Revealed! Characteristics of the Paleozoic Era: Early Period of Life on Earth

Illustration of the characteristics of the Paleozoic era (freepik)

YOGYAKARTA - Understanding the characteristics of the Paleozoic era will take us to the era of the explosion of life that produced a variety of ancient marine species, ranging from trilobites to the emergence of fish.

You should know, this geological period that stretches for almost 300 million years is known as the "Old Life Era." During this time, the continents began to move, forming giant landmasses, and living things adapted to conquer the land.

Knowing the Characteristics of the Paleozoic Era

Dilansir dari laman livescience, berikut ini beberapa fakta dan ciri kehidupan pada masa paleozoikum yang menarik untuk dibahas:

Life on Land and Sea

The Paleozoic era began with the Cambrian Period (about 53 million years ago), which is famous as the trigger of the explosion of life on Earth ("Cambrian explosion").

The explosion includes the evolution of arthropods (the ancestors of insects and crustaceans) and chordates (animals with a notochord or a simple spinal cord).

Marine life flourished during the Ordovician Period (45 million years ago), characterized by the abundance of marine invertebrates, such as trilobites, armored arthropods that roamed the seafloor for about 270 million years.

Then in the Silurian Period (443.8 to 419.2 million years ago), lobe-finned fish spread widely. Of concern is the emergence of the first indisputable evidence of terrestrial life in the form of simple plants that do not have leaves or vascular tissue.

Read also the article discussing Knowing How the Earth Formation Process and Its Stages Scientifically

Further developments occurred in the Devonian Period, marked by the emergence of the first ferns and trees, as well as the highly diverse tetrapods (the first land vertebrates).

Continental movements: from Gondwana to Pangea

This evolutionary development occurred amid continental shifts and climate change. In the Cambrian, the supercontinent Rodinia broke up into Gondwana (which would become the continents of the Southern Hemisphere) and other smaller continents. The Cambrian was warm, but was followed by an ice age in the Ordovician.

During the Silurian Period, the land that would become North America, central and northern Europe moved closer, raising the shallow sea level. In Devon, the northern land joined to form the supercontinent of Euramerica.

At its peak, in the last period of the Paleozoic, Euramerica and Gondwana merged, forming the most famous supercontinent, Pangaea. This continent was surrounded by a giant ocean called Panthalassa.

Evolution of Life at the End of the Paleozoic

During the Carboniferous Period (359 to 299 million years ago), tetrapods began laying eggs on land, allowing them to escape the amphibian lifestyle. Then there were insects like giant dragonflies that ruled the sky.

Meanwhile, trilobites faded as fish diversity increased. Two new groups evolved: marine reptiles and archosaurs (which later gave rise to crocodiles, dinosaurs, and birds). This era is also dubbed the "Age of Cockroaches" because cockroach ancestors were found all over the world.

The Permian Period and the Mass Extinction

The last period of the Paleozoic is the Permian Period (298.9 to 251.9 million years ago). Before it ended, warm oceans were filled with life such as coral reefs, fish, and shelled mollusks.

Meanwhile, on land, modern conifers and ginkgo trees evolved. However, this period ended with the Permian Extinction, the largest mass extinction event ever recorded in Earth's history.

Climax: The Formation of Pangea and the Mass Extinction

The Paleozoic era ended with a geological and biological climax, namely the formation of Pangaea as a giant single continent, which caused it to be very dry. Biologically, this era was closed by the devastating Permian Mass Extinction.

This event marked the end of many ancient lineages (including trilobites), while paving the way for the next era, the Mesozoic, dominated by reptiles and dinosaurs.

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