PALEOZOIC ERA

Age of sea-life

CAMBRIAN

• 542 mya• Gondwanaland- mainly in S. Hemisphere• “waterworld”

CAMBRIAN LIFE

• Ocean life• Trilobites- over 800 species• First shells

Ordovician

• 505 mya• Mostly water (still)• Barren land

Ordovician

• Ocean life- warm reefs• Mollusk• Trilobites• Cephlapods• First fish

Ordovician fossils (IL)

Silurian

• 443 mya• Still Gondwanaland• North America under water

Silurian life

• Corals• Brachipods• Sea scorpions• First plants- ferns

Devonian

• 416 mya• Laurasia- northern hemisphere• Gondwanaland- southern hemisphere

Devonian

• Boney fish• Land plants• First amphibians

Age of fishes

Age of fishes

MISSISSIPPIAN

• 360 mya• Still Laurasia/ Gondwanaland• Many forest

MISSISSIPPIAN LIFE

• Insects• Amphibians• Large trees

• Coal products

PENNSYLVANIAN

• 320 mya• Pangaea begins to form

PENNSYLVANIAN LIFE

• Abundant insects• First reptiles

• Coal products

PERMIAN

• 286 mya• PANGEA is formed

• Forest of ferns

PERMIAN LIFE

• Ammonoids• Large amphibians• reptiles

Mass extinction

Siberian trapsMethane melting

What went extinct?

• Trilobites• Ammonites• Many fish species• Many coral species