Category: Waypoints

Biolo­gical evol­u­tion replaces chem­ical evol­u­tion 500 million years after Earth is formed. This marks the begin­ning of the devel­op­ment of life.

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Precurs­ors of cyanobac­teria (formerly called blue-green algae) are the first cells whose traces can be detec­ted in old rocks. Thanks to their cell membrane they were able to regu­late the exchange of substances and energy with their environment.

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Cells are devel­op­ing the abil­ity to produce energy from sunlight ever more effi­ciently. Over millions of years, the oxygen produced leads to the form­a­tion of water insol­uble metal salts in the oceans. This results in the signi­fic­ant band­ing layers which are being mined today.

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Towards the end of this age, cells appear for the first time which, unlike bacteria, have a real cell nucleus in which their genetic mater­ial is stored in a more protec­ted way.

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The first fossils of clusters of inter­con­nec­ted cells date from this period. By connect­ing, they lay the found­a­tion for the divi­sion of labour among cells and the devel­op­ment of more complex living beings.

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The oxygen content in the sea rises sharply, and within 5–10 million years most of the blue­prints for the creatures that still exist today are created. Fish are the first creatures with an internal skel­eton and flex­ible spine.

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The first plants and insects conquer the land and many new species emerge. A trop­ical climate prevails, but the plants funda­ment­ally change it: they bind carbon diox­ide (a green­house gas) from the atmo­sphere, the temper­at­ure on earth drops. At the same time, the oxygen content of the atmo­sphere increases.

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At the begin­ning of the Silurian, verteb­rates develop movable jaws that allow them to grasp, hold and chop food. This opens up completely new feed­ing possib­il­it­ies for the jawed animals.

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Multiple rapid climate changes and lower oxygen levels in the water lead to the third major extinc­tion. Amphi­bi­ans — verteb­rates that can breathe air and live on land — have opened up the land as a new habitat.

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Plants form the stable substance lignin as a support­ing frame­work and for protec­tion. This mech­an­ical pulp enables plants to grow tall.

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