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Reference Websites by Geological Time Period

| Precambrian | Palaeozoic | Mesozoic | Cenozoic-Tertiary | Cenozoic-Quaternary |

Precambrian

The Hadean Period

For more on the information of the solar system try: http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/solarsystem/formation.html

More about radiometric dating is on: http://www.dc.peachnet.edu/~pgore/geology/geo102/radio.htm

For information on Meteorite craters: http://www.barringercrater.com/science/

Find more information on the origin of life: http://www.resa.net/nasa/origins_life.htm

The Archaean Period

Here you can read about Stanley Miller's experiment: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/do53am.html

Find out more about stromatolites: http://www.wmnh.com/wmel0000.htm. Also look on: www.resa.net/nasa/mars_life_gifossil.htm.

Find here information about prokaryotes and eukaryotes: http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/tutorials/pev/page2.htm.

Information about early life is on: http://www.dynamicearth.co.uk/education/casualitiessurvivors_science.asp

The Proterozoic Era

On this site you will be able to find pictures and information about green and red algae and good information about Proterozoic life http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/precambrian/proterolife.html

Some good information about Vendian animals: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/critters.html.

More information about the Vendian which also called the 'Ediacaran': http://www.carleton.ca/~tpatters/teaching/intro/cambrian/cambrianex3.html .

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Palaeozoic

The Cambrian Period

More about the Burgess Shale on the Smithsonian's website: http://www.sites.si.edu/exhibitions/exhibit_main.asp?id=35 And more on: http://www.carleton.ca/~tpatters/teaching/intro/cambrian/cambrianex24.html

Information about the increase in oxygen that began around 2000 million years ago http://www.palaeos.com/Earth/Atmosphere/oxygen.htm

This website shows some good photos of Cambrian fossils and good background information: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/cambrian/camblife.html

Fossils indicate that the marine ancestors of New Zealand's ancient land dwelling caterpillar-like Peripatus were alive at that time: http://www.bio.mq.edu.au/dept/biobytes/backbyts/mar98.html

The Ordovician Period

More about the evolution of plants on: http://www.bio.miami.edu/tom/bil160/bil160goods/12_toland.html

The Ordovician is best known for the presence of its diverse marine invertebrates, including graptolites: http://www.brookes.ac.uk/geology/8361/1998/callie/grapt.htm, trilobites: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/trilobita/trilobita.html, brachiopods: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/brachiopoda/brachiopoda.html, and the conodonts (early vertebrates): http://geology.csusb.edu/faculty/wbl/cdont_art.htm.

Information about Ostracoderms, the earliest jawless fish, dating back around 510 million years: http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~etaylor/426www/lectures/agnath1.html.

Read about the evolution of fish on: http://www.lookd.com/fish/evolution.html.

Read more about mass extinctions on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/darwin/exfiles/massintro.htm.

On this website you will be able to find a good selection of Ordovician life forms: http://www.chefjeff.org/ordovician.htm

Well defined Ordovician rocks, characterised by Graptolite faunas can be found in the Nelson region and the south west of Fiordland, NZ: http://www.gns.cri.nz/what/earthhist/fossils/graptolites.html

The Silurean Period

Here is an example for one of the simple vascular plants Cooksonia: http://www.xs4all.nl/~steurh/engcook/ecooks.html

Read more about Slimonia: http://www.palaeos.com/Invertebrates/Arthropods/Eurypterida/Pterygotina.html

The Devonian Period

More about one of the first amphibians, Ichthyostega lived during the late Devonian in Greenland on: http://www.devoniantimes.org/Order/re-ichthyostega.html

The oldest tree known, Archaeopteris: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/ancienttree990421.html

Read also more about Devonian evolution on: http://www.devoniantimes.org/opportunity/opportunity.html

The Carboniferous Period

Information about one of the greatest evolutionary innovations of the Carboniferous, the amniotic egg can be found on: http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Amniota&contgroup=Terrestrial_Vertebrates

Here you will find picture of a Hylonomus skeleton: http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/c.cotylo.html.

Read here about a New Zealand frog that has direct-developing eggs: http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Leiopelma&contgroup=Salientia

Find some great information about the evolution of conifers on: http://taggart.glg.msu.edu/bot335/econif.htm

The Permian Period

Interesting information about the transition from reptile to mammal on: http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/benton2.html.

