Paleozoo

Engine of Evolution: Earth Tectonics.

Tectonics are the large scale geological processes that alter the structure of the Earth's crust.

While tectonic activity is not the sole driver of environmental processes—particularly after life emerges and biological feedback loops develop—it may be the single most significant factor influencing the origin and evolution of life on the planet.

Sanctacaris: the first chelicerate to live on Earth some 500 million years ago.

In 2024 the Royal Tyrell Museum in Canada opened its new First Life gallery.

The exhibition featured over 60 paleozoic lifeform models provided by Paleozoo Evolutionary Models.

All models were created by paleo-artist Bruce Currie.

More information on Paleozoo Evolutionary Models can be found at https://paleozoo.com.au

Tiktaalik Devonian Fishapod is an extinct sarcopterygian which evolved during the late Devonian period (~375 mya). Tiktaalik is regarded as an important transitional lifeform, with an anatomy that displays a number of features that indicate a clear linkage between fish and tetrapod (land vertebrate). These anatomical features point to how life may have moved from water onto land. Tiktaalik is thought to have been among the first vertebrates to cross this margin.

Paleozoo Evolutionary Models are detailed portraits of some of the first animals to evolve on Earth and they are the work of paleoartist Bruce Currie.

More information can be found at https://www.paleozoo.com.au

History of Earth - in brief - Paleozoo.
How old is the Earth? When did life first appear upon it? How did we come to be here? Questions as old as humankind.
History of Earth - in brief - an outline of the evolution of the planet from its Hadean origins to its Anthropocene present. A timeline of the history of life on Earth.
The Earth has undergone constant change in its 4.54 billion year history, with life evolving in response to those changes - in particular to the changing atmospheric compositions of carbon dioxide and oxygen. Species extinctions have been a natural part of the evolutionary processes of the planet throughout its long history, however there are now thought to have been at least 8 mass extinction events in the history of the Earth - each of major consequence to life on the planet and of import to our modern understandings of climate change.
There have been many extinction events, both great and small, but the most profound of these would be the End-Permian Extinction that closed the Palaeozoic era (~252 Ma). Also known as the Great Dying, it is thought that over 90% of all marine species and 70% of all terrestrial species became extinct. A rapid increase in surface temperatures towards the end of this period brought about a collapse in the carbon cycle - starving life on land and subsequently suffocating life in the oceans. No environmental niche was left unchanged by the Permian Extinction.
From the earliest ages of the planet - when microbial blooms spread around the globe - up to the radiation of Homo sapiens, life has repeatedly colonized every viable location on the planet. Life is nothing if not resilient and great extinctions serve to highlight this. Even if only a few isolated pockets of single-celled organisms survived a global extinction event - an event even more destructive than the Great Permian Extinction - life would continue on, evolving, adapting and radiating back across the world as soon as conditions allow.
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This 5 minute animation was written and animated by Bruce Currie
More information can be found at https://www.paleozoo.com.au
KEY REFERENCE:
Ward and Kirschvink, 2015 ‘A New History of Life’ https://www.amazon.com.au
New-History-Life-Discoveries-Evolution/dp/1408835525
International Commission on Stratigraphy. https://stratigraphy.org
NASA - Visible Earth catalogue https://visibleearth.nasa.gov/collection/1484/blue-marble
British Geological Society. https://www.bgs.ac.uk
Geological Society of America https://www.geosociety.org
Gplates - Earthbytes https://www.earthbyte.org/gplates
Paleomap Project - Christopher Scotese. http://www.scotese.com
Algol - History of the Earth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1OreyX0-fw
Researchgate.net https://www.researchgate.net
Other Paleozoo videos include:
https://youtu.be/jmbRHhctDKU
https://youtu.be/2N81dZVA7vc
https://youtu.be/PLGkgSoKvtk

The Cambrian Explosion of Life remains perplexing to modern paleontology. The explosion of animal lifeforms that occurred at this point in Earth's history remains an evolutionary mystery. Various hypotheses have been put forward to try and account for the sudden appearance of most animal phyla at this time - but no agreement has yet been reached. After billions of years of single-cellular evolution why did animals suddenly appear in the Cambrian fossil horizons?

Lifeforms constructed in consultation with Dr Jean-Bernard Caron - Royal Ontario Museum.
Written and animated by Bruce Currie - Paleozoo

More information can be found at https://paleozoo.com.au

Ediacaran Garden refers to the Ediacara Biota, an assemblage of ancient soft-bodied organisms that lived during the Ediacaran Period, which lasted from approximately 635 to 541 million years ago. These organisms are some of the earliest complex multicellular life forms known in the fossil record. The Ediacaran Biota includes various forms such as rangeomorphs, discoidal organisms, and other enigmatic creatures, some of which have no modern analogs. These fossils provide valuable insights into the early evolution of complex life on Earth.

Animation by Bruce Currie.

Ediacaran Rangeomorph Primocandelabrum is an extinct Ediacaran frondose lifeform (~ 570 Mya) and one of the first complex, multi-cellular organisms to appear on Earth.

Rangeomorphs are known to have been benthic organisms that existed in the deep ocean away from sunlight - which means that they could not have been a form of photosynthesising plant. The fractal nature of rangeomorph morphology also precludes them from being classified as early animals so they remain something of a mystery with regards to taxonomic classification. What kind of life were they?

