Life, Part 5 (The Recovery)

The extinction almost brought life to an end. It wiped out almost everything on the planet. There were little places for the creatures of the Permian deserts to run. All around them, chaos was erupting. And so they all sadly faced their horrible ends. It wiped out a staggering 96% of all species on the planet, and it especially took it's toll on the ocean. Even the creatures that did survive eventually starved and were buried in the sand. There was little left of all the animals other than skeletons and corpses. But even if it did bring about the near end of life, it also brought on a new beginning. Although it took years for the Earth to fully recover from such an event, the extinction did not stop life for long. Around the same time as the Permian extinction, the Mesozoic Marine Revolution began. During this time, many diverse ocean creatures evolved, and became increasingly well adapted. They became bigger and stronger over time, and it seemed as if life was starting over back where it began. In the deep blue seas. Many powerful ocean predators came into existence, some of which could crush bones. They evolved shell-crushing behavior that lasted throughout the new Mesozoic era. A new age was beginning. While there were predators, there were also prey animals. The first Ichthyosaurs evolved during this time, or rather their early ancestors, the Ichthyopterygia, and spread across the globe around the beginning of the Triassic.(Eurhinosaurus) While there were many things going on in the water, the land was recovering along with it. Around the beginning of the Triassic, most of the trees had grown back, though most of the land was still a desert. There were also quite a lot of new species too, such as Cynodonts, crocodiles, and Lystrosaurus. Lystrosaurus had evolved from the ground-burrowing Diictodon, and and moved onto land. They behaved similar to wildebeest. A herd migrated to across a river to get to land, and did so every year, all while trying to avoid ancient crocodiles, which often got their fair share of Lystrosaurus. (Lystrosaurus) While this was all interesting, there were two main groups of animals that would dominate the Earth. The first were our ancestors, the mammals, although they only got their chance after the second group of animals. (Hadrocodium) Mammals started out as very small, shrewlike creatures, living in the shadow of the reptiles. They often occupied small holes in the ground, and were very vulnerable to predators. Their ancestors were actually the cynodonts, which seemed to far exceed the mammals of time in strength. The cynodonts were half mammal and half reptile. They possessed fur and visible ears, but had a slightly reptilian build. (Thrinaxodon) It seemed as if Earth was once again flourishing with all kinds of life. The planet seemed to have finally recovered from an event the could have wiped out all forms of life. Even the first conifer trees evolved during this time, and would later dominate the landscape. But of all these animals, there was only one that would rule them all in this new age. They evolved from a lizard. A very strange lizard that walked on two legs. This lizard was known as Euparkeria, and would spawn the first bipedal group of animals to dominate the earth.(Euparkeria) These animals would be unlike any other. They would come in all different shapes and sizes. Some were powerful predators. Others were peaceful giants. Some were smart and cunning. Others needed two brains. They were larger, faster and stronger than any animal before them. And for the next 135 million years, starting with the Triassic, they would dominate the earth. They were called the Dinosaurs.

Life, Part 4 (The Extinction)

