet. They need a thicker shell so as not to dry out under the scorching sun. But the problem is that the male will not be able to fertilize eggs with a thick shell, but he is able to do this before the shell is formed - inside the female. Sex as we know it begins here. The result is a phenomenon - an embryo with all the necessary nutrients is sealed into an egg with a thick shell.

Source: evolution.powernet.ru

Sex has appeared in the best possible way increasing genetic diversity and maintaining our species. And about 320 million years ago, Casineria evolves into Anthracosaurus. With a body length of up to 2 meters and powerful teeth, almost nothing threatens it.

Source: animalsfoto.com

But the unexpected happened, and 250 million years ago, several thousand kilometers away, in distant Siberia, the earth split, and molten streams of lava rushed out from the bowels of the earth. Soon, hot lava covered the area equal to the area United States of America, and through cracks penetrated several hundred meters deep into the earth. This went on for almost half a million years. Trillions of tons of harmful carbon dioxide trap the sun's rays in the atmosphere. Temperatures soar to 100 degrees. All plants, herbivores and, finally, predators became extinct. Then 95% of all living organisms on our planet died. Very few managed to survive, among whom were us and the creatures that would soon turn into dinosaurs. When the fight for survival ended, the battle for supremacy began.

It's been 30 million years since eruptions killed 95% of life on earth. When the eruptions started, we were the size of a large monitor lizard. But now we are no bigger than cats, covered with fur, we are now Yuramaya. Over the course of several million years, we have become smaller, so that we are now harder to catch, and we are becoming nocturnal. Now we are even more difficult to notice, but we are cold and scared. The tiny muscles around the hair roots contract and thus prevent cold air from entering our body. That is why even today, when we are cold or scared, we get so-called goose bumps.

Dinosaurs are the most useful creatures we have ever encountered in the course of evolution. Thanks to them, we have very developed senses and brilliant brains. If it weren't for them, we would still be laying eggs. To protect their offspring from hungry dinosaurs, our ancestors now give birth to fully formed babies instead of leaving them to fend for themselves in eggs. And now we feed them milk. Sweat glands evolved into mammary glands. This is a very important period in our history of development from cell to human. The birth of a new class of creature, which in turn gave birth to more than four thousand species of different animals, from the smallest mouse to a huge whale, as well as you and me. This is the class mammals. Yuramaya coexisted with dinosaurs for almost 165 million years!

And no one knows how such a neighborhood could have ended if not for the well-known catastrophe. 65 million years ago, an asteroid (10 km in diameter) crashes into the earth in the Gulf of Mexico near the Yucatan Peninsula. The power of this explosion was 2 million times stronger than the most powerful thermonuclear Tsar Bomb!

And in order to escape the fire, smoke and ashes of fires, Yuramaya seeks refuge mainly underground, so that 64 million years ago evolution turned this animal into a 15-centimeter Purgatorius.

But new life begins to sprout from the ashes of destruction. 60 million years ago, fruits full of nutrients begin to ripen on the trees. The more fruits we eat, the longer we live. And we leave the earth for new life on the trees. For a new world we need a new body. We have come a long way from that very first cell and are finally beginning to acquire some resemblance to our species. And so, about 50 million years ago, we became the first in the class of mammalian primates - Anthropoids!

For more than 10 million years, extreme weather has changed the structure of the forest. The forests are getting smaller and food is now harder to find. And again natural selection intervenes. Our tail shrinks almost to the back, where it remains as a tailbone, and remains as a reminder of the days when we jumped between the trees. And now we no longer jump, we straighten up. Our arms become more flexible and longer. Temperature changes forever changed our ancestors, including us. 6 million years ago we are an ancient genus of hominids - Ardepithecus. We are 120 centimeters tall, weigh 40 kilograms and have a brain the size of an orange.

Our once dense tropical forest has thinned out. We can stand confidently on branches and hold on to them tightly, but in order to get more food, we need to let them go. And almost 4.5 million years ago - we take our first steps. Walking on our feet quickly leads us to food, which we can easily take with our freed hands.

We are learning quickly. Ardipithecus is smart enough to learn and remember. Walking is passed on from parents to children. Over the next 1.5 million years, our bodies develop and we can walk faster and longer.

But in Ardepithecus, the structure of the pelvis remains very narrow, and the birth of a fully formed fetus becomes almost impossible. Now children need to be born earlier, when the baby's head is small enough and the body is not yet fully formed. That is why we are one of the few of our kind who raise, feed and protect our children from problems for many years to come. And then 3.2 million years ago - we become Australopithecus!

Our brains are about the size of a grapefruit, and we now walk on two legs all the time. Natural selection helps us increase brain performance, such as by weakening the jaw muscles. Now the skull and jaws are freed from the rigid connection, which leads to inevitable growth of the brain, and it doubles in volume!

2.3 million years ago we evolved into Homo Habilis or Homo habilis!

We walk on two legs, we have large and developed brains, and we are a completely new creation.

Now, in order to get more meat from a killed animal, we need something sharp and some incredible incident helped us make the first tool out of stone! This is the key to a completely new door in our lives. Thanks to him, we will learn to cultivate soil, build cities, and one day we will even fly into space! Our fingers have become stronger. Today we can hold a mug or write with a pen because 2 million years ago the use of tools changed us and the course of our evolution...

The family tree of our species is a complex puzzle with many pieces missing. But 1.8 million ago, the missing piece found its place in this puzzle and Homo Erectus - Homo erectus - appeared on the scene!

We have learned to work together with other members of society. Thanks to the discovery of a way to make fire, our lives have changed. Protected from the fear of darkness, our extended family unites. By working and foraging together, these early communities received food more often, and of course lived longer. This is the advantage family life. And today, most of us call family the meaning of life.

