635 million years B.C - 359 Million years B.C
635 million years B.C Ediacaran Era It was the Ediacaran era. Multi Cellular life has evolved. Most of these new organisms had no hard bits – like without a shell. These animals would have been soft and squishy. The Wombat State Forest area would have been under the waves. First animals evolve with a front end and a back end. Frond-like organisms known as rangeomorphs existed at this point. One species of rangeomorph was called charnia. |
542 – 488 million years B.C
Cambrian era.
Fossils records show a huge explosion of life in the sea. This is known as the Cambrian Explosion. New species of life in the sea had evolved, but the land was still dry and barren. Animals started to relate to the animals today. The sea was filled with weird and wonderful creatures. Worms, jellyfish, trilobites and brachiopods were the animals swimming at this point. Predators evolved during this era so the prey now grew defences like spines and hard shells. Victoria, still under the sea, was in the place where South Australia is now. Volcanoes erupted offshore, throwing lava onto the bottom of the sea, creating volcanic islands. Mud was washed off the main continent, collecting in between the volcanic islands and the continent. The sand eventually turns into rock, creating western Victoria’s bedrock.
Cambrian era.
Fossils records show a huge explosion of life in the sea. This is known as the Cambrian Explosion. New species of life in the sea had evolved, but the land was still dry and barren. Animals started to relate to the animals today. The sea was filled with weird and wonderful creatures. Worms, jellyfish, trilobites and brachiopods were the animals swimming at this point. Predators evolved during this era so the prey now grew defences like spines and hard shells. Victoria, still under the sea, was in the place where South Australia is now. Volcanoes erupted offshore, throwing lava onto the bottom of the sea, creating volcanic islands. Mud was washed off the main continent, collecting in between the volcanic islands and the continent. The sand eventually turns into rock, creating western Victoria’s bedrock.
488 million years B.C
Ordivician Era 488 million years B.C was the Ordivician era. There were lots of new aquatic animals including the first vertebrates which were jawless fishes. There were volcanos erupting underwater. They created islands. On the lands there were lakes, creeks and ponds. Plants grew beside the water and they had no leaves or roots. Because they have no roots, plants had to grow beside water. |
443 million years B.C
Silurian era 443 million years B.C it was the Silurian era. There was a mass extinction. Near the equator the earth was very warm but Gondwana, the mega continent, was completely barren. Plants on land evolve a water transport system. Plants began to evolve roots which meant they could move away from the water edge and didn’t have to rely on a water supply to keep them hydrated. The plant’s roots reached into the ground and held the soil together, preventing erosion and breaking up rocks to turn into dirt by adding pieces of themselves. It was a perfect home for the plants. These plants are starting to cast shade and animals can use shade for shelter. Soon the first animals began to appear on land. They can also use the leaves for food. Animals like the sea scorpion are encouraged to go to land because there is shade on the ground and they can live there. The first fishes evolved with jaws. Crinoids are water plants that when they die they get turned into limestone. Victoria is being formed by sediments but also by volcanoes and mountains. The planet’s crust heated and gold poured out into the sea and the saltwater made quartz. Coral reefs started forming at this time. |
359 million years B.C Carboniferous Era 359 million years B.C it was the Carboniferous Era. The plants evolved stronger roots and wood which allowed them to grow bigger and allowed them to get onto drier land. When the trees got bigger it allowed them to make more oxygen. Shadier environments allowed new species to evolve. Because of the amount of oxygen the insects were able to grow huge – some flying and some walking. Tetrapods start to move onto land. Some evolved into reptiles but some went back to the water. Australia was moving closer to the south pole. That meant that the temperature started to change and get colder. CO2 levels drop by 90% because of the number of plants. The plants couldn't survive as easily with less CO2. They began to evolve leaves to suck in the CO2 they needed. |
416 million years B.C
Devonian Era 416 – 359 million years B.C. It was the Devonian Era, or “The Age of Fish”. Plants evolved more and started growing on land. Animals could follow because they needed the plants for food and shelter on land. Fishes evolved fins that supported them easier, and these fins were to eventually become the legs of tetrapods. These fishes would become some of the first vertebrates on land. These vertebrates would evolve to travel further from water. Lots of insect species evolved. In the sea corals formed many reefs and sea lilies thrived. Sponges were also wide-spread. Lots of different types of fish now lived in rivers and lakes, as well as in the sea. Sharks had evolved. Sea scorpions still existed. Near the end of the Devonian Era, an extinction killed lots of warm water fishes. Life on land wasn’t affected as badly. Victoria was mostly land by now, but was still part of the super-continent Gondwana. The Wombat State Forest was still under the water in a big bay in central Victoria. The weather was warm, and Victoria was still near the equator. Volcanoes erupted towards the end of the Devonian era. Gas billowed into the sky and chunks of the crust fell in. Ash fell into valleys. Pumice spewed into the oceans. These volcanoes were some of the largest in Earth’s history. This might have been a reason for the extinction. |