Carboniferous Period
359-299 million years ago
About this Period
Giant insects and early reptiles
The Carboniferous period was characterized by vast swamps, towering forests, and extraordinarily high oxygen levels that allowed arthropods to grow to enormous sizes.
Atmospheric oxygen reached an astonishing 35% (compared to today's 21%), enabling creatures of unprecedented scale. Giant dragonflies like Meganeura soared with 70cm wingspans. Arthropleura, a millipede-like creature, grew up to 2.5 meters long. Giant cockroaches and other insects thrived in this oxygen-rich world.
The extensive swamps and forests of this period would later form the coal deposits that powered the Industrial Revolution. Early amphibians diversified and grew to large sizes, dominating freshwater and swamp environments.
Most significantly, the first fully terrestrial vertebrates (early reptiles) emerged, evolving the amniotic egg that freed them from dependence on water for reproduction.
The Carboniferous was unique in Earth's history—a world of giants made possible by an oxygen-rich atmosphere.
