Calymmian

The Calymmian was a super old time in Earth's history, like a chapter in a giant book of rocks! It happened a super long time ago, between 1.6 billion and 1.4 billion years ago. That's way, way before dinosaurs even existed! This time is named after a Greek word that means 'cover,' because during this period, new rocky 'covers' were forming on Earth's land.

During the Calymmian, Earth's giant puzzle pieces, called continents, were doing a lot of moving. Some big land areas that were already there started to get bigger, like adding more LEGO bricks to a castle. And new land areas were forming on top of older, solid rock. It was a busy time for our planet's surface!

One of the most exciting things that happened during the Calymmian was that a giant supercontinent called Columbia started to break apart. Imagine a huge cookie slowly cracking into smaller pieces. This breakup happened around 1.5 billion years ago. This splitting and moving of land is what makes mountains and oceans over millions of years!

Even though there were no animals or people, tiny living things were around. Scientists found evidence of something called the Volyn biota, which were probably very simple life forms, from about 1.5 billion years ago. These little guys were some of the earliest forms of life on Earth, living in a world very different from ours.