Carboniferous Period

Fun Facts

Carboniferous PERIOD

359-299 million years agoPeriod of the Paleozoic Age

Dutfield, Scott. "JOURNEY TO THE Carboniferous Period." How It Works Magazine, no. 157, 15 Oct. 2021, pp. 68+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A686899225/ITOF?u=orla57816&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=df5c8397. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024. Khalifa, M.A.G. (2023). The Carboniferous Period. In: Ediacaran-Paleozoic Rock Units of Egypt. Earth and Environmental Sciences Library. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27320-9_7 Schwab, Ivan R.. Evolution's Witness : How Eyes Evolved, Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucf/detail.action?docID=5149781.

Climate and Environment

Organisms

Major Event

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CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT

This period had lush tropical forests at the equator but retained the cold poles with large caps of ice. With this water in the poles, the global sea levels were lower compared to previous periods, leading to greater exposed land. With these forests, plant life flourished, which led to higher levels of oxygen. To compare, the atmosphere at this time was 35% made of oxygen, compared to today’s 21% (Dutfield).

This period concluded with a mass extinction 290 million years ago. Often called the Kasimovian crisis, the exact reason for the event is unknown. Evidence in the Earth’s rising temperature may have led to the death of several rainforests. It is estimated that 53% of the forests on the Earth were reduced, while the remaining forests moved to the Permian period (Dutfield).

MAJOR EVENT

Pangea

FUN FACTS

1. The name Carboniferous comes from the early formation of coal. Compression of plant material in water and mud in this period, as well as it being heated over time, led to the formation of peat, which later became coal.2. Pangaea, the supercontinent, took shape in this period, which led to the formation of mountains. Panthalassa and Paeo-Tethys were two important oceans found within the supercontinent during this period (Khalifa). 3. The early period is referred to as Mississippian, as the strata from this period were found by Alexander Winchell in the Mississippi Valley. The other stage is called Pennsylvanian, as geologist Henry Shaler Williams found more strata in the state the subperiod is named after (Dutfield). 4. Other examples of gigantism during this period were scorpions, as they could reach a meter in length, and Diplocaulus, an animal that resembles a salamander, that was 2 meters in length.

Amniotic egg

After tetrapods began walking on land, amniotes appeared in the record. From these amniotes, the cleidoic egg came to be, and it had an amnion, which provided sustenance for the embryo. The descendants of amniotes led to vertebrates and reptiles. These reptiles were later divided into synapsids and diapsids.Synapsids evolved into pelycosaurs, which were reptiles with mammal-like characteristics. Diapsids evolved into lizards, turtles, and birds (Schwab 131). The plants in this period resemble the current tropics, with the early trees as an example. Arthropods also had larger bodies due to the mass increase in oxygen levels.

Organisms