Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
Sources – Timeline
We thank the following expert for advice on some visual and content decisions:
Prof. Jochen J. Brocks
Professor of Geobiology / Research School of Earth Sciences,
The Australian National University
DISCLAIMER: 1 second in the video covers around 1.5 million years, so we had to compress and simplify a couple things to create a smooth viewing experience. The aim of this video is not to provide an encyclopedic overview over events in Earth's history, but to give you a more intuitive impression about how much our planet has changed and how much it has already seen before we humans even entered the stage.
Hadean 4.5 - 4 Ga
Early Earth in Hadean and Archean
Roerdink, D. et al (2020): The emergence of subaerial crust and onset of weathering 3.7 billion years ago
Wilde, S.A. et al (2001): Evidence from detrital zircons for the existence of continental crust and oceans on the Earth 4.4 Gyr ago. Nature, Vol. 409
http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~valley/zircons/Wilde2001Nature.pdf
Elkins-Tanton, L.T. (2011): Formation of early water oceans on rocky planets. Astrophysics and Space Science, Vol. 332
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10509-010-0535-3
Catling, D.C. & Zahnle, K.J. (2020): The Archean atmosphere. Science Advances, Vol. 6 (9)
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aax1420#sec-2
Theia
NASA (2022): Collision May Have Formed the Moon in Mere Hours, Simulations Reveal
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/lunar-origins-simulations
Canup, R. M. et al. (2021): Origin of the Moon.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.02045
Late Heavy Bombardment
Worsham, E. A. & Kleine, T. (2021): Late accretionary history of Earth and Moon preserved in lunar impactites
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abh2837
Eoarchean 4 - 3.6 Ga
Catling, D.C. & Zahnle, K.J. (2020): The Archean atmosphere. Science Advances, Vol. 6 (9)
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aax1420#sec-2
Dong, Junjie et al. (2021): Constraining the Volume of Earth's Early Oceans With a Temperature-Dependent Mantle Water Storage Capacity Model. AGU Advances, Vol. 2 (1)
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020AV000323
Early life
Knoll, A. H. & Nowak, M. A. (2017): The timetable of evolution. Science advances, Vol. 3 (5)
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1603076
Caliari, A. et al. (2021): The requirement of cellularity for abiogenesis. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, Vol. 19
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2001037021001422#s0015
Lepot, K. (2020): Signatures of early microbial life from the Archean (4 to 2.5 Ga) eon. Earth-Science Reviews, Vol. 209
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825220303421
Javaux, E.J. (2019): Challenges in evidencing the earliest traces of life. Nature, Vol. 572
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1436-4
Hydrothermal vents
NASA (2020): Simulating Early Ocean Vents Shows Life’s Building Blocks Form Under Pressure
Lepot, K. (2020): Signatures of early microbial life from the Archean (4 to 2.5 Ga) eon. Earth-Science Reviews, Vol. 209
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825220303421
Ebisuzaki, T. & Maruyama, S. (2017): Nuclear geyser model of the origin of life: Driving force to promote the synthesis of building blocks of life. Geoscience Frontiers, Vol. 8 (2)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987116301360
Paleoarchean 3.6 - 3.2 Ga
Stromatolites and photosynthesis
Hickman-Lewis, K. (2023): Advanced two- and three-dimensional insights into Earth's oldest stromatolites (ca. 3.5 Ga): Prospects for the search for life on Mars. Geology, Vol. 51 (1)
Allwood, A. C. et al. (2006): Stromatolite reef from the Early Archaean era of Australia. Nature, Vol. 441
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature04764
Javaux, J. E. (2019): Challenges in evidencing the earliest traces of life. Nature, Vol. 572
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1436-4
Plate tectonics and coverage of oceans
Mitchell, R.N. & Jing, X. (2022): Paleoarchean plate motion: Not so fast. PNAS, Vol. 120 (1)
https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2218383120
Bradley, K. et al. (2015): Records of geomagnetism, climate, and tectonics across a Paleoarchean erosion surface. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 419
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X15001454
Wang, W. et al. (2021): Global-scale emergence of continental crust during the Mesoarchean–early Neoarchean. Geology, Vol. 50 (2)
Brenner, A.R. et al. (2020): Paleomagnetic evidence for modern-like plate motion velocities at 3.2 Ga. Science Advances, Vol. 6 (17)
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aaz8670
Length of day and Earth’s spin
Denis, C. et al. (2002): Despinning of the earth rotation in the geological past and geomagnetic paleointensities. Journal of Geodynamics, Vol. 34 (5)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264370702000492?via%3Dihub
Mesoarchean 3.2 - 2.8 Ga
van Hunen, J. & Moyen, J.-F. (2012): Archean Subduction: Fact or Fiction? Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Vol. 40
Smithies, R.H. et al. (2007): The Mesoarchean emergence of modern-style subduction. Gondwana Research, Vol. 11 (1-2)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1342937X06000669
Atmosphere and temperature
Catling, D.C. & Zahnle, K.J. (2020): The Archean Atmosphere. Science Advances, Vol. 6 (9)
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aax1420
Guy, B.M. et al. (2012): A multiple sulfur and organic carbon isotope record from non-conglomeratic sedimentary rocks of the Mesoarchean Witwatersrand Supergroup, South Africa. Precambrian Research, Vol. 216–219
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030192681200160X
Ocean temperature
There is no definitive value for the ocean temperature and there are studies mentioning different values. We went with a value that is covering the reported range across a few studies.
