A Timeline of Life on Earth: 4 Billion Years of History

Have you ever wondered how we got here on Earth, and how it all began? From the Archean Eon to the Holocene Epoch, some pretty amazing stuff has happened. Check out this SciShow mini-series hosted by Stefan Chin for a glimpse into prehistoric life on earth, all the way through our advancements today!

Part 1 - Survival is Hard: 0:41
Part 2 - When Life Exploded: 9:34
Part 3 - Dinosaur Time!: 19:46
Part 4 - Rise of the Humans: 28:14
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Dooblydoo thanks go to the following Patreon supporters: Kevin Bealer, Mark Terrio-Cameron, KatieMarie Magnone, Patrick Merrithew, D.A. Noe, Charles Southerland, Fatima Iqbal, Sultan Alkhulaifi, Nicholas Smith, Tim Curwick, Alexander Wadsworth, Scott Satovsky Jr, Philippe von Bergen, Bella Nash, Chris Peters, Patrick D. Ashmore, Piya Shedden, Charles George
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[azfarshaik]

The fact that we were able to uncover all this information over the last 100 years of our existence is miraculous

[paulawolanski]

In one episode of the Simpsons, Flanders's pet fish crawls out of the aquarium and starts gulping air. Flanders then pushes it back into the water and goes "oh no you don't!"

[TheMusicUser]

"There were probably other factors, but the meteor didn't help."

Understatement of the era.

[zhugedai]

This is literally my favorite video on all of YouTube which sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, but after coming here to watch it or listen to it in the background as I do other things so many times I think its time I said thanks. Something about the balance of its grand encompassing reach, general sense of direction, lack of full diving into overly specific scientific details, and condensed easy to digest nature really hits it home for me. Many episodes or shows delve too deep into details or don't give a good sense of the overall timeline in a way that I can connect with and I think that's what I needed most for a general understanding of the evolution of life and development of our planet. This video ties together all the details I've heard for years and does so in a step-by-step timeline that I can easily explain to someone who asks. Thank you SciShow, for this amazing combo-episode.

[meldymakr]

It's wild knowing there are people who believe that humans couldn't possibly affect the climate when life has been changing earth's climate from the very beginning

[romessson]

2:52: "there was no ozone layer"
me: the sun is a deadly laser

[johntuel]

The Thagomizer name for the spiky end of a stegosaurus tail is from the comic strip The Far Side. The joke is some cavemen are discussing what to name the end of the tail. It turns out because their colleague Thag was recently killed by one, so they named it the Thagomizer.
It actually really had no name until an archiologist saw the cartoon and made it official in real life.

[HeyBroRelaxx]

The amount of information we've learned in such a small time frame is awe-inspiring.
Thinking about the huge leap we made as a species really makes you wonder how things are going to change in the future. How far will we reach?

It's shameful how people are still killing each other over religious views or disregarding scientific evidence because it conflicts with something they were taught growing up. Times change, and i hope they change some more.

[JDoe]

“life is easy, but survival is hard” <—Is a mood...

[MRptwrench]

Thanks so much SciShow for not only creating these wonderful videos, but also for making compilations such as this one. It makes it so much easier to watch and share with my grandchild!
My smirky observation of Hank thoroughly explaining (perhaps doubling down) on the dino to bird connection @ 25:05 : I can't explain how happy it makes me to know that just 5 yrs later the term "non-avian theropod(s)" is now a widely accepted across not only the research oriented demographic and amateur paleontologists but also to the more pedestrian among us (such as myself!) In just my short lifetime I've witnessed our understanding of dinosaurs evolve from tail dragging lumbering beasts, and I'm excited to see how much more my granddaughter's generation will learn.

[clima]

"Life is easy but surviving is hard." Words of wisdom.

[jasonlake]

I’m comin out of the lake and I’ve been doing just fine, gotta gotta get out because I wanna walk.
Started out as a fish, how did it end up like this.
I was only a fish, I was only a fish.

[dimetrodon]

Scientists really missed the chance to call the oxygenation event “Extinction O”. I mean, the double meaning is right there. It was a mass extinction event that took place before the conventional “Big 5” (Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, Triassic, and K-T) hence the O as in zero, and O also happens to be the symbol for the element responsible for the extinction.

[TimiSterr]

My biology teacher at school did not except evolution. And although she taught it to us cause she had to, we also had to listen to her comments that "yeah, for me that seems impossible", "it is strange, but that's what the book says".
so sad :(

[michaelhough]

The thagamizer was first named in a "far side" comic. Scientists read the newspaper, thought the weapon needed a name, and liked the name so much they made it official. RIP Thag Simmons.

[Patrick_The_Pure]

34:35 The ice is supposed to return eventually.
Mankind: Hold my beer.

[grimeto]

People rarely think that all the species we know about during these ancient times barely reach 1% of the actual number of species that evolved during this time. All the information we get is from fossils and they only form under specific conditions, not to mention all the fossils that were destroyed by numerous reason over time ... Makes you wonder what horrific/amazing things roamed our Earth and we will never find out about it .

[brandonkrebbs]

I'm no slouch in science but this topic is tricky and kinda inconclusive. I'm extremely grateful that you guys made this video. It lays out an amazing foundation for independent research. Thank you! 😊

[beGee]

Wife: Honey, what time is it?
Me: The Anthropocene
Wife: What???

[tomkenney]

"Thagomizer" comes from Gary Larson's "The Far Side." It's named after the late Thag Simmons.