The Permian was a very notable time in history for one reason. But that reason will be left for the end of this chapter of the story of life on earth. Other than that, another thing the Permian was very notable for was that it paved the way for the next generation of species. The mammals. Before the Permian, the earliest synapsids, the ancestors of mammals, evolved during the Carboniferous. Luckily for them, they managed to survive into the permian, and they evolved adaptions to the dry desert climate. These creatures had evolved sails on their backs that would help them to withstand the heat by cooling themselves down. These creatures were huge, reptile-like creatures called Edaphosaurus'. Edaphosaurus were peaceful herbivores, and often lived in large herds, lying around on the ground cooling themselves of in the hot desert sun. Little did they know, they weren't the only sailbacks around. There was another synapsid lurking about, this time a carnivore. It was equipped with a deadly set of sharp teeth, and could run considerably fast. (Edaphosaurus) (Dimetrodon) Dimetrodon would mostly go after the small, the weak, or the old. The Edaphosaurus seemed to have a way around this though. The sail would allow for camouflage, which would confuse the Dimetrodon. This would have worked, if the Dimetrodon did not also have a strategy against this. This strategy was similar to what modern mammals do to successfully catch their prey. They would charge straight into the herd, forcing the Edaphosaurus to spread out in all directions, and exposing the weak and young. The Dimetrodon would then charge into their target, outrunning them and successfully killing them. The sail of a synapsid of the time could have been used for many different functions, such as cooling themselves off, extra muscle support, or providing an actual boat-like sail to navigate with the wind in water. Though through close examination of the sail, it's bone structure, and how it grew, the most plausible suggestion would have been to use the sail for display. The deserts of the Permian were dominated by giant reptiles. Ever since the Carboniferous extinction, amphibians had dramatically decreased in numbers, and could not be found as frequently as they could before. A large majority of the insects and arthropods of the time seemed to have ceased to exist at all. And so this seemed to be the reptiles' chance for an opportunity at life. They were the only ones who could survive the changes. As reptiles continued to evolve, changes in their appearance began to occur. Some reptiles lost their sails, and evolved more powerful builds than reptiles like Dimetrodon. They even evolved saber-like teeth similar to that of a modern big cat. They grew much stronger skulls that were shaped differently than most reptiles of the time. These reptiles had evolved very mammal-like features, and so are now known as mammal-like reptiles, or therapsids. They are known as the earliest ancestors to mammals. (Pristerognathus) (Inostrancevia) The therapsids were stronger and faster than the synapsids. It seemed as if they had traded their sails for strength. Though others were less fortunate. They had evolved large, bulky bodies and somewhat short legs, and were slightly slower than carnivorous therapsids. They looked much like the green creatures in the picture above. Being a therapsid apparently only made life sligtly easier in the Permian climate. By this time, all the continents had merged into one huge, desert landmass called Pangea. There was hardly any available food or water, despite a few bushes and small lakes placed vastly across the desert. Though in many of these lakes lay dead amphibians and fish in the muddy waters. They had perhaps died of starvation among the mostly desolate Pangea. It seemed as if many of the life-forms that had been so successful before were suddenly meeting an end. Life was very hard with needing to constantly find food and water, and sharing was a huge problem among most of the species, since there was so little food and water scattered across the land. Though one little creature suggests that it was much easier living underground at this time. This creatures' name was Diictodon (dye-ick-toe-don). (Diictodon) It was a burrowing animal that seemed to be living much easier than most animals of it's time. In many ways they were similar to modern prairie dogs. They often lived in large underground colonies, and took care of each other and actually shared things with each other, since for them there apparently seemed to be enough to go around. They would also occasionally peep out of their burrows to spot predators, and when a predator would come, the Diictodon would release a warning call, telling all the other Diictodon to get back inside the hole. Predators couldn't even reach them because the holes were too small for their large, powerful jaws, and so what would have been the only source of food was out of their grasp. While all of this was certainly not good for many species, this was the least bad of events to come. What would come next would change life on Earth for good, and it would almost bring it to an end. This event was known as the Permian Extinction. It was also known as the great dying. It would be the most devastating of extinctions for years to come. In the reaches of space, miles from Earth, a giant asteroid was headed towards the planet. The Permian animals didn't know it, but their lives were in grave danger. Years past, and the asteroid was falling ever so closely to earth. Meanwhile, underground, large amounts of lava and gas were building up, and were ready to explode out of the hills any minute. After the many years of starvation, the asteroid finally passed through the earths' atmosphere. And back on earth, the magma was seconds from exploding out of the ground. The permian animals were still trying desperately to find food, when suddenly, the earth exploded with lava. Gigantic amounts of lava were eventually spewing out of the hills and mountains all around the desolate continent. The permian creatures were desperately running, trying to get away from huge amounts of magma and and gas and falling rocks. Most of them did not escape, and were stuck in lava, volcanoes surrounded the creatures in almost all directions, shooting out boiling lava. The mighty Pangea even started breaking apart in some places, and large amounts of gas and lava shot out from under the ground. It seemed as if there was no escape. The Earth seemed to be collapsing all at once. Creatures were desperately running all around the land in fear. trying to escape the earth itself. All around there were volcanoes erupting, gas shooting out of the earth, earthquakes shaking the ground and rattling the oceans. Even the ocean creatures were severely effected. It seemed this couldn't have gotten any worse. And then it did. Meteors started falling from the cloudy, black sky, forming holes in the ground, and eventually, out of the clouds came a giant asteroid. It was as if the meteors were introducing it to the earth. And within minutes, the asteroid violently hit the ground, forming a giant crater in the once mighty continent of Pangea, and exploding into billions of pieces on the surface of the earth. It was the largest mass extinction event in history. The explosion killed 96% of all land and water species, and more than half of earth's species. The asteroid explosion consumed the land in a giant cloud of dust and fire. Life seemed to have met it's violent end at the hands of lava and an asteroid. There was no escape.

