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The Carboniferous period followed the second largest mass extinction in chronological order, the Devonian extinction.
Placoderm fish went extinct, including the monstrous Dunkleosteus. If the Devonian was the «Age of the Fish», the Carboniferous was the «Age of the Bugs».
Jaekelopterus, a sea scorpion, reached 2.5 meters in total lenght. Trilobites were still a survival species (only the «Big Dying», the Permian mass extintion, managed to put an end to this arthropod).
Bony fish and sharks survived, and diversified.
In dry land, terrestrial life was well established during the Carboniferous.
Amphibian life forms were the apex predators, and arthropods reached enormous sizes, like Arthropleura, a milipede with 2.6 meters or larger.
Just imagine to find near your feet a fast running land scorpion with a tail venomous sting 1 meter in lenght, the Pulmonoscorpius kirktonensis!
But yet no reptils, or mammals.
Megarachne servinei was believed until very recently to be the largest spider ever, with more than half a meter leg span, but we now believe it was an euryptid, not a spider (which will not prevent monstrous fossil Spiders could be found in a near future, please remember the largest living spider was found in 2003, living in Laos, and it has a leg span larger than the Goliath bird-eating tarantula).
During the Carboniferous, the oxigen atmospheric concentration was extremely high, and arthropods did not had the present era (the Cenozoic) limitation for air breathing trachea and lung books respiration.
Bugs, like milipedes, spiders, and flying insects like Meganeura, with more than half a meter wing span, were common, and a lot of other nightmarish bugs are still to discover, and amaze us, in the fossil register.
One last word for the flora: dryland is no longer a desert. Vast forests covered the continents, and, for the first time in earth history, there is an an abundant fertil soil.
Ferns, lycophytes more than 30 meters high, but no flowers yet. Flowers had to wait for the Late Cretaceous to flourish.
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Carboniferous period was subdivided into what two periods?
Mesozoic era and Cenozoic Era
What era was the coal forest formed?
Carboniferous and Permian
The carboniferous time period came in which era?
paleozoic
What period were carbons formed in the Earth?
Hydrocarbons and coal were formed in what is known as the carboniferous era.
When did coal beds form?
Mostly during the Carboniferous era, but coal deposits also started in the Paleozoic era, the Age of Dinosaurs
What era did the reptiles appear?
Reptiles first appeared during the Paleozoic Era, specifically the Carboniferous System of the Paleozoic Era. That was about 320 million years ago.
What are the period of the Paleozoic era?
Starting with the oldest, they are the: Cambrian, Ordivician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian.
Which one of the following times would be the longest A. Jurassic period B. Carboniferous period C. Paleozoic era D. Mesozoic era?
C - PALEOZOIC ERA
The fossil of the first known reptile dates back to the?
The fossils of the earliest reptiles are about 320 million years old. They date back to the Carboniferous period. The Carboniferous was a period in the Paleozoic era.
Which one of the following times would be the longest Jurassic period carboniferous period paleozoic era mesozoic?
The Paleozoic
In what era did the first vascular plants appear?
Carboniferous
Which era is called creepers era?
Mesozoic era is called the era of creepers.In this era there are three periods viz Triassic,Jurassic and carboniferous. It is found that in Triassic era, reptiles were evolved and in Jurassic era they were dominant.That is why Mesozoic era is called the era of creepers/reptiles.
