Early Life VI: Carboniferous Period

362 million years ago was the start of the Carboniferous Period. This period is called that because the coal we use today stems from that period. Dead plants and fallen trees piled up on the forest floor and were gradually buried under layers of mud. Over millions of years, these layers were squeezed until they hardened and turned into coal.(1)

During this time period, a large part of the world was covered in swamps. The weather was warm and wet, and thick forests of gigantic trees spread out across whole continents. The trees were different than the trees from today. Tallest were the giant clubmosses, which reached heights of 50 meters (150 ft.).(1)


1. Reconstruction of landscape in Carboniferous Period

Swamps swarmed with huge insects, spiders, and bugs. Giant dragonflies were the first creatures with wings. There were millipedes that reached a length of up to two meters (6 ft 6 inch).(1)

A great variety of amphibians evolved. Some were small, lizard-like creatures who scampered around on the forest floor in search of insects, others hunted in the water like crocodiles. Some gradually lost their legs and could no longer live on land at all.(1) The amphibians that looked like lizards, like Westlothiana lizziae, are important because they are the ancestors of reptiles.(2)


2. Reconstruction of Westlothiana lizziae

However, like amphibians today, the early amphibians laid eggs in ponds or streams, so they had to stay near water. For animals to successfully live on land, they had to find their way around this problem. This would not happen until the Permian Period began.

References:

1. The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History, 2002
2. Ackroyd, Peter, The Beginning, 2003, Dorling Kinderley, London

Picture credits:

All pictures from Wikipedia Commons