Lecture 10A

Paleozoic land
Chapters 13-15
 Objectives
• Understand geological events of the Paleozoic
• Learn about the early evolution of terrestrial
plants
• Learn about the early evolution of terrestrial
invertebrates
• Learn about the early evolution of terrestrial
vertebrates

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeZ9aXFxvro
 Paleozoic paleogeography
• Cambrian notable for flooding of continents
• Evidence of continued encroachment of seas
 Cambrian paleogeography

• Siliciclastic belts
deposited along
innermost belt
• Seaward of that belt were
broad carbonate
platforms
• Fossil deposits
correspond to these
patterns
Ordovician paleogeography
 Taconic orogeny
• First of three events that
formed Appalachians
• Resulted from collisions
between Laurentia and
Island arcs
• Exotic terranes meet
Laurentia
 Taconic orogeny
• Exotic fossils reveal origin
 Silurian & Devonian paleogeography
• During this interval Baltica and Avalonia collided
with Laurentia to form Euramerica
 Silurian & Devonian paleogeography
• During this interval Baltica and Avalonia collided
with Laurentia to form Euramerica
• Regions were dry, evaporite deposits (w/n 30°)
 Silurian & Devonian paleogeography
• During this interval Baltica and Avalonia collided
with Laurentia to form Euramerica
• Regions were dry, evaporite deposits (w/n 30°)
• Collision results in famous angular unconformity

Siccar point,
Devonian
Scotland

Silurian
At the end of the Devonian, Earth entered into another
ice age.

Why another glaciation?

One idea is that the establishment of land plants

triggered the glaciation. Vegetation tends to accelerate
chemical weathering. Forests tend to trap moisture and
promote rain. As such, establishment of forests in the
Late Devonian may have accelerated weathering,
leading to a draw down in CO2 levels, a reduction in the
greenhouse effect, and, ultimately, global cooling.
The glaciation was soon followed by the Late Devonian mass
extinction. Warm-water organisms in the ocean were particularly
affected. Reef building organisms were decimated.
Carboniferous and Permian paleogeography
 Permian period
• Culmination of Pangaea
• Retraction of coal
swamps
• Increased arid regions,
evaporite deposits
Carboniferous and Permian paleogeography
 Terrestrial Life
• Early life restricted to oceans, but life invades land in
early Paleozoic:
• Spores à earliest evidence of land plants (Ordovician)
• Cooksonia à earliest plant (mid-Silurian)
• Climactichnites à trace fossil (Cambrian) – land?
 Terrestrial Life
• Early life restricted to oceans, but life invades land in
early Paleozoic:
• Spores à earliest evidence of land plants (Ordovician)
• Cooksonia à earliest plant (mid-Silurian)
• Climactichnites à trace fossil (Cambrian) – land?
 From red to green

Colonization of land by plants changed the colour of Earth.

Initially grey (pre-GOE), then red (post-GOE), the land
surface became green by the end of the Devonian.

Before plants (sort of) After plants

 From red to green
The first land plants were likely moss-like organisms that
lacked vascular tissues. They may have developed in the
Late Ordovician. These would have been restricted to
moist habitats.
**
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Land Plant Phylogeny

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Ordovician-Silurian

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 Problems moving to land?

• Respiration
• Nutrient absorption
• Support
• Anchoring
• Reproduction
• Desiccation
 Terrestrial Life
• Early life restricted to oceans, but life invades land in
early Paleozoic:
• Spores à earliest evidence of land plants (Ordovician)
• Cooksonia à earliest plant (mid-Silurian)
• Climactichnites à trace fossil (Cambrian) – land?

• Cooksonia - Global, but best

known from Europe and
Australia

Oldest vascular plant

 live
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Land Plant Phylogeny

fer
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Vascular tissue

no
sp
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Mid-late Silurian

s
 Vascular plants
• Xylem and Phloem for conducting water and food
• Lignin strengthens xylem

Cooksonia Rhynia
 Paleozoic Plants
• Silurian: estuarine swamps
• Small plants
• Simple vascular plants

Burian, 1960
 live
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Land Plant Phylogeny

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Devonian

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Leaves and roots

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 Ferns Horsetails
Devonian - Recent Devonian - Recent

Equisetum
 Devonian lycopods
• Members of small, low growing plants reach
tree-like proportions
 Paleozoic plants
• Trees present by the Devonian, create massive coal
deposits during the Carboniferous

Burian, 1960
In the Carboniferous, low lying swampy forests appear
to have been far more extensive than they are today.

Provided refuge for early terrestrial vertebrates

Their fossils are found in the lithified infill
 Carboniferous forests
• Lycopod forests, Joggins, Nova Scotia, UNESCO
Abundant peat was deposited in these environments, where it was
readily preserved due to the bog-like conditions.

