Carboniferous Period

359–299 Million Years Ago

The Carboniferous was the age of vast tropical coal swamps. Enormous lycopsid trees and tree ferns created dense forests that, over millions of years, were buried and compressed into the coal deposits that powered the Industrial Revolution. Atmospheric oxygen levels spiked, enabling giant insects like Meganeura (a dragonfly with a 70 cm wingspan). The first reptiles appeared, freed from water by the evolution of the amniotic egg.