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The Paleozoic Era is the first and longest era in the Phanerozoic Eon, and is one of three, the two other eras being the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Paleozoic is derived from Greek and means "ancient life."

The Paleozoic lasted from roughly 542 to 251 million years ago, and is subdivided into six geologic periods: the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian. The era began with the advent of multicellular life, and ended with the most severe mass extinction in Earth's history, destroying 96% of all marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species.

The Paleozoic Era saw the development and diversification of all the modern phyla and most of the groups of life we see today, including invertebrates, arthropods, fish, amphibians, and reptiles. Most groups of marine and terrestrial plants also arose and flourished during this time. Mammals and birds would not appear until the Mesozoic Era, which came after.

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14y ago

Paleozoic was the oldest of the three geological eras of the Phanerozoic eon. It is further divided into 6 geologic periods: Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carrboniferous and Permian. Each of them with their own specific flora and fauna as well as climate.

The Devonian period is when the fish populations exploded. During the late Paleozoic, great forests of primitive plants thrived on land forming the great coal beds of Europe and eastern North America. By the end of the era, the first large, sophisticated reptiles and the first modern plants (conifers) were developed.

It ended with Permian-Triasic extinction event, the Earth's largest extinction event yet.

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11y ago

The rise of life

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Q: What is a description of the Paleozoic era?
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