Earth Before Dinosaurs Was Terrifying
Primordia
612,115 views
Travel back to a time long before dinosaurs—when Earth looked like an alien planet. In this documentary-style journey, we explore the earliest chapters of life on our planet, from iron-rich red oceans and toxic skies to the strange multicellular organisms of the Ediacaran seas. Witness the Cambrian Explosion, when evolution accelerated and new body plans appeared almost overnight. Follow life’s bold move onto land during the Devonian, through swamp worlds filled with giant insects, and into the Permian catastrophe that nearly erased everything. This is the forgotten history that shaped the world dinosaurs would eventually inherit.
20 Comments
We always hear about earth having the right mixture of building blocks, but it wasn’t always the case and life found a way to begin and thrive. It almost died out, but it began to thrive again after a period.
That’s should be enough to say that life will have found a way on other planets out there. The likelihood of it being able to travel the universe if slim, but our bringing should be proof it’s out there.
I just subscribed to your channel.
Earth Before Dinosaurs Was Terrifying
Primordia
612,115 views
Travel back to a time long before dinosaurs—when Earth looked like an alien planet. In this documentary-style journey, we explore the earliest chapters of life on our planet, from iron-rich red oceans and toxic skies to the strange multicellular organisms of the Ediacaran seas. Witness the Cambrian Explosion, when evolution accelerated and new body plans appeared almost overnight. Follow life’s bold move onto land during the Devonian, through swamp worlds filled with giant insects, and into the Permian catastrophe that nearly erased everything. This is the forgotten history that shaped the world dinosaurs would eventually inherit.
SECTION 1: EARLY EARTH AND ATMOSPHERE
Zahnle, K., et al. (2007). Emergence of a Habitable Planet. Space Science Reviews.
Lyons, T. W., et al. (2014). The rise of oxygen in Earth’s early ocean and atmosphere. Nature.
NASA Astrobiology Institute. Life in the Archean: Environmental constraints.
SECTION 2: STROMATOLITES AND OXYGENATION
Nutman, A. P., et al. (2016). Rapid emergence of life: 3,700-million-year-old microbial structures. Nature.
Holland, H. D. (2006). The oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B.
Knoll, A. H. (2015). Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years. Princeton University Press.
SECTION 3: THE EDIACARAN PERIOD
Xiao, S. and Laflamme, M. (2009). On the eve of animal radiation: Ediacara biota. Trends in Ecology and Evolution.
Shen, B., et al. (2008). The Avalon Explosion: Evolution of Ediacara Morphospace. Science.
SECTION 4: THE CAMBRIAN EXPLOSION
Erwin, D. H. and Valentine, J. W. (2013). The Cambrian Explosion: Construction of Animal Biodiversity.
Conway Morris, S. (1998). The Crucible of Creation: The Burgess Shale and the Rise of Animals.
Marshall, C. R. (2006). Explaining the Cambrian Explosion of Animals. Earth and Planetary Sciences.
SECTION 5: LAND TRANSITION AND TIKTAALIK
Daeschler, E. B., et al. (2006). A Devonian tetrapod-like fish and the evolution of the tetrapod body plan. Nature.
Clack, J. A. (2012). Gaining Ground: The Origin and Evolution of Tetrapods. Indiana University Press.
SECTION 6: CARBONIFEROUS GIGANTISM
Clapham, M. E. and Karr, B. L. (2012). Environmental controls on insect body size. PNAS.
Beerling, D. J. (2007). The Emerald Planet: How plants changed Earth's history. Oxford University Press.
SECTION 7: THE PERMIAN-TRIASSIC EXTINCTION
Burgess, S. D. and Bowring, S. A. (2015). High-precision timeline of the end-Permian extinction. Science Advances.
Penn, J. L., et al. (2018). Temperature-dependent hypoxia and the end-Permian marine extinction. Science.
Benton, M. J. (2005). When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time.