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Late Paleozoic Life

Explore the Late Paleozoic era with dominant Carboniferous flora, diverse marine life, and the Permian mass extinction event. Discover the evolution of reptiles and late Permian reptilian diversity. Unravel the mysteries behind the catastrophic extinctions during the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian periods.

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Late Paleozoic Life

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  1. Late Paleozoic Life

  2. Carboniferous swamps

  3. Dominant Carboniferous “trees” are Lycopods Lepidodendron sp. Sigillaria sp.

  4. Sphenopsids also dominate Carboniferous floras Calamities living horsetail

  5. Seed ferns also dominate Carboniferous floras Alethopteris sp.

  6. Cordaites also very common

  7. Mississippian and Pennsylvanian Cephalopods Goniatites & Ceratites

  8. Mississippian reef systems: shallow, warm, well oxygenated Dominated by epifaunal taxa

  9. Permian reef systems: What’s missing?

  10. Permian reef ecosystem, TX Permian productid brachiopods

  11. Arthropods diversify during the Carboniferous Horseshoe crab Eurypterid Cockroach Shrimp Pennsylvanian, Mazon Creek, Illinois Spider

  12. Gigantic Pennsylvanian insects… 6 ft. long, 3 ft. wide myriapods dragonflies with 12 in. wingspans

  13. Carboniferous Elasmobranch Radiation Symmorium sp.

  14. Iniopterygia – small sharks(?) from Pennsylvanian of Laurasia (currently NE, MT, IL) Iniopteryx Sibyrhynchus Iniopera Promexyele

  15. A hodgepodge of Mississippian “oddball” elasmobanchs Petalodus Orodus Monteagle Ls., near Huntsville, AL Saivodus

  16. Permo-Carboniferous “buzz saws” - Edestidae Edestus giganteus Pennsylvanian black shales Indiana, USA 25 ft. long

  17. Orthacanthus, Permian freshwater shark

  18. Amphibians continue to diversify Eryops

  19. Diplocaulus Seymouria

  20. Permian lacustrine ecosystem, Texas, USA

  21. Carboniferous evolution of Reptilia (from amphibian ancestor) • Reptiles differ from amphibians in skull structure, jawbones, ear location, limb and vertebral construction, and egg structure. • Amphibians tied to water in which to lay eggs – evolution of the amniotic egg freed reptiles from this constraint and allowed them to colonize all parts of the land. • Reptiles likely evolved from labyrinthodont amphibians during the Mississippian – still shrouded in mystery. • Oldest known reptiles from the Lower Pennsylvanian of Nova Scotia – Hylonomus.

  22. The amniote egg:

  23. Hylonomus sp., early Pennsylvanian of Nova Scotia, Canada

  24. Dimetrodon Reptiles diversify in the Permian: Pelycosauria Edaphosaurus

  25. Dicynodon Lystrosaurus Moschops Late Permian “mammal-like” reptiles: Therapsida

  26. Late Paleozoic extinctions… Mississippian Pennsylvanian biodiversity Ma

  27. End Permian Mass Extinction • The most devastating of all mass extinctions. Nearly 96% of all marine and terrestrial species went extinct. Very rapid! • In the sea rugose and tabulate corals, trilobites, many classes, orders and families of crinoids, brachiopods, ammonoids, as well as other echinoderm, mollusk, and vertebrate taxa went extinct. • On land a total breakdown of terrestrial ecosystems occurred. Most vertebrate and plant groups went extinct. • The Earth came close to a pre-Ediacaran (Late Proterozoic) state – i.e., being nearly devoid of multicellular animal and plant life. • Cause(s) of the extinction are not totally known, but may include rapid global warming, anoxic oceans, widespread volcanism, methane gas release, and/or extraterrestrial impact.

  28. Mississippian/Pennsylvanian • mass extinctions: • Glaciation at southern pole – less water in ocean basins • Uplift – increased sediment supply • Pangea forms – less coastal area • Permian mass extinction: • Miss./Penn. causes, + • Siberian Trapps • Bolide? • Methane traps?

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