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[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:The_eye_of_all_ur60.jpg|right|frame]] 59:1.1 By the dawn of this period of [[relative]] [[quiet]] on the [[earth]]'s [[surface]], life is confined to the various inland seas and the oceanic shore line; as yet no [[form]] of [[land]] [[organism]] has evolved. [[Primitive]] [[marine]] [[animals]] are well [[established]] and are [[prepared]] for the next [[evolutionary]] [[development]]. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoeba Amoeba] are typical [[survivors]] of this initial [[stage]] of [[animal]] life, having made their [[appearance]] toward the close of the preceding [[transition]] period. 59:1.2 400,000,000 years ago [[marine]] life, both [[vegetable]] and [[animal]], is fairly well [[distributed]] over the whole world. The world [[climate]] grows slightly warmer and becomes more equable. There is a general inundation of the seashores of the various [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continents continents], particularly of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amercias North and South America]. New [[oceans]] appear, and the older bodies of [[water]] are greatly enlarged. 59:1.3 [[Vegetation]] now for the first time crawls out upon the land and soon makes considerable [[progress]] in [[adaptation]] to a nonmarine [[habitat]]. 59:1.4 Suddenly and without [[gradation]] [[ancestry]] the first multicellular animals make their [[appearance]]. The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilobites trilobites] have evolved, and for ages they [[dominate]] the [[seas]]. From the [[standpoint]] of [[marine]] life this is the ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilobites trilobite] age''. 59:1.5 In the later portion of this [[time]] segment much of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America North America] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe Europe] emerged from the [[sea]]. The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_crust crust of the earth] was temporarily [[stabilized]]; mountains, or rather high elevations of [[land]], rose along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, over the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Indies West Indies], and in southern Europe. The entire [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean Caribbean] region was highly elevated. 59:1.6 390,000,000 y ears ago the [[land]] was still elevated. Over parts of eastern and western America and western Europe may be found the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratigraphy stone strata] laid down during these times, and these are the oldest rocks which contain [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilobite trilobite] [[fossils]]. There were many long fingerlike gulfs projecting into the [[land]] masses in which were deposited these [[fossil]]-bearing rocks. 59:1.7 Within a few million years the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Ocean Pacific Ocean] began to [[invade]] the [[American]] continents. The sinking of the [[land]] was principally due to crustal [[adjustment]], although the lateral land spread, or continental creep, was also a [[factor]]. 59:1.8 380,000,000 years ago [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia Asia] was subsiding, and all other [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_shift continents] were [[experiencing]] a short-lived [[emergence]]. But as this [[epoch]] progressed, the newly appearing [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Ocean Atlantic Ocean] made extensive inroads on all adjacent coast lines. The northern Atlantic or [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Ocean Arctic seas] were then [[connected]] with the southern [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_mexico Gulf waters]. When this southern sea entered the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Appalachian_Valley Appalachian trough], its waves broke upon the east against mountains as high as the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alps Alps], but in general the continents were uninteresting lowlands, utterly devoid of scenic [[beauty]]. 59:1.9 The sedimentary deposits of these ages are of four sorts: *1. ''Conglomerates''—matter deposited near the shore lines. *2. ''Sandstones''—deposits made in shallow [[water]] but where the [[waves]] were sufficient to prevent mud settling. *3. ''Shales''—deposits made in the deeper and more [[quiet]] [[water]]. *4. ''Limestone''—including the deposits of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilobite trilobite] shells in deep [[water]]. 59:1.10 The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilobite trilobite] [[fossils]] of these times present certain basic [[uniformities]] coupled with certain well-marked variations. The early [[animals]] [[developing]] from the [[three]] [[original]] [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_58#58:4._THE_LIFE-DAWN_ERA life implantations] were characteristic; those appearing in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_hemisphere Western Hemisphere] were slightly different from those of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasia Eurasian] group and from the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasia Australasian] or Australian-Antarctic type. 59:1.11 370,000,000 years ago the great and almost total submergence of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas North and South America] occurred, followed by the sinking of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa Africa] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia Australia]. Only certain parts of North America remained above these shallow Cambrian seas. Five million years later the [[seas]] were retreating before the rising [[land]]. And all of these [[phenomena]] of land sinking and land rising were undramatic, taking place slowly over millions of years. 59:1.12 The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilobite trilobite] [[fossil]]-bearing strata of this [[epoch]] outcrop here and there throughout all the continents except in central Asia. In many regions these rocks are [[horizontal]], but in the mountains they are tilted and distorted because of [[pressure]] and folding. And such [[pressure]] has, in many places, changed the [[original]] [[character]] of these deposits. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandstone Sandstone] has been turned into [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartz quartz], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shale shale] has been changed to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slate slate], while [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limestone limestone] has been converted into [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble marble]. 59:1.13 360,000,000 years ago the land was still rising. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas North and South America] were well up. Western Europe and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles British Isles] were emerging, except parts of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales Wales], which were deeply submerged. There were no great ice sheets during these ages. The supposed [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaciers glacial] deposits appearing in [[connection]] with these strata in Europe, Africa, China, and Australia are due to isolated mountain glaciers or to the displacement of glacial debris of later origin. The world climate was [[Ocean|oceanic]], not [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continents continental]. The southern seas were warmer then than now, and they extended northward over North America up to the polar regions. The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf-stream Gulf Stream] [[course]]d over the central portion of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America North America], being deflected eastward to bathe and warm the shores of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland Greenland], making that now ice-mantled continent a veritable tropic Paradise. 59:1.14 The [[marine]] life was much alike the world over and consisted of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaweed seaweeds], one-celled [[organisms]], simple [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponges sponges], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilobites trilobites], and other [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crustaceans crustaceans]—shrimps, crabs, and lobsters. Three thousand varieties of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachiopods brachiopods] appeared at the close of this period, only two hundred of which have [[survived]]. These [[animals]] [[represent]] a variety of early life which has come down to the present time practically unchanged. 59:1.15 But the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilobites trilobites] were the [[dominant]] living [[creatures]]. They were [[sex]]ed [[animals]] and existed in many [[forms]]; being poor swimmers, they sluggishly floated in the [[water]] or crawled along the sea bottoms, curling up in self-[[protection]] when attacked by their later appearing enemies. They grew in length from two inches to one foot and [[developed]] into four distinct [[groups]]: [[carnivorous]], herbivorous, omnivorous, and " mud eaters. " The [[ability]] of the latter group largely to subsist on inorganic matter—being the last multicelled [[animal]] that could—explains their great increase and long [[survival]]. 59:1.16 This was the biogeologic picture of [[Urantia]] at the end of that long period of the world's [[history]], embracing fifty million years, designated by your [[geologists]] as the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambrian Cambrian]. <center>[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_96 Go to Paper 96]</center> <center>[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center> [[Category: Paper 59 - The Marine-Life Era on Urantia]] [[Category: Urantia]] [[Category: Evolution]] [[Category: Earth Science/TeaM]]

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