A previous post outlined the rationale behind using (predominantly) the New Scientist evolution of life website but (a) not all the TimePoints from that site are in the default TimeLine and (b) not all of the TimePoints in the TimeLine are from that site. So, how did we choose what to put in?
Because we have not yet rolled out customised TimeLines, we wanted something that would be reasonably flexible. We have therefore erred on the side of having too many points, rather than too few. (As outlined in the “How to use MapTime” post, TimePoints can be hidden.) We also wanted a reasonable spread of points, although some important events clearly cluster more than others. Finally, because it is intended as an educational tool, there is a bit of a human bias in this timeline, particularly for the more recent events.
Although MapTime is not currently under active development, we would be happy to add additional TimePoints that would be of use. There are some others on the site, in addition to the Evolving Earth TimePoints and TimeLine.
The TimePoints
The Organic Evolution TimeLine has the following TimePoints. Note that the divergence of Great Apes from gibbons (ca. 20 Mya) was added today, as there was a bit of gap following the K/T Extinction 65 Mya.
- 2012 AD, MapTime (Destination)
- 1989 AD, Cold War ends
- 1945 AD, Hiroshima
- 1776 AD, American Independence
- 5 kya, Writing
- 5.5 kya, Bronze Age
- 35 kya, Cave art
- 72 kya, Clothing/jewellery
- 195 kya, Homo sapiens appears
- 1.6 mya, Use of fire
- 1.8 mya, Out of Africa
- 2.5 mya, Stone tools
- 5.8 mya, Bipedal walking
- 6 mya, Humans diverge fromcChimps
- 20 mya, Great Apes diverge from gibbons
- 65 mya, K/T Extinction
- 70 mya, Grass
- 130 mya, Flowers
- 150 mya, Archaeopteryx (early birds)
- 180 mya, Mammals
- 200 mya, Warm bloodedness
- 250 mya, Permian Extinction
- 397 mya, Tetrapods
- 400 mya, Insects and woody plants
- 465 mya, Land Plants
- 500 mya, Arthropod crawls onto land
- 535 mya, Cambrian Explosion
- 540 mya, Chordates
- 630 mya, Bilateral Symmetry
- 900 mya, Multicellularity
- 2 bya, First Eukaryotic Cells
- 2.15 bya, Photosynthesis
- 2.3 bya, Snowball Earth
- 2.4 bya, Oxygen Atmosphere
- 3.5 bya, Single Celled Life
- 4.54 bya, Formation of Earth (Start Location)
