ABSTRACT
Life’s migration from the sea to the land was a significant evolutionary event, and this transition eventually made human existence and advanced societies possible. The prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms that initially traveled from sea to land are analyzed, and the interactions that developed between these organisms and their environments are reviewed. The transitions from lobe fish to amphibians, to reptiles, to mammals are also considered, and the events, including several great extinctions, that led to the appearance of the first primates 56 million years ago are outlined. The chapter concludes with a review of several counterfactual conditions that would have impacted the emergence of primates if they had occurred. Chance environmental events’ role in the emergence of monkeys and other human predecessors is also considered.