Knauth, L.R. & Lowe, D.R. (2003): High Archean climatic temperature inferred from oxygen isotope geochemistry of cherts in the 3.5 Ga Swaziland Supergroup, South Africa. 2003. GSA Bulletin, Vol. 115 (5)
Choi, C. (2017): How Hot Were the Oceans When Life First Evolved? Astrobiology at Nasa
https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/how-hot-were-the-oceans-when-life-first-evolved/
Hren, M.T. et al. (2009): Oxygen and hydrogen isotope evidence for a temperate climate 3.42 billion years ago. Nature, Vol. 462(7270)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19907491/
Early life
Javaux, E.J. (2019): Challenges in evidencing the earliest traces of life. Nature, Vol. 572
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1436-4
Neoarchean 2.8 - 2.5 Ga
Knoll, A. H. & Nowak, M. A. (2017): The timetable of evolution. Science advances, Vol. 3 (5)
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1603076
Lepot, K. (2020): Signatures of early microbial life from the Archean (4 to 2.5 Ga) eon. Earth-Science Reviews, Vol. 209
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825220303421?via%3Dihub
Wang, W. et al. (2021): Global-scale emergence of continental crust during the Mesoarchean–early Neoarchean. Geology, Vol. 50 (2)
Brenner, A.R. et al. (2020): Paleomagnetic evidence for modern-like plate motion velocities at 3.2 Ga. Science Advances, Vol. 6 (17)
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aaz8670
Mole, D.R. et al. (2021): The formation of Neoarchean continental crust in the south-east Superior Craton by two distinct geodynamic processes. Precambrian Research, Vol. 356
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301926821000140
Stueeken, E. et al. (2017): Environmental niches and metabolic diversity in Neoarchean lakes. Geobiology, Vol. 15 (6)
John Nicart. Neoarchean Era. 2023
Siderian 2.5 - 2.3 Ga
The Great Oxidation Event and glaciation
Lyons, T. W. et al. (2014):The rise of oxygen in Earth’s early ocean and atmosphere. Nature, Vol. 506
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13068
Sperling, E. A. et al. (2015): The Ecological Physiology of Earth’s Second Oxygen Revolution. The Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, Vol. 46
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110512-135808
Knoll, A. H. & Nowak, M. A. (2017): The timetable of evolution. Science advances, Vol. 3 (5)
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1603076
Kopp, R. E. et al. (2005): The Paleoproterozoic snowball Earth: A climate disaster triggered by the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis. PNAS, Vol. 105 (32)
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0504878102
Kurucz, S. et al. (2021): Earth’s first snowball event: Evidence from the early Paleoproterozoic Huronian Supergroup. Precambrian Research, Vol. 365
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301926821003363
Bekker, A. (2014): Huronian Glaciation. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283500760_Huronian_Glaciation
Rhyacian 2.3 - 2.05 Ga
Chen, S.-C., et al. (2020): The Great Oxidation Event expanded the genetic repertoire of arsenic metabolism and cycling. PNAS, Vol. 117 (19)
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2001063117
Fru, E.C. et al. (2016): Arsenic stress after the Proterozoic glaciations. Scientific Reports, Vol 5
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep17789
Orosirian 2.05 Ga - 1.8 Ga
Allen, N.H. (2022): A Revision of the Formation Conditions of the Vredefort Crater. JGR Planets, Vol. 127 (8)
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022JE007186
