The Earth forms from a cloud of gas and dust around the young sun.
The first simple, self-replicating cells arise in the oceans.
Photosynthesizing cyanobacteria fill the atmosphere with oxygen.
More complex cells with a nucleus and organelles emerge.
A massive diversification of multicellular life takes place in the oceans.
Plants and later animals make the transition from water to land.
Dinosaurs dominate life on land on Earth for millions of years.
In the Jurassic period, the first true birds develop from small, feathered dinosaurs.
The first flowering plants (angiosperms) appear and drastically change the ecosystems on earth.
Mighty predators such as Tyrannosaurus rex dominate the food chains in the late Cretaceous.
An asteroid impact ends the age of the dinosaurs.
Small, tree-dwelling primates spread across the earth after the dinosaurs.
The ancestors of the great apes split off from other ape species.
The first bipedal hominids appear in Africa.
The first members of the genus Homo appear in Africa.
Climate change, technology and cosmic processes will determine the future of life.
Through collisions of planetesimals and continuous accretion, a glowing hot protoplanet forms. Heavy bombardments, including the formation of the moon through a giant impact, shape the early Earth. No life is yet possible due to the extreme heat and volcanic activity.