All Eras
Life · Era
Complex Life
2.5 Bya – 66 Mya
Multicellular life, the Cambrian explosion, and the age of dinosaurs.
Date source not yet attached to this catalogue record.
Show in earlier-history viewComparison uses the human-history calendar.
Key events
2.1 billion years ago
Eukaryotes Emerge
Complex cells with nuclei appear.
1.5 billion years ago
Multicellular Life
Organisms made of many cells working together.
541 million years ago
Cambrian Explosion
A sudden diversification of animal life — nearly all modern phyla appear.
470 million years ago
First Land Plants
Plants colonize land.
375 million years ago
First Vertebrates on Land
Tetrapods evolve from lobe-finned fish.
252 million years ago
Permian–Triassic Extinction
Earth's greatest mass extinction — 96% of marine species vanish.
230 million years ago
Dinosaurs Rise
Dinosaurs begin their 165-million-year reign.
225 million years ago
First Mammals
Small shrew-like mammals appear.
66 million years ago
Chicxulub Asteroid — Dinosaur Extinction
A 10-km asteroid ends the age of dinosaurs.
Era Overview
Period2.5 Bya – 66 Mya
Events and overlapping lifetimes are paginated below.
ScaleLife
Historical Guide
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