Meat cooked over fire is much easier to chew. The powerful teeth at the base of our jaws that once helped us chew solid food now remain hidden there as wisdom teeth. In 35% of us they do not grow at all, as a sign that they have simply become unnecessary in the course of our evolution. By spending less energy on eating, our ancestors now had excess energy. Our brains grew to the size of a small volleyball and became 50% larger after the invention of cooking. And now our ancestors are looking for ways to communicate. Thanks to natural selection, our tongue changes its shape, goes deep into the mouth and, with the participation of hyaluronic acid, acquires the necessary shape, which helps our ancestors pronounce individual sounds... and finally words. We have acquired another tool - the ability to speak. Thus, after 3.5 billion years of evolution, Homo Sapiens - Homo sapiens - appeared 200 years ago!

Of course, there are many questions in the history of our evolution. The mere fact that we were able to find at least some evidence of evolution among millions of square kilometers is already good, but most of it is lost forever!

But there is one thing we should not doubt. The desire to survive has turned us from one of the most primitive forms of life into Homo sapiens! Armed with tools, the ability to communicate and with superior intelligence, we conquered every continent. We developed and adapted to a new environment, new difficulties until we became the undisputed rulers of this World!

This is incredible, but if we turned back time to the very beginning, our chances of surviving would be almost zero. Because if, in the course of evolution, even one small particle, one successful mutation or one predator had changed, we would not be here to piece together the pieces of this incredible 3.5 billion year history of humanity!

For a more detailed and fascinating version of human evolution, see here!

Bones of dinosaurs and amazing extinct animals have been found in different eras human history. In the absence of science, legends about giants or dragons were formed from the bones found. Only the main stages of the development of life on Earth could be studied from paleontological finds. modern people with the development of science.

Earth Education

Our planet was formed about 4.5 billion years ago from star dust and solid particles. As gravity increased, the Earth began to attract debris and rocks from space, which fell to the surface, gradually warming the planet. Over time, the top layer became denser and began to cool. The hot mantle maintains heat until now, preventing the Earth from turning into a block of ice.

For a long time the planet was in a lifeless state. The atmosphere was filled with various gases and did not contain oxygen. Due to the release of large amounts of steam from the bowels of the Earth and gravity, dense clouds began to form. Intense rains contributed to the emergence of the World Ocean, in which life originated.

Rice. 1. Formation of the Earth.

Oxygen appeared in the atmosphere with the appearance of the first photosynthetic plants.

Stages of development

Life on Earth is associated with geological eons and eras. An eon is a large segment of geological history that unites several eras. In turn, eras are divided into periods. Each era is characterized by individual development of the animal and plant world, which often depended on climate, condition earth's crust, underground activities.

Rice. 2. Eras of the geological history of the Earth.

More detailed description eons is presented in the table of the main stages of the development of life on Earth.

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Eon	Era	Period	Characteristic
Katarhey			It began about 4.5 billion years ago and ended 4 billion years ago. Sedimentary rocks are unknown. The surface of the planet is lifeless and dotted with craters
			Lasted from 4 to 2.5 billion years ago. At the end of the Eoarchean, the first unicellular organisms appeared - anaerobic bacteria. Formation of carbonate deposits and minerals. Formation of continents. Oxygen is produced in the Neoarchaean by cyanobacteria
	Paleoarchaean
	Mesoarchean
	Neoarchaean
Proterozoic	Paleoproterozoic		The period is from 2.5 to 1.6 billion years ago. More advanced cyanobacteria produce large number oxygen, which leads to an oxygen catastrophe. Oxygen becomes destructive for anaerobic organisms. The first aerobic eukaryotes arise in stateria
		Orosirium
		Staterius
	Mesoproterozoic		Lasted 1.6-1 billion years ago. Sedimentary rocks are formed. In ectasia, the first multicellular organisms appear - red algae. In sthenia, eukaryotes arise that reproduce sexually
	Neoproterozoic		It began 1 billion years ago and ended 542 million years ago. Severe glaciation of the earth's crust. The first multicellular soft-bodied animals—vendobionts—appear in the Ediacaran region.
		Cryogenium
		Ediacaran
Phanerozoic	Paleozoic		Lasted from 541 to 290 million years ago. At the beginning of the era, species diversity of living organisms appears. An extinction event occurred between the Ordovician and Silurian, as a result of which more than 60% of living beings disappeared, but already in the Devonian, life began to develop new ecological niches. Horsetails, ferns, gymnosperms, a large number of lobe-finned fish, the first vertebrate land animals, insects, spiders, and ammonites appeared. At the end of the Devonian, extinction also occurs. In the Carboniferous, reptiles, amphibians, mollusks, bryozoans, arthropods, and cartilaginous fish appear. During the Permian period, beetles, lacewing insects, and predatory animals appeared
			It began 252 million years ago and ended 66 million years ago. At the junction of the Permian and Triassic, the largest mass extinction occurs, as a result of which 90% of sea ​​creatures and 70% terrestrial. In the Jurassic period, the first flowering plants appeared, displacing gymnosperms. Reptiles and insects occupy a dominant position. During the Cretaceous period there was a cooling and the extinction of most plants. This leads to the death of herbivores and then predatory reptiles. The first birds and mammals take their place
	Cenozoic	Paleogene	It began 66 million years ago and continues to this day. Variety of birds, plants, insects. Whales appear sea ​​urchins, cephalopods, elephants, horses. In the Anthropocene - the current period - about 2 million years ago the first people (Homo) arose