What are Some Carboniferous Organisms?
The Carboniferous period is a geologic period that extends from 359 to 299 million years ago. It gets its name from the huge oil and gas deposits left by decaying plant matter throughout this period. The Carboniferous, about 60 million years in duration, is among the longest of the geologic periods, exceeded in length by only the 80 million-year-long Cretaceous. The Carboniferous is the first entire period during which there was abundant terrestrial life, including numerous plants, arthropods, and amphibians. The earliest sauropsids (reptiles) and synapsids (ancestors of mammals) evolved during the middle of the Carboniferous, about 420 million years ago. Both of them resembled small lizards in appearance. These species would fossilize when they got trapped in decaying tree stumps and couldn’t find their way out. The bark fiber lignin first evolved just before the Carboniferous. These early trees make such extensive use of bark, that the “bark” was actually most of the tree, making up
