Carboniferous period
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Carboniferous forest. © The Field
Museum
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One of the six periods of the Paleozoic era.
The Carboniferous period spans the time between the Devonian
and the Permian, about 359 to 290 million
years ago. The term "Carboniferous" comes from England, in reference to
the rich deposits of coal that occur there. These deposits of coal occur
throughout northern Europe, Asia, and midwestern and eastern North America.
The Carboniferous period is also notable for the first appearance of the
amniote egg, which allowed for the further exploitation of the land by certain
tetrapods. The amniote egg allowed the
ancestors of birds, mammals,
and reptiles to reproduce on land by preventing
the desiccation of the embryo inside. There was also a trend towards mild
temperatures during the Carboniferous, as evidenced by the decrease in lycopods
and large insects and an increase in the
number of tree ferns.
Related
category
• GEOLOGY
AND PLANETARY SCIENCE
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