Carboniferous

359-299 M.a.

The name comes from the huge amount of carbon deposits formed during this period.

Syrigodendron fossil trunk. Champclauzon Fossil Forest. Grand Combe Coal fields (France).

Cycas bellefonti (Gymnosperma).


Meganeura giant dragonfly compared to the size of a human.

Once again, almost all the continental masses begin to coalesce into a single supercontinent: Pangaea. Their collision starts the building of mountain ranges of Himalayan proportions; this is called the Variscan or Hercynian orogeny. A glaciation occurs at the end of the period creating a large ice sheet over the South Pole.

Marine life continues to exhibit a great variety of invertebrates, sharks and bony fish. On land, the spectacular development of plants will lead to the formation of large gymnosperm (cycads) forests which enrich the atmosphere with oxygen and provide the organic matter for the formation of huge coal deposits.

Los invertebrados terrestres se diversifican y algunos de ellos llegan alcanzar tamaños enormes (libélulas como gaviotas y miriápodos de dos metros). Entre los vertebrados terrestres, la diversidad y abundancia de anfibios es la característica principal, junto con la aparición de los primeros reptiles, del tamaño de lagartijas.