W5 - Mid to Late-Paleozoic Flashcards
What is the coelacanth (fish)?
Living fossil (2 current extant species while >100 extinct species)
What is believed to be the first animal to walk on land?
Ichthyostega
First is hard to determine - is it first to live entire life on land or just venture on land for part of their life
What are Sarcopterygii (fish)?
Lobe-finned fish
Fins resembled limb buds
Include Tiktaalik species - perhaps the first animal to walk on land
How did plants evolve in the mid to late-Paleozoic?
Plants grew in size through adaptive radiation
Embryophyta (land plants) appeared by mid-Cambrian
Devonian marks beginning of extensive land colonization by plants
Evolution of spore bearing and seed bearing plants
Giant ferns and horsetails grew up to 7m high
What are placoderms (fish)?
Armored prehistoric fish with jaws
No scales, but plates instead
Their fins served as a precursor for limbs
Why is the Devonian referred to as the Age of Fishes?
Evolution of placoderms, sharks, rays, lungfish, and coelacanths
What was the Mid-Paleozoic Marine Revolution?
440-355mya
Jawed fish appeared, allowing for greater predation and leading to the evolution of 99% of all vertebrates
Amphibians evolved
Includes the Devonian
When did insects first arrive on land?
Probably the first organism to survive on land
Arrived in Devonian
Included dragonflies with wingspan up to 1m, carboniferous cockroaches, millipedes up to 2m long
Myriapods (group including centipedes and millipedes) were likely first to conquer land starting in 414mya
Hard to determine since insects don’t preserve well in fossils - constantly finding new evidence
What is coal?
Combustible fossil fuel that contains a large amount of carbon-based material
High quality coal is from plants grown during Carboniferous (oldest plants)
Created at time passes and temperature and pressure increases
What are the types of coal?
1) Peat = first step in coal formation, accumulation of decayed vegetation or organic matter, lowest carbon content
2) Lignite Coal = low-grade, took 250 my to form, brownish with more moisture and less (25%) carbon content
3) Bituminous Coal = took ~100-300 my to form under high temp and pressure, black, less moisture and more carbon (45-68%), applied in thermal power plants and industrial boilers
4) Anthracite Coal = lustrous black, highest quality, took over 300 my to form, almost no moisture and 86-97% carbon content, releases little soot on burns (cleaner burn), applied in stoves, furnaces, and water filtration systems
Where can the highest quality of coal been found in Canada?
Joggins, Nova Scotia
Coal Age Galapagos (used to be located at equator)
Diverse fossils from the Carboniferous can be seen (318-303mya)
Tides from Bay of Fundy continuously erode and expose new rock
UNESCO world heritage site
Composed of alternating units of limestones, sandstones, mudstones, carbonaceous shales, and coals