Life, Part 3 (The Rainforests)

Tiktaalik moving on to land was a huge breakthrough in evolutionary history. It would allow for other species to prosper on the continents of planet earth, and eventually would allow for the human race to come into existence. Throughout the Devonian, amphibians walked the Earth. Ever since Tiktaalik had come on to land, it had evolved small legs, enabling it to walk on land. These legs were also webbed, and it had a fin-like tail, allowing it to swim in the water. This meant it could both swim in water and walk on land, which made it the first amphibian. The amphibians of the time were also quite large, and the once mighty arthropods had shrunk dramatically. Life on land was finally taking shape, and some familiar creatures could be seen at this time. Creatures such as sharks, many kinds of fish, and amphibians could be seen roaming the earth, and many types of vegetation and trees were beginning to evolve. Earth was starting to look like home. After many years, Earth was beginning to look more recognizable. Tall green forests of trees covered the Carboniferous landscape, the ground was dominated by seed ferns, sharks roamed as top predators, and amphibians could commonly be seen resting among the river banks, and had evolved adaptions to life on land. Even insects could be seen all around the forests, and would soon take to the skies. Even arthropods were making a comeback. Though these were not regular insects or arthropods. These creatures were giants. Huge dragonflies such as Meganeura had wingspans the size of an eagles'. Armored centipedes the size of crocodiles crawled on the forest floor, towering above the largest amphibians as they reared upwards. These insects and arthropods were so large because the oxygen level at the time was apparently very high. The amount of oxygen that flows through the insects' or arthropods' body takes a toll on it's size, and the insects and arthropods of the time were obviously affected by this. Though the creepy-crawlies were not the only ones who were changing. As a result of becoming adapted to conditions on land, amphibians evolved different types of eggs that would cope with the ground environment. These eggs evolved hard shells, protecting the babies of the new species inside of them. These types of eggs were made to be laid on land rather than in water. After many years of evolution, these creatures would be known as reptiles. Reptiles did not have the adaptions to water that amphibians had yet, but in many ways they had may more advantages. Reptiles had evolved a protective set of scales on their skin, unlike the slimy, vulnerable texture of an amphibian. The reptiles of time had also evolved an advanced heart system, which would pump blood at a much faster rate, giving the reptiles much more energy, unlike the amphibians, who were often somewhat sluggish on land. And, these reptiles had evolved a somewhat long set of legs, which would help for running away from predators, such as the giant spiders of the time. The fact that reptiles were so small meant they were in constant danger of being hunted, which meant they needed the necessary adaptations for outrunning their killers. The Carboniferous seemed like the heyday of life on Earth, with vast, flourishing forests and many new species of animals. However, it couldn't last forever. Before the end of the Carboniferous period, an extinction event occurred, an event that would decimate biodiversity. The climate was drastically changing on earth, with ocean levels rising and many glaciations. Oxygen levels also drastically dropped, and so the insects and arthropods of the time barely survived into the Permian. The temperature and environment changed from hot and humid rainforest to cool and arid desert. Many amphibians were not adapted to these drastic changes, and so many died out. One of the only groups of animals that survived into the Permian were the reptiles. They grew dramatically in size, and some evolved sharp sets of teeth. Others grew sails on their backs, to help keep cool in the arid deserts. It was because of this that the reptiles would, for millions of years, dominate the Permian era, and even give birth to our closest ancestors. Our own species.

