the span of geologic time extending about 542 million years from the end of the Proterozoic Eon to the present. The Phanerozoic, the eon of visible life, is divided into three major spans of time largely on the basis of characteristic assemblages of life-forms: the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras. Although life clearly originated at some time, probably quite early, in the Proterozoic Eon, not until the Phanerozoic did a rapid expansion and evolution of forms occur and fill the various ecological niches available. The key to this great Phanerozoic expansion appears to lie in the development of plants able to carry out the photosynthetic process and thus release free oxygen into the atmosphere. Before this time, the Earth's atmosphere contained negligible amounts of free oxygen, and animals, in which energy transfers involving the process of respiration are critical, were unable to develop. During the Phanerozoic, the Earth gradually assumed its present configuration and physical features through such processes as continental drift, mountain building, and continental glaciation. Thus, although the Phanerozoic Eon represents only about the last one-eighth of time since the Earth's crust formed, its importance far exceeds its relatively short duration.