Well, hello, there!
I’m Fernando, Fern for short, and today’s my birthday!
Woo-hoo!
To celebrate this event, I'd like to take you on a journey through my life….
All 360 million years of it!
The history of the planet where I (and you, for that matter) come from started about 4.6
billion years ago.
Before I came around, a lot of cool stuff had already happened.
Oh, how interesting would it have been to see the first liquid water appearing on Earth
4.4 billion years ago.
After all, water is one of my favorite things in this world!
I always “root” for water! ha ha!
3 billion years ago was when the first photosynthesizing bacteria appeared.
Hey, I know all about photosynthesis!
I spend all day converting sunlight into energy!
The earliest land fungi that started growing 1.3 billion years ago are also worth mentioning.
But I feel pretty bad for them when the land got completely covered with a thick layer
of ice 850 to 630 million years ago!
Phew, glad I wasn’t around yet!
After that deep freeze, about 600 million years ago, enough oxygen built up in the atmosphere
to create an ozone layer.
What a life booster that was!
It’s the very thing that protects this planet from the sun’s harmful radiation!
Thanks to this new protective blanket, a whole new world of living creatures started to colonize
the oceans 535 million years ago.
And 485 million years ago, jawless fish appeared.
They were the first animals with real bones…you know, minus a jaw, of course!
About 390 million years ago, plants already had leaves and roots.
Tick tock!
370 million years back in the past, some plants developed special tissue that started to produce
wood.
That's how forests of tall massive trees appeared on Earth.
But hey, it's 360 million years back, and I'm finally born!
Aww, look how cute I am!
By the way, I haven’t really changed much since then.
Still just as cute, am I right?
Ok, I might’ve gotten a little bigger, but we all do with age!
And in general, the planet at the moment of my birth already starts to look like its modern-day
version.
Almost, but not quite…
Just look at these insects!
They’re scurrying across the land and are about to take to the skies!
Be glad you didn’t live back in my early days because these bugs were way bigger than
the ones you’re used to seeing now!
For example, that dragonfly right there has a hair-raising wingspan of more than 2 feet!
I guess I'm lucky to have hung out with the largest known insect that ever lived on Earth!
Even luckier he didn’t gobble me up!
Some time after I was born, about 355 million years ago, I finally decide to sneak a peek
at my surroundings.
In the ocean not far from my place, sharks have already entered their "golden age."
While before this time sharks looked more like huge eels rather than deadly torpedo-shaped
predators, they now have well-developed teeth and a whole variety of forms and shapes.
It's 350 million years in the past when I see a creature I've never met before.
It bears a slight resemblance to the modern-day lizard, but its skull and wrists give away
its amphibian nature.
Look!
The thing has just laid a cute leathery egg!
Well, I guess, that makes this so-called Westlothiana an important link between amphibians and reptiles.
A real reptile as you know them today doesn't appear until 305 million years ago.
I remember that day when a tiny skittery lizard starts to tickle my roots.
He didn’t even warn me – the nerve!
At around that same time, other kinds of reptiles started showing up: the ancestors of modern-day
crocodiles, snakes, turtles, and tuataras.
Whatever the heck they are.
Roughly 280 million years ago, I begin to rack my brain over another problem: the first
beetles are bothering me, and... hey!
You!
Are you gnawing on my stem?
Shoo!
Then I start hearing rumors that more and more different species, including new kinds
of fish, are appearing in the oceans.
That was about 251 million years back.
And 5 million years later, the first ichthyosaurs, with their small elongated bodies, start swimming
through the oceans with their eel-like manner.
I remember seeing the first land dinosaur ever about 225 million years ago.
It has a small head sitting on a long neck, and you have no idea how flexible this neck
is!
The 20-foot-tall creature is also pretty big, especially in comparison with my lush, but
not-so-sizeable, form!
But the most threatening thing is its teeth – they’re ideal for crushing plants!
Gulp…
220 million years ago is when I start feeling dwarfed by huge seed-producing forests that
grow around in abundance.
But that's not all!
The animals that feed on these trees also become..how they say… ginormous.
And it makes sense!
After all, their bodies have to accommodate massive guts necessary to digest loads of
nutrient-poor plants.
Poor plants.
But then, something wonderful – I mean, terrible happens!