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Life, Part 2 (The Ocean)

While there were no signs of life on land, it was just beginning to take shape in the deepest reaches of the ocean. Single-celled life-forms, prokaryotes, moved around on the ocean floor. Over the course of thousands of years, a split between prokaryotes known as archaea and bacteria occured. The bacteria used a primitive form of photosynthesis, and some even evolved into cyanobacteria, which, like the bacteria of the time, used photosynthesis and produced oxygen as a waste product. The first forms of life on land likely could have been seen during this time. Over the course of years, eukaryotic cells, cells with a nucleus and organelles, evolved on the ocean floor. They joined together to make the first multi-cellular organisms. Our ancient ancestors. Even though it seemed as if life was beginning to take shape, a perilous event seemed to have stopped it from continuing any further. And it was just the beginning too. This event was the first ice age. Glaciers sprung up on every corner of the young planet, which might have killed all life. But, there is also the possibility that it increased the growth of it. After this ice age, the gathering of oxygen in the atmosphere also allowed the formation of an ozone layer around the Earth, protecting it from the sun's radiation. And, surprisingly, the first complex multi-cellular organisms appeared after this ice age, in a sudden explosion of many, many new forms of life. Creatures such as trilobites, early molluscs, anomalocarids, and even early fish evolved during this time. (Anomalocaris) This period of time was also when the earliest forms of fungi evolved on land, and even some forms of plant life in the sea, such as sponges and corals. Life seemed to be greatly recovering after the first ice age. The cambrian era marked a major explosion of life in the oceans. Though what was most remarkable about this period of time was how fish evolved. The first jawless fishes and fishes with spines started to appear. These fish were our early ancestors, creatures that would make way for many forms of life in the future. The first ray finned fish evolved to swim around the vast oceans, and were hunted by early arthopods. Arthropods, speaking of which, could possibly have been the first creatures to ever set foot on land and inhabit it, even before the first amphibians. (Eurypterid scorpion climbing onto land) Meanwhile, the first plants were also moving onto land, which evolved from green algae living on lake edges, and joined the fungi. Fish were getting bigger and stronger. And the Devonian period was the heyday for the fish. They dominated the oceans, and came in many different shapes and forms. Some of them even evolved sets of teeth or armor, such as the infamous Dunkleosteus. (Dunkleosteus' teeth were actually just tooth-like bones that were a part of it's armor.) But the big changing point in history for the fish were when a certain type evolved a peculiar set of bones and rays on it's fins reminiscent of fingers. It also had a strange, slightly frog-like head, and looked like a sort of crossbreed between an early amphibian and a fish. It had evolved a peculiar set of adaptations to the shallow waters of it's time, and would be known as the missing link between water and land animals. It swam up to the surface of the ocean, ready to finally move out of the water and on to the rocky, green land above. It swam over, and stepped onto the rocks with it's peculiar fins, which would change evolutionary history for years to come. It's name was Tiktaalik, the first fish on land.

