Most Extreme Earth Climates of the Neoproterozoic

The evolution of early animals was fundamentally shaped by the most intense global glaciation events in the planet's history.

The top 3

  1. The Sturtian Glaciation (717–660 Ma): Lasting nearly 60 million years, this is considered one of the longest 'Snowball Earth' events, potentially pushing life to adapt or perish.
  2. The Marinoan Glaciation (650–635 Ma): A massive global freeze that ended abruptly, causing rapid chemical changes in the ocean that may have triggered the explosion of animal life.
  3. The Oxygenation Spike Transition: The end of the Cryogenian ice ages is linked to a rise in atmospheric oxygen, providing the metabolic energy required for complex animal bodies to evolve.

Sources

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