You can read more about the Permian mass extinction on these websites: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/02/0222_buckyballs.html
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020603/020603-6.html

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Mesozoic

The Triassic Period

This is a good webpage with information about the difference between reptiles and mammals: http://geowords.com/histbooknetscape/h21.htm

A great website about the Triassic: http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Triassic/ecoloftri.htm

The Jurassic Period

Read more about dinosaurs on: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/dinolh.html

Read about a particularly important discovery is Archaeopteryx lithographica: http://www.toyen.uio.no/palmus/galleri/montre/english/x499.htm

The Cretaceous Period

Find more information about famous Dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period like T-Rex on: http://www.prehistory.com/timeline/CRETACE.HTM.

Some illustrated information on Angiosperms on: http://www.utm.edu/~rirwin/angiosperm.htm

Find out more about the five main mass extinctions on Earth: http://www.amnh.org/science/biodiversity/extinction/IntroBasicsOngFS.html

Here you can read more about the K-T event: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/sl9/back3.html

This site gives an excellent report on New Zealand research into the events of the K-T boundary: http://www.gns.cri.nz/news/release/may3nzideal.html

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Cenozoic- Tertiary

The Palaeocene Epoch

More info about the Palaeocene mammals on: http://www.palaeos.com/Cenozoic/Paleocene/Paleocene.htm

More about the Palaeocene climate: http://www.scotese.com/paleocen.htm

Palaeocene fossils: http://www.itano.net/fossils/marylan2/marylan2.htm.

Good information about the early primates is on: http://anthro.palomar.edu/earlyprimates/first_primates.htm

The Eocene Epoch

Great info on the evolution of horses on: http://www.imh.org/imh/kyhpl1a.html#xtocid224361

Very interesting facts on ungulates: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/vertpaleo/fhc/relatives1.htm

More about whales on: http://www.discover.com/issues/dec-01/rd/breakwhale.html/.

A great website with an interactive tutorial about the evolution of whales: http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/lessons/wh.kiosk.html

And a worthwhile article on the evolution of whales: http://scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?articleID=000F114A-DDE4-1C6A-84A9809EC588EF21&catID=2

The Oligocene Epoch

Information about hominoids on: http://www.umanitoba.ca/anthropology/courses/121/hominoid.html.

Read about the Oligocene: http://www.palaeos.com/Cenozoic/Oligocene/Oligocene.htm

The Miocene Epoch

Read more about the changing situation of the seas on the Paleoceanographic website: http://rmocfis.upr.clu.edu/~morelock/paleoceanog.htm#8

Read more about kelp on: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/chromista/browns/phaeolh.html

More about the Miocene on: http://www.palaeos.com/Cenozoic/Miocene/Miocene.htm

The Pliocene Epoch

A great article about some new evidence for human evolution: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/03/0325_0322_asiaevolution.html.

Some information on the early Hominid Evolution: http://anthro.palomar.edu/hominid/australo_1.htm.

And more info on the Australopithecus on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/beasts/evidence/prog4/page2.shtml.

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Cenozoic- Quaternary

The Pleistocene Epoch

More information about glacials: http://ase.tufts.edu/geology/GEO2/quat_climate.doc

Great images about Pleistocene Mammals from the Russian Palaeontological Institute are on: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/pin/pinpleist.html

Also on: http://www.mnh.si.edu/museum/VirtualTour/Tour/First/IceAge/.

More information on the moa http://www.duke.edu/~mrd6/moa/top_ten.html.

Other websites about human evolution: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/cavemen/chronology/contentpage4.shtml,
http://www.becominghuman.org/, http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/biology/humanevolution/.

The Holocene Epoch

More about New Zealand's climate: http://www.niwa.cri.nz/edu/resources/climate/overview/.

Information about Foraminifera for examining past climates: http://www.niwa.co.nz/pubs/wa/08-3-Sep-2000/foraminifera.htm.

Interesting facts on climate change http://www.niwa.co.nz/rc/atmos/clivar/models.

An interesting article about the Little Ice Age is on: http://www.vehiclechoice.org/climate/cutler.html

And more about past climate variations of New Zealand: http://www.niwa.co.nz/rc/atmos/clivar/pastclimate.

Also read about the brown teal: http://www.brownteal.com/site/?p=fossil


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