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According to the fossil record how many years ago did life first seem to appear on Earth?
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
The Cambrian Explosion, a period between about 540 and 530 million years ago when many major animal groups appeared in the fossil record. This is when animals first developed hard shells and skeletons, so they became much more easily fossilised.
Nobody is quite sure what caused the Cambrian Explosion, but increased oxygen levels in the air after the melting of a huge ice age around 600 million years ago may have led to an increase in the size of animals in the oceans; in turn they developed skeletons and shells to support their larger bodies. The evolution of predators may have inspired prey animals to develop shells, as well.
We do have fossils before the Cambrian Explosion, but these are simple, soft-bodied, small and rare, so the origins of animals are still shrouded in mystery.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
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What are two things the paleontologists can learn from fossils?
1. When that animal/plant lived. 2.What killed that animal/plant.
Do fossil records help to date fossils?
Fossil records contain radiation, and the older the fossil is, the less radiation it gives off. Scientists study how much radiation is in the fossil record, and they find out how old the earth is.
What does the fossil record reveal about new species of organisms?
They evolved over time from older species.
Which statement explains something that the fossil record indicates?
The fossil record tells us what types, kinds, and numbers of organisms may have lived in the past, as well as what they ate, what age they lived in, how they moved, where they lived, Their activities, how they breathed, how they reproduced, their appearance, the climate they lived in, how they died, their lifespan, and what led to their evolution and their extinction.
Why is the fossil record complete?
No, it doesn't. consider for a moment that about 98% of all life on the planet is extinct. Now consider that the conditions necessary to produce fossils does not exist everywhere. You have a clue to why we do not have a complete, or even a miniscule record of the history of life on Earth.
When did modern humans appear on earth according to fossil records?
According to the fossil records, the modern humans did appear on earth more than 130,000 years ago.
How long have homo sapiens been on earth according to fossil record?
Homo sapiens have been on Earth for approximately 300,000 years according to the fossil record. This time frame is based on archaeological and anthropological evidence of early human remains found in different regions around the world.
How many years did dinosaurs roam the earth according to fossil record?
I don't know by fossil record but I have a book called walking with the dinosaurs and it said 220 million years ago
In general the first mammals of any group to appear in the fossil record?
resembled dogs and cats
What is a record fossil?
A fossil record is a historical sequence of life indicated by fossils found in layers of Earth's crust.
What does the fossil record about the evolution of life on Earth?
years
What does the rock and fossil record represents?
The history of the Earth and the history of life on Earth.
What does the lack of a fossil record for some of the earth's history mean to scientists?
that the fossil are oder then what we think
What the fossil record reveal about the evolution of life on earth?
years
What does the fossil record reveal about the evolution of the life on Earth?
years
What does the fossil record reveal about the evolution life on Earth?
years
The fossil record indicates that Earth has experienced?
5 mass extinctions
