What was the Silurian Period?
The Silurian period is the third of six major periods that make up the Paleozoic era, a geologic division of time that extends from about 542 million years ago to 251 million years ago. The Silurian period itself began at the end of the Ordovician period, approximately 444 million years ago, to the beginning of the Devonian period, about 416 million years ago. Therefore, the Silurian period was a period of time that lasted 28 million years. At the beginning of the Silurian period were the Ordovician-Silurian extinction events, the second-largest set of extinctions in the history of the planet after the larger Permian-Triassic extinction event, which wiped out 60% of all marine genera. The recovery was rapid, especially among invertebrate faunas. The superficially clam-like brachiopods dominated, making up 80% of total species. Most of the trilobites died off in the recent extinction, and were on the decline throughout the Silurian. The Silurian period and the Devonian period that came
Early Ord – a time of adaptive radiation of many faunal groups, following the mass extinction of trilobites and nautiloids at end of Cambrian.. Uris Library (lower courses) Cambrian Period Building Stone: Portage Redstone (sandstone) Source: Michigan Gordon Fernow Memorial PreCambrian Period. The Cambrian time period lasted from 544 to 505 million years ago, a time span of 39 million years. The Cambrian is the first or oldest period of the.