Life, Part 1 (The Beginning)

It all began with an explosion. Particles flew out across a rapidly expanding universe. They found and combined with other particles, to make elements and galaxies and stars. Rocks formed, and floated across the vast universe. Like the particles that formed them, they started clustering together into circle-like shapes, now known as planets. This story will focus on one of those planets. It is the only planet we call home. It is the pale blue dot, Earth. The planet we call home now is definitely not what it used to be. Every planet started as nothing but a giant rocky formation. The same goes for Earth, which, at the time, was a desolate, foggy land. Earth was also not quite as big as it is now. And it would never had been, if a planet called Theia had not violently collided with Earth, fusing with it. Millions of chunks of rocks were thrown out into space, some of those rocks taking a circular shape, and forming our moon. The moon was much closer to Earth than it is now when it formed, though there were other, seemingly more severe effects. Theia crashing into Earth could possibly have caused a giant ocean of lava to form, turning the once desolate Earth into a burning land of volcanoes and a ground spewing of lava. This, surprisingly, was the environment in which the very first cells formed, which would later go on to become what makes Earth so unique in this solar system. Life. Though life couldn't exist in this hellish environment, and it took years and years for a cooling process to begin. This would turn Earth's vast oceans of magma into cool water, and would also make way for small land formations across the planet. These land formations were very dry and desolate however, and Earth didn't have enough oxygen on land to support life. And this is where life begins. It all started underwater.

Preview

Hello, people. This is going to be a shorter post, but then again it doesn't need to be that long considering the title. I've been having a hard time figuring out what I'm going to blog about, but now I've finally figured it out. I'm going to retell the story of life on Earth every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. So, look forward to that and some other things in between. In the meantime, here's a little preview: It all began with an explosion.

The Deeper Meaning behind Godzilla

Hello again, people. I have just read my older Godzilla movie reviews, and I have to say I feel like my view on Godzilla has changed a lot. I say that because ever since I read an article about the deeper meaning of Godzilla and how Godzilla was inspired and Hiroshima and things like that, I feel like I like the original movie a lot more. It's funny how much you change your view on something once you actually really read about it. In my old Godzilla reviews, I used to think the best movies were the ones with the cool fighting. I used to think the original movie wasn't exactly the best because it didn't have that much monster action. But now (and don't get me wrong, I still love the fight scenes), I have changed my opinion, and I consider the original movie the best one. Honestly, there is no movie that can show the terror of the atomic bomb better than the original Godzilla movie. Godzilla is basically a metaphor for the atomic bomb. He is the consequence of the atomic bomb. And Serizawa isn't just "some guy" to me anymore, now that I've also read Godzilla: Awakening. Serizawa is the guy who saw the monster first hand, and experienced Hiroshima (somehow without getting severely injured). And I feel different about the Oxygen Destroyer and Serizawa's inventions. The reason he burned all of his work and went on to die with Godzilla was because he never wanted anyone to make another Oxygen Destroyer (because who knows what problems that would cause). Even the fact that Serizawa died with Godzilla makes it seem very sad. What's usually considered a victory actually seems like one of the saddest moments in Godzilla history in my opinion. I'm thinking it might be the music. Sorry if this was a way more serious post than I usually do, but I just felt like sharing my current views on the original Godzilla movie and the meaning behind it. So on a less somber note, hope you enjoyed and Long Live the King (cue godzilla roar)!

Starting Anew

Hello, people (if there are any people). I know it's been a long time, but I had a lot of stuff to do, and I kind of forgot about this blog. But now that I'm back, I figured I might as well tell you about my present self . You already know my name, and I am now 13 years old. My birthday is May 18th. I'm still interested in Godzilla, and I have developed an interest in many other series like Star Trek, Dragon Ball Z, The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings(the books), Batman, and various other series'. I like to go outside, and my favorite hobbies are drawing, using my computer and/or phone, sculpting, animating and eating. Speaking of animating, I have a Youtube channel called joshzilla 2001 where I post all my animations. As I'm writing this, I only have two. If you see my previous blog posts, you'll know I have a tendency to say I'm going to make something, and end up never making it. I'm working on changing that. And to prove that statement, I am going to show you some drawings that I've made. Enjoy. Sorry about the stains. \