The bipedal hominin
4 million years – 4 metres Ardipithecus ramidus wanders on two feet in Africa. North America has horned rodents that resemble ground hogs. Kuva: Ardipithecus… Read More »The bipedal hominin
4 million years – 4 metres Ardipithecus ramidus wanders on two feet in Africa. North America has horned rodents that resemble ground hogs. Kuva: Ardipithecus… Read More »The bipedal hominin
6 million years – 6 meters The rise of the bedrock at the Strait of Gibraltar and the fluctuations of the sea-level isolate Mediterranean. As… Read More »Eastern Africa dries up into savannah
10 million years – 10 metres The Great Orion Nebula is formed. It would have been first seen as a large black splotch on the… Read More »The Orion nebula
25 million years – 25 metres Open grasslands are common. There are plenty of sabre-toothed carnivores around. Flowering plants evolve and speciate. Image: Eusmilus, a… Read More »Grasslands and sabreteeth
34 million years – 34 metres The isthmus that connects South America and Antarctica breaks. The cold ocean-current circling Antarctica starts. Antarctica starts to cool… Read More »Climate starts to cool down
40 million years – 40 meters The Alps rise as Africa collides with Europe. The main groups of mammals and over half of the current… Read More »The Alps rise
48 million years – 48 meters The climate is very warm and the ocean levels are still high. The Baltics and Finland are intermittently under… Read More »Warm climate
60 million years – 60 metres Placental mammals and marsupials diversify. The first insectivores, primates and rodents evolve. Image: The placental mammal ancestor according to… Read More »Mammals diversify
66 million years – 66 metres An asteroid, with a diameter of about 10 km, hits the Yucatan peninsula. There is a massive Deccan flood… Read More »The destruction of the dinosaurs
70 million years – 70 meters The atmospheric carbondioxide content and the average temperature are high. The oceans are at their maximum height. Most of… Read More »High sea levels and tyrannosaurs