Roberts, N.M.W. (2013): The boring billion? – Lid tectonics, continental growth and environmental change associated with the Columbia supercontinent. Geoscience Frontiers, Vol. 4 (6)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987113000807
Zhu, Z. et al. (2022): The temporal distribution of Earth's supermountains and their potential link to the rise of atmospheric oxygen and biological evolution. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 580
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X22000279
Statherian 1.8 - 1.6 Ga
Bentridi, S.-E. et al. (2011): Inception and evolution of Oklo natural nuclear reactors. Comptes Rendus Geoscience, Vol. 343
https://www.academie-sciences.fr/pdf/cr/CRGeo_article.pdf
Mukherjee, I. et al. (2018): The Boring Billion, a slingshot for Complex Life on Earth. Scientific Reports, Vol. 8 (1)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-22695-x
Robert, N. M. W. (2013): The boring billion? – Lid tectonics, continental growth and environmental change associated with the Columbia supercontinent. Geoscience Frontiers
Vol. 4 (6)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987113000807
Calymmian 1.6 - 1.4 Ga
Eukaryotes emerge
Porter, S. M. (2020): Insights into eukaryogenesis from the fossil record. Interface Focus, Vol. 10 (4)
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsfs.2019.0105
Lamb, D. M. (2009): Evidence for eukaryotic diversification in the ∼1800 million-year-old Changzhougou Formation, North China. Precambrian Research, Vol. 173
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301926809001089
Brocks, J. et al. (2023): Lost world of complex life and the late rise of the eukaryotic crown. Nature, Vol. 618
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06170-w
Fungi-like organisms
Hyde, K.D. et al. (2017): The ranking of fungi: a tribute to David L. Hawksworth on his 70th birthday. Fungal Diversity, Vol. 84 (4)
Singh, V.K. et al. (2019): A New Record of Acanthomorphic Acritarch Tappania Yin from the Early Mesoproterozoic Saraipali Formation, Singhora Group, Chhattisgarh Supergroup, India and its Biostratigraphic Significance. Journal of the Geological Society of India, Vol. 94
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12594-019-1343-1
Brown, M. (2020): Plate Tectonics and the Archean Earth. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Vol. 48
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-earth-081619-052705
O’Neill, C. et al. (2015): Earth’s punctuated tectonic evolution: cause and effect. Continent Formation Through Time
Boyer, J. (2019): Calymmian Period
https://sites.google.com/site/paleoplant/geologic/proterozoic/mesoproterozoic/calymmian
Ectasian 1.4 Ga - 1.2 Ga
Biggin, A.J. et al. (2015): Palaeomagnetic field intensity variations suggest Mesoproterozoic inner-core nucleation. Nature, Vol 526
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature15523
Stenian 1.2 Ga - 1.0 Ga
First evidence of sexual reproduction
Butterfield, N. J. (2000): Bangiomorpha pubescens n. gen., n. sp.: implications for the evolution of sex, multicellularity, and the Mesoproterozoic/Neoproterozoic radiation of eukaryotes. Paleobiology, Vol. 26 (3)
Gibson, T. M. et al. (2017): Precise age of Bangiomorpha pubescens dates the origin of eukaryotic photosynthesis. Geology, Vol. 46 (2)
Tonian 1.0 Ga - 720 Ma
First single-celled predator
Knoll A. (2014) Paleobiological perspectives on early eukaryotic evolution. Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology, Vol. 6 (1)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24384569/
Britannica. Tonian Period. Retrieved November 2023.
