Paleozoic
Hyneria, a Devonian fish, was probably the largest (and most anatomically advanced, because of the fact it could crawl on land), predator of its time.
The Paleozoic, an era that shed some light on the future of our blue planet, animals in these times were often quite fierce, large, and armed with weapons built to kill. An age of predators, all competing for the top of the food web. The paleozoic era itself began 542 MYA, a great start to an era that would end in a blazing inferno of hell on earth 309 million years later, (or 251 mya),which we now know as the permian extinction. The start of the paleozoic was hot and dry and barren, and the sea was teaming with predatory arthropods, such as anomalocaris. Near the end, the land was yet again drier, but life would more commonly be terrestrial, no longer only seafaring life. In the middle, animals started moving from water to land, such as hynerpeton, a large amphibian resembling a salamander. The continents in this era shifted greatly throughout almost every time period. In the beginning of the paleozoic, continents were more “concentrated” toward the south of the planet. Toward the end, the continents were more towards the “center” of the planet. There were many, major changes to landforms at the time, forests formed, and deformed, pangaea formed in the Permian, and the Appalachians formed. Animals and plants also evolved amazing anatomical features at the time. Animals like anomalocaris (which I referenced earlier.) were some of the first animals to develop eyes, even though they were simple, compound eyes used by modern insects today. Trilobites were also an example of an animal that exploited use of it’s eyes. Tracheophyta, an early plant, were actually the first terrestrial plants, though they did not have very large root systems. At the end of the time period, animals such as the first archosaur, euparkeria, (which I also referenced earlier), evolved. And, the most massive extinction we have ever known, the Permian extinction had wiped out 90% of all living things.
The Paleozoic, an era that shed some light on the future of our blue planet, animals in these times were often quite fierce, large, and armed with weapons built to kill. An age of predators, all competing for the top of the food web. The paleozoic era itself began 542 MYA, a great start to an era that would end in a blazing inferno of hell on earth 309 million years later, (or 251 mya),which we now know as the permian extinction. The start of the paleozoic was hot and dry and barren, and the sea was teaming with predatory arthropods, such as anomalocaris. Near the end, the land was yet again drier, but life would more commonly be terrestrial, no longer only seafaring life. In the middle, animals started moving from water to land, such as hynerpeton, a large amphibian resembling a salamander. The continents in this era shifted greatly throughout almost every time period. In the beginning of the paleozoic, continents were more “concentrated” toward the south of the planet. Toward the end, the continents were more towards the “center” of the planet. There were many, major changes to landforms at the time, forests formed, and deformed, pangaea formed in the Permian, and the Appalachians formed. Animals and plants also evolved amazing anatomical features at the time. Animals like anomalocaris (which I referenced earlier.) were some of the first animals to develop eyes, even though they were simple, compound eyes used by modern insects today. Trilobites were also an example of an animal that exploited use of it’s eyes. Tracheophyta, an early plant, were actually the first terrestrial plants, though they did not have very large root systems. At the end of the time period, animals such as the first archosaur, euparkeria, (which I also referenced earlier), evolved. And, the most massive extinction we have ever known, the Permian extinction had wiped out 90% of all living things.