Earth History GEOL 2110 The Paleozoic Era
20
Earth History GEOL 2110 The Paleozoic Era Part 4A: The Silurian and Devonian Periods Time of Fish, Amphibians and Forests
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Major Concepts Biodiversity on the seafloor continued in Silurian and Devonian times. Ammonites replaced Nautiloids; Bony fish diversified to skeletal fish. Land began to be populated with burrowing animals, spiders, scorpians and later amphibians Spore-bearing vascular plants took root in the form of club moss, ferns, horsetails and seed ferns. The proliferation of coral reefs caused restricted basins wherein great thickness of limestone and evaporites were deposited.
Transcript of Earth History GEOL 2110 The Paleozoic Era
Earth History GEOL 2110
The Paleozoic EraPart 4A: The Silurian and Devonian Periods
Time of Fish, Amphibians and Forests
Major Concepts• Biodiversity on the seafloor continued in Silurian and
Devonian times. Ammonites replaced Nautiloids; Bony fish diversified to skeletal fish.
• Land began to be populated with burrowing animals, spiders, scorpians and later amphibians
• Spore-bearing vascular plants took root in the form of club moss, ferns, horsetails and seed ferns.
• The proliferation of coral reefs caused restricted basins wherein great thickness of limestone and evaporites were deposited.
Silurian – Devonian Major Events
Marine Biodiversity Recovers from Ordovician Extinction
Spirifer Brachiopods Thick-walled, “winged” Brachs
1’Trilobites get big and defensive
Marine Biodiversity Recovers from Ordovician Extinction
Coiled Ammonoid Cephalopods
Replace Straight Nautiloids
The Age of Fishes
Jawed Spiny Acanthodians
Invasion of the LandVascular Plants take Root
Rhynia – leaf-less tubes
Psilophyton –Rooted , strong bundled stalks
Lycopsids (Club Moss)
Sphenopsids (Horsetail)
Plants colonize the land!Invasion of the LandLate Devonian – Seeded Plants and Trees
Fossilized Seeds from a Seed Fern
Modern-day spore tree fern as existed in the Late Devonian
Late Devonian Seed Fern Stumps, Catskill Mtns, NY
Plants colonize the land!Invasion of the LandVascular Plants take Root
Plants colonize the land!Invasion of the LandBugs and Slimy Creatures Follow
Devonian centipede claw and head
Devonian compound insect eye
Millipede fossil
Plants colonize the land!Invasion of the LandBugs and Slimy Creatures Follow
Proliferation of Reefs
Huge reefs in the Silurian and Devonian, made of:
Sponges
Rugose Corals
Tabulate Chain Coral
HeliophyllumHexagoneria
Silurian-Devonian Coral Reefs
Silurian-Devonian Coral Reefs
Ecological Zonation of Coral Reefs
Reef Facies
Devonian Reef Complex, W. Australia
Modern-day Reef Environment
Silurian ReefThorton Quarry, South of Chicago
Late Devonian ExtinctionAnother Cool Down?
Next Lecture
The Paleozoic EraPart 4b: Stratigraphy and Tectonics of
Silurian and Devonian Periods
