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Carboniferous Forest

author: Walter B. Myers/Novapix

reference: t-glb91-04003

Image Size 300 DPI: 25 * 19 cm

A Carboniferous forest of Midwestern North America 350 million years ago featuring Lepidodendron aculeatum (resembling feather dusters on long sticks), Sigillaria scutellata (resembling toilet bowl brushes), Asteroxylon mackiei (at this scale may be mistaken for grass), and ferns. Some Lepidodendron grew as tall as 150 feet. 360 million years ago the Earth entered a period known as the Carboniferous, a 60 million year span remarkable for worldwide high temperatures, high humidity, and the emergence of thousands of new terrestrial plant and animal species. Dense forests of arboreal lycopods covered much of the vast continent of Pangaea. This enormous biomass eventually became the source for the great bituminous coal fields of North America, Europe and Asia.

Keywords for this photo:

CARBONIFEROUS - EARTH - FERN - FLORA - FOREST - HISTORY OF EARTH - ILLUSTRATION - LANDSCAPE - PALEOZOIC - PLANT - TREE -