Re: request for help

Stephen Jones (sejones@ibm.net)
Wed, 22 Apr 98 05:47:31 +0800

Stan

On Tue, 14 Apr 1998 07:56:35 -0600 (CST), SZYGMUNT@EXODUS.VALPO.EDU wrote:

SZ>I would like to ask for a short summary of the
>chronology of life on earth, with approximate dates
>according to our current understanding. This
>would obviously begin something like this:
>
>15 billion years ago creation of the universe
>4.5 billion y. a. formation of the earth
>3.8 billion y. a. first appearance of life

[...]

SZ>I am particularly interested in approximate dates for
>the appearance of plant life, fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles,
>dinosaurs, mammals, hominids (including particular types),
>and anatomically modern man. Any available dates of disappearance
>from the fossil record (as in the dinosaurs roughly 60 million y. a.)
>would also be helpful. Perhaps some kind soul would be willing
>to type out a short list and then point me to a more detailed reference
>in an easily accessible source.

Kurt Wise has a short list in "The Creation Hypothesis":

"...the following are the steps (with the radiometric time of first
appearance of each step in parentheses, in millions of years before
the present) bacteria (3500); protists (1500-1800); invertebrate
animals (590-570), jawless fish (517-510), jawed fish (424-409), bony
lobe-finned fish (408), amphibians (377-363), reptiles (323-311),
mammals (210-208), primates (70-65), apes (22), hominid (5.5), Homo
(1.8?-1.6), H. sapiens (0.1), art (0.05) civilization (0.01)." (Wise
K.P., "The Origin of Life's Major Groups", in Moreland J.P. ed.,
"The Creation Hypothesis", InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove Ill.,
1994, pp224-225)

Kurt has references to the source materials which I have removed
because his reference numbers were in superscript which in straight
text mode would be confused with the dates. If you need the references,
email me privately.

Steve

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Perth, West Australia v "Test everything." (1Thess 5:21)
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