The Proterozoic is the eon of Earth's history that lasted from 2.500 billion to 542 million years ago. In this time span, the cratons grew into continents with modern sizes. For the first time it is clear that plate tectonics took place in a more or less modern sense. Another important development was the change to an oxygen rich atmosphere. Life developed from prokaryotes into eukaryotes and multicellular forms. The Proterozoic saw a couple of very severe ice ages called snowball Earths. After the end of the last Snowball Earth about 600 million years ago, the evolution of life on Earth accelerated. About 580 million years ago, the Ediacara biota formed the prelude for the Cambrian Explosion.

Late Proterozoic climate and life
Cenozoic era
Human evolution
Proterozoic eon