ANP201 Geology - Fossil Record o Reveals events that we...

 Fossil Record
o Reveals events that we would never know about
 E.g., North American primates
o Intermediate forms (“missing links”) shows us how modern groups got the way
they are
 Ex: Lucy, Chimps
o Provides temporal framework for evolution
 Geological time is vast, we experience only an instant of Earth History
 If the age of earth(4.6 billion years) were condensed into one year
o Jan 1 – Earth born
o Early Feb – oldest known rocks formed
o Late mar – first primitive life formed
o Mid nov – first complex life with shells or skeletons formed
o Late nov – first land animals
o Dec 25 – Extinction of the dinosaurs (earliest primates)
o Dec 31 – Humans evolved in the evening
 Fossil Record of life
o First dinosaurs – Triassic Period of Mesozoic era
o First primates – tertiary period of Cenozoic era
 What is the “fossil record”
o Rocks
 Igneous
 Melting of rocks in hot, deep crust and upper mantle
 Crystallization (solidification of magma)
 Sedimentary
 Weathering and erosion of rocks exposed at surface
 Deposition, burial and lithification
 Metamorphic rocks
