[...]... MILLION YEARS AGO The first land organisms appear— lichens and bryophytes Great coral reefs and some types of small plants Vascular plants and arthropods form diverse terrestrial ecosystems Land tetrapods and winged insects appear Large variety of insects and vertebrates on land 30 ORIGIN OF LIFE EVOLUTION AND GENETICS 31 The Reign of the Dinosaurs rom abundant fossil evidence, scientists have determined... ORIGIN OF LIFE EVOLUTION AND GENETICS 35 Land of Mammals fter the extinction of the large dinosaurs at the end of the Mesozoic Era, mammals found the opportunity to evolve until becoming sovereigns of the Earth The Cenozoic Era, which began 65.5 million years ago, also saw the appearance and evolution of plants with flowers, and large mountain chains of today (the Himalayas, the Alps, and the Andes) formed... YEARS AGO Homo heildebergensis is in Europe, part of Asia, and Africa Wooden spears found in Germany and the United Kingdom date back to this time Homo neanderthalensis lives in the Ice Age in Europe and western Asia First Homo sapiens found in Africa Homo neanderthalensis becomes extinct from unknown causes 48 HUMAN EVOLUTION EVOLUTION AND GENETICS 49 Direct Ancestors he origin of the human species... for an animal 30 feet (9 m) in length During the Cretaceous Period, the evolution of insects and birds continued, and flora that made use of pollination developed Nevertheless, this period was marked both by a revolution in the seas (the appearance of new groups of predators, such as teleost fish and sharks) and by a revolution on land (the extinction of the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago) GIGANOTOSAURUS... EVIDENCE EVOLUTION AND GENETICS 15 To Live or Die D oevolution is a concept used by scientists to describe the evolutionary process from a group perspective, because no single species has done it in isolation On the contrary, different levels and types of relationships were established through time between species, exerting changing pressures on their respective evolutionary paths Natural selection and. .. unknown causes First use of fire by Homo erectus, in southern Africa HAND AX IN THE SHAPE OF A DROP HOMO ERECTUS 5.3 FEET (1.6 M) HOMO SAPIENS 6 FEET (1.8 M) 46 HUMAN EVOLUTION EVOLUTION AND GENETICS 47 Able Hunters HOMO NEANDERTHALENSIS escendants of Homo heidelbergensis, the Neanderthals were the first inhabitants of Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa Diverse genetic studies have tried to determine...12 MYTHS AND SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE EVOLUTION AND GENETICS 13 Evolutionary Processes DREPANA FALCATARIA was found hidden on a tree in Norfolk (U.K.) in 1994 n addition to natural selection, the famous theory developed by Charles Darwin in the 19th century, there are other evolutionary processes at work at the microevolutionary scale, such as mutations, genetic flow (i.e., migration), and genetic drift... with an improvement of the global climate 52 HUMAN EVOLUTION EVOLUTION AND GENETICS 53 Urban Revolution CROPS In the fields near Çatal Hüyük, the inhabitants grew wheat, sorghum, peas, and lentils They gathered apples, pistachios, and almonds ome 10,000 years ago, there was an interglacial period on Earth that caused a gradual increase in temperatures and an overall climatic change that brought a modification... BONES Those of the hands and legs are very similar to those of modern human beings 10 MYA 15 MYA 20 MYA (MILLION YEARS AGO) Gorillas, chimpanzees, and hominins had a common ancestor at least five million years ago BIPEDALISM requires less energy to move and leaves the hands free NOT-SO-DISTANT RELATIVES There are various uncertainties and disagreements among paleontologists about how the evolutionary tree... Age, Homo neanderthalensis was able to use fire and diverse tools that allowed it to work wood, skins, and stones, among other materials They used the skins to cover themselves from cold and to build shelter, and the stones and the wood were key materials in the weapons used for hunting The bone structure of their fossils reveals a skull with prominent ciliary arcs, sunken eyes, a wide nose, and large . ■ Tokyo Britannica Illustrated Science Library Britannica Illustrated Science Library EVOLUTION AND GENETICS EVOLUTION AND GENETICS © 2 008 Editorial Sol 90 All rights reserved. Idea and Concept of. (volume): Britannica Illustrated Science Library: Evolution and Genetics 2008 Printed in China w ww.britannica.com 978-1-59339-802-6 Evolution and Genetics Contents PHOTOGRAPH ON PAGE 1 In vitro. traits. T he evolution of species cannot be considered an isolated event in itself but rather the result of a complex and constant interaction among different EVOLUTION AND GENETICS 98 MYTHS AND SCIENTIFIC