Primocandelabrum is a member of the rangeomorph group. Made up of three frondose units that sit atop a robust stem, the whole organism resembled a feather duster in shape. It grew to around 25 cm in height.

The unusual branching morphology of rangeomorphs differs from all other organisms and is highly enigmatic and hard for paleontology to classify. Rangeomorphs are thought to have become extinct by the end of the Ediacaran period - possibly due to the rise of early animals. How rangeomorphs fit into evolutionary history is still being debated.

Animation by Bruce Currie

More information can be found at https://www.paleozoo.com.au

Anomalocaris model by Paleozoo.

Anomalocaris canadensis is an extinct stem-group arthropod from the Cambrian period (~505 Mya). It is one of the most famous and intriguing organisms in paleontology. With an unusual morphology that includes interleaving lobes along the side of its body, stalked compound eyes, a circular plate-rimmed mouth and a pair of distinctive grasping forelimbs, Anomalocaris is thought to have been one of the Earth's first apex predators.

Paleozoo animations and models are portraits of some of the first animals to evolve on Earth.

More information can be found at https://www.paleozoo.com.au

Dawn of Animals - the Ediacaran enigma.

570 million years ago, complex life flourished in the oceans of the Earth. What kind of life it was and how it relates to the lifeforms that followed is still not entirely clear.

In the history of life on Earth the Ediacaran period (635 - 542 Mya) is regarded as a watershed in the evolution of complex life. This is the time that biological traits such as bilateralism, heads and tails and internal organs first appeared - this was the dawn of animals as we understand them.

Some Ediacaran lifeforms known as Rangeomorphs existed deep in the oceans far from light - so they could not have been photosynthetic organisms like plants or algae. Rangeomorphs also displayed distinctive fractal branching anatomies which are unlike any known modern body-plan or phylum. This all poses the question : what kind of life were they?

Rangeomorphs became extinct at the end of the Ediacaran period - during a global mass extinction. However, other Ediacaran lifeforms managed to survive the period extinction event and some of those went on to have a more direct relationship to the Animalia of the following Cambrian period.

Probably existing in shallower seas, some of these creatures developed the ability to move about independently - possibly in conjunction with light sensitive cells on rudimentary heads. These are thought to have been the first animals.

It is important for us to understand the relationships that Ediacaran lifeforms have to the creatures that followed so as to help clarify our understanding of the mechanics of evolutionary biology. These relationships remain puzzling and enigmatic.

The creatures of the Ediacaran period await full taxonomic classification.

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The Mistaken Point rangeomorph models were commissioned by the Royal Ontario Museum of Canada for its newly constructed "Dawn of Life" gallery (2021).

All models are built from descriptions provided by leading palaeontologists from around the world in consultation with Dr Jean-Bernard Caron of the Royal Ontario Museum.

"Dawn of Animals" was written and animated by Bruce Currie.

More information can be found @ Paleozoo. https://www.paleozoo.com.au

Other Paleozoo videos include:
https://youtu.be/PTGxJyEA_C4
https://youtu.be/jmbRHhctDKU
https://youtu.be/2N81dZVA7vc
https://youtu.be/PLGkgSoKvtk

Over 570 million years ago the deep ocean floor was covered in an array of complex, multi-cellular, lifeforms - too far from light to be photosynthetic organisms like plants or algae but also very hard to classify as early animals. So what kind of life were they?

Broadly identified as rangeomorpha they are now thought to have become extinct at the end of the Ediacaran period - preceding the sudden "Cambrian Explosion" of animal lifeforms. The evolutionary relationship to the creatures that followed is still being debated and they await full taxonomic classification.

The Ediacaran period is regarded as a watershed with regards to large complex life on the planet. It is inferred that a number of key evolutionary features emerged during this period including bilateral symmetry, rudimentary heads and tails, hydrostatic skeletons, digestive tracts and locomotion.

During this period most anatomy was hydrostatic in nature - bodies comprised of tissue segments filled with pressurized fluid - similar to modern worms. The morphology of most creatures followed basic patterning which varied from fractal branching to radial segmentation to bilateral symmetry. All anatomies were simple and most were comprised of sequenced cellular units (metamerism). Repetition of these simple forms (fractal outworking) - in conjunction with changing environments and genetic variation - is thought to have led to ever more complex life.

Unlike the creatures of the Cambrian period that were to follow, very few of the Ediacaran biota can as yet be associated with any modern phylum. Most are thought to have become extinct during a period of global mass extinction that occurred just before the Cambrian period. The cause of this mass extinction remains unknown but it resulted in radically different environmental conditions that may have included elevated oxygen levels and changes in the nutrient content of the oceans.

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All models have been commissioned by The Royal Ontario Museum for its newly constructed "Dawn of Life" gallery (2021). The models are based on first descriptions by leading paleontologists from around the world and have been sculpted by Bruce Currie in consultation with Dr Jean-Bernard Caron.

More information on Ediacaran biota an be found at https://www.paleozoo.com.au

Other Paleozoo videos include:
https://youtu.be/PTGxJyEA_C4
https://youtu.be/jmbRHhctDKU
https://youtu.be/2N81dZVA7vc
https://youtu.be/PLGkgSoKvtk