About 201 million years ago, I witness one of the most ---biggest events ever, and that's
the Triassic-Jurassic Extinction.
It wipes out countless animal species both on land and in the oceans.
On the other hand, after this catastrophe, I Fernando, am not so munchable, you follow
me?
Ah, but the path is paved for many dinosaurs, such as the T-Rex and Stegosaurus, to enter
their golden age…
Oh!
Can you feel that?
The ground is shaking!
Ow, my roots don't like that at all!
Ah, I see, that's the first Diplodocus stomping around its new playground.
This giant is around 85 feet long and weighs about 13 tons!
Luckily, this creature prefers to feed on tree tops and branches, otherwise... hey!
You almost stepped on me, mister!
You’re walkin’ here, you’re walkin’ here!
Be more careful, please!
It's 155 million years ago, and I hear some annoying buzz.
Can it be... a mosquito?
Oh no, not yet.
But it is the first blood-sucking insect, also known as no-see-ums.
And I don’t.
Oh, I remember this day all too well.
My first love…
She moved in next to me approximately 130 million years ago, and she was gorgeous.
As the first flowering plant, she can be pollinated by insects and even the wind!
The breathtaking and aromatic flowers of my new neighbor attract the first bees about
100 million years ago.
It’s now 80 million years in the past, and something starts bothering my roots and stem
again.
Soon, the tickling sensation becomes unbearable!
I see tiny dark creatures – ah, the first ants!
But not long after that came…that fateful day…I'll never forget it.
I lost so many friends, neighbors, family.
It was the mass extinction that occurred 65 million years ago.
It wiped out all the dinosaurs and half of other animal species.
I remember feeling awful about these poor critters.
Well, at least birds have survived, and they cheer me up with their melodic songs every
day.
Also, a million years after the extinction, with the giant reptiles out of the way, mammals
become the dominant species.
This is when the first rodents appear.
I'm NOT happy about that last part…
One day, approximately 60 to 55 million years ago, I see a bizarre creature.
It has a long tail, climbs the nearby trees, uses its thumbs, and has a family!
Later, I find out that it's the first primate.
52 million years ago, I spot another creature which almost gives me a heart attack…if
I had a heart, that is.
It’s got these two sharp fangs, it wraps itself up in cloak-like wings.
Yes, this is when the bats showed up…
It's 40 million years ago, and I'm in for a pleasant surprise: a magnificent, fragile
thing rests on my leaves.
It’s mesmerizing!
I don't want the first modern-type butterfly to ever leave me!
35 million years ago I have to start fighting for my home – grasslands begin to expand
and diversify, and I do my best to fend off the invaders.
Then, 30 million years ago, I see one of the most beautiful creatures ever.
It's graceful and dangerous, with a slim muscular body and powerful teeth.
Well, I'm lucky that the very first cats are meat-eaters!
Starting 25 million years ago, it’s as if this planet exploded with life!
The first deer, hyenas, giraffes, bears – my neighborhood got a lot noisier almost overnight!
One day, I feel the ground shaking again and wonder if the dinosaurs have somehow come
back.
But no!
The animal I see has a massive body covered in fur, a long trunk, and long curved tusks.
It's the mammoth, and it appears on Earth approximately 4.8 million years ago.
About 4 million years back in the past, I see one of the first creatures that look a
little bit like you, my friend.
It's an Australopithecus, believed to be your close relative.
And finally, approximately 2 million years ago, I meet one of the first representatives
of the human species.
Homo Habilis doesn't bear much resemblance to modern people, but you just wait!
About 350,000 years ago, the first archaic humans called Neanderthals appear.
But 100,000 years after that – here we go! – look at these anatomically modern humans!
It’ll only take you guys about 70,000 years to replace the Neanderthals entirely.
And, well, the rest is history!
Gone are the days of dodging dinosaur feet and leaf-munching bugs!
You humans have made my life pretty easy – I just sit here in my cozy safe pot on the windowsill
and take in the sun.
But every now and then, I do reminisce about those wild times…
Hey, if you learned something new today, then give the video a like and share it with a
friend!
And here are some other cool videos I think you'll enjoy.
Just click to the left or right, and tell them Fernando sent you.
You look Mahvelous!