Alfred Bog

Mer Bleue Bog

Ottawa
 live
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Land Plant Phylogeny

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Seeds

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Devonian-Carboniferous

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 Gymnosperms (Devonian – Recent)

Conifers

Cycads
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Land Plant Phylogeny

fer
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until the Mesozoic

s
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Won’t see angiosperms
Seeds

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 Why did animals move to a terrestrial
habitat?

• Reach sunlight
• Avoid competition
• Find food
• Breathe oxygen
• Escape predators (?)
 Terrestrial Life
• Early life restricted to oceans, but life invades land in
early Paleozoic
• Pneumodesmus à myriopod millipede (Silurian)
• Climactichnites à trace fossil (Cambrian), questionable
 Climactichnites
• Cambrian
• Near shore, possibly tidal flats
• Terrestrial, or just moving between pools?
Problems moving to land?

• Respiration
• Feeding
• Support/locomotion
• Reproduction
• Desiccation
Arthropods—millipedes, centipedes, flightless insects,
scorpions and spiders—moved onto land first, in the
Early Devonian.
• Arthropods already equipped...
– Chitinous exoskeleton
– Body segmented and jointed
– Gills à Tracheae for breathing
Gigantism was common in Carboniferous insects. Millipede-like
insects reached lengths of 2.4 m.
Arthopleura
 Giant dragonflies

Burian, 1960
Some have argued that this reflects elevated oxygen levels during
the Carboniferous. The idea is that massive burial of organic matter
(coal) led to increases in the atmospheric oxygen reservoir as well
as the abundance of land plants producing oxygen (among other
things).
concentration (%)
Estimated oxygen
 Terrestrial Life
• Early life restricted to oceans, but life invades land in
early Paleozoic
• Climactichnites à trace fossil (Cambrian)
• Cooksonia à primitive plant (Ordo-Silurian)
• Pneumodesmus à myriopod millipede (Silurian)
• Vertebrates by Devonian (e.g., Acanthostega)
Problems moving to land?

• Respiration
• Feeding
• Support/locomotion
• Reproduction
• Desiccation
 Vertebrate Phylogeny

Amniota

Tetrapoda

Lobe-finned fish

Bony fish

Vertebrata
Photos from animals.nationalgeographic.com
Tetrapod ancestors appear in the Late Devonian.
In 2004, Tiktaalik was found on Ellesmere Island,
Canada, by a group of paleontologists. It is believed
to be a transitional form between a lobe-finned fish
and an early tetrapod.

Flexible neck, like

amphibians (but
unlike fish)

Limbs in between
Eyes on top of head fins and legs,
help view jointed
surroundings

Nostrils on top of head help breathe air

 Earliest tetrapods (limbs)
• Acanthostega and Ichthyostega from the
Devonian of Greenland

**
Devonian “amphibians” were much larger than those today.
 Earliest tetrapods

Many were likely still

at least semi-aquatic
 Vertebrate Phylogeny

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Synapsida Reptilia

Amniota

Tetrapoda
fingers and toes
neck pelvic girdle
Devonian
Limb joints
differentiated limb bones
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Vertebrate Phylogeny

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Synapsida

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Reptilia

Permian

Sa
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Carboniferous
Amniota
 Carboniferous amphibians
• Dendrerpeton, Joggins, Nova Scotia

First specimens
found inside
lycopod tree
stumps, hence
name
Dendrerpeton
 C
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Vertebrate Phylogeny

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Synapsida

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Reptilia

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Amniotic egg
Keratin scales
Amniota
 Amniotic Egg

• Protection for developing

embryo
• Food source (yolk)
• Waste disposal (allantois)
• Egg can be laid away
from water
 Amniotes

• Today: Mammals, reptiles and birds

• Overcome water dependence
– Key innovation à amniotic egg

And scales!
Halliday & Adler, 2002
 First amniote
• Hylonomus, Joggins, Nova Scotia
 Permian Radiation
• First large terrestrial herbivores
Permian amphibians
 Permian reptiles
• Remain mostly small throughout Permian
 Permian Amniota
• Synapsids: group that contains mammals
• Key Permian group (70% of vert. species)
– Early Permian Pelycosaurs: Dimetrodon and Edaphosaurus
 Permian Amniota

Dimetrodon,
Permian of PEI

Not a dinosaur!
 Permian Amniota
• Synapsids: group that contains mammals
• Key Permian group (70% of vert. species)
– Later Permian: Therapsida
 Mammal-like reptiles
• Misnomer, not reptiles at all

Pelycosaurs Therapsids
And then…..it nearly all gets wiped
out!