Paleozoic Era

Paleozoic Era

541 million years ago

252 million years ago

Pangaea started to form:299 million years ago

Cambrian Explosion: 539 - 530 million years ago

Permian Extinction:252 million years ago

Trilobites were abundant

New species adapted to the hotter and dryer climate from Pangaea

Throughout this era marine life and fish diversified and flourished

Oxygen levels ranged from 15 - 35%

Carbon levels ranged from 0.04 - 0.5%

Cambrian-Ordovician Extinction:488 million years ago

Late Devonian Extinction Events:375 - 358 million years ago

All major groups of modern plants formed during this time including ferns, seed plants, moss etc.

Lasted 289 million years

In this image you can see how the supercontinent split to make the 7 we know today. This process of splitting took around 120 million years or so to complete.

Around this time marine life started to adapt and change, they developed hard exoskeletons and shells. These creatures also started to become similar to the animals we know today that have features like flexible limbs, calcified hard parts, and eyes. Some life like Pikaia and Haikouella even developed some cartilage in their tails to swim better, which are also similar to vertebrates today.