https://www.britannica.com/science/Tonian-Period
Cryogenian 720 - 635 Ma
Cryogenian ice ages
Song, H. et al. (2023): Mid-latitudinal habitable environment for marine eukaryotes during the waning stage of the Marinoan snowball glaciation. Nature Communications, Vol. 14
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-37172-x
Zarsky, J.D. et al. (2022): Cryogenian Glacial Habitats as a Plant Terrestrialisation Cradle – The Origin of the Anydrophytes and Zygnematophyceae Split. Frontiers in Plant Science, Vol. 12
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.735020/full#B54
Ediacaran 635 Ma - 539 Ma
Ediacaran biota
Darroch S et al. (2018): Ediacaran Extinction and Cambrian Explosion
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016953471830140X
Narbonne, G., et al. (2009): Reconstructing a lost world: Ediacaran rangeomorphs from Spaniard's Bay, Newfoundland. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/abs/reconstructing-a-lost-world-ediacaran-rangeomorphs-from-spaniards-bay-newfoundland/EC8A994CAE4CBA8A162336221EC5EE5C
Gondwana
Joseph G. Meert and Bruce S. Lieberman. The Neoproterozoic assembly of Gondwana and its relationship to the Ediacaran–Cambrian radiation. 2008.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1342937X07001360
Cambrian 539 - 485 Ma
Cambrian Explosion
Darroch, S. A. F.et al. (2018): Ediacaran Extinction and Cambrian Explosion
https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347(18)30140-X
Zhang, X. & Shu, D. (2021): Current understanding on the Cambrian Explosion: questions and answers. Paläontologische Zeitschrift, Vol. 95
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12542-021-00568-5#Sec10
Dahl, T.W. & Arens, S.K.M. (2020): The impacts of land plant evolution on Earth's climate and oxygenation state – An interdisciplinary review. Chemical Geology, Vol. 547
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/333604636.pdf
Silurian 444 - 419 Ma
Dahl, T.W. & Arens, S.K.M. (2020): The impacts of land plant evolution on Earth's climate and oxygenation state – An interdisciplinary review. Chemical Geology, Vol. 547
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/333604636.pdf
Kenrick, P. & Crane, P.R. (1997): The origin and early evolution of
plants on land. Nature, Vol. 389
https://www.nature.com/articles/37918
Devonian 419 - 359 Ma
Tiktaalik
Stewart, A.T. et al. (2022): A new elpistostegalian from the Late Devonian of the Canadian Arctic. Nature, Vol. 608
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04990-w
Dahl, T.W. & Arens, S.K.M. (2020): The impacts of land plant evolution on Earth's climate and oxygenation state – An interdisciplinary review. Chemical Geology, Vol. 547
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/333604636.pdf
Carboniferous 359 - 299 Ma
Coal
Hibbett, D. et al. (2016): Climate, decay, and the death of the coal forests. Current Biology, Vol. 26
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982216000646
Wilson, J.P. et al. (2017): Dynamic Carboniferous tropical forests: new views of plant function and potential for physiological forcing of climate. New Phytologist, Vol. 215 (4)
https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.14700
Nelsen, M. P. et al. (2016): Delayed fungal evolution did not cause the Paleozoic peak in coal production. PNAS, Vol. 113 (9)
https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1517943113
Permian 299 Ma - 252 Ma
Mass extinction
Barnosky, A. D. et al. (2011): Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived? Nature, Vol. 471
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature09678
Rothman, D. H. et al. (2014): Methanogenic burst in the end-Permian carbon cycle. PNAS, Vol. 111 (15)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3992638/
Pangea
Britannica (2023): Pangea
https://www.britannica.com/place/Pangea
Scotese, C.R. & Langford, R.P. (1995): Pangea and the Paleogeography of the Permian. The Permian of Northern Pangea
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-78593-1_1
Jurassic 201 - 145 Ma
Brusatte, S.L. et al. (2008): Superiority, Competition, and Opportunism in the Evolutionary Radiation of Dinosaurs. Science, Vol. 321 (5895)
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1161833
Cretaceous 145 - 66 Ma
Keller, G. (2008): Cretaceous climate, volcanism, impacts, and biotic effects. Cretaceous Research, Vol. 29 (5-6)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195667108000566
Paleogene 66 - 23 Ma
Lyson, T. R. et al. (2019): Exceptional continental record of biotic recovery after the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction. Science, Vol. 366
Barnosky, A. D. et al. (2011): Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived? Nature, Vol. 471
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature09678
Keller, G. (2008): Cretaceous climate, volcanism, impacts, and biotic effects. Cretaceous Research, Vol. 29 (5-6)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195667108000566
Neogene 23 - 2.6 Ma
Britannica (retrieved 2023): Hominin evolution
https://www.britannica.com/science/Quaternary/Hominin-evolution
Quaternary 2.6 - 0
Hublin et al. (2017): New fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and the pan-African origin of Homo sapiens. Nature, Vol. 546
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature22336?sf86030179=1