The Carboniferous Period
When was it?
360 to 286 million years ago.
It is often subdivided into two parts, the Early Carboniferous or Mississippian (260-320 MYA),
and the Late Carboniferous, or Pennsylvanian (320-286 MYA)
What was going on?
Lots of trees -- a lot of coal comes from this period. The first reptiles appear.
What were the continents like?
Godwanaland and the equatorial continents begin to move together.
What kind of life existed?
The first reptiles evolve from Amphibians; the big difference is that reptiles have an
amniote egg -- one with a shell -- that can be left on land, rather than requiring that
the creatures return to the water to breed. Further, plant life continues to evolve into
a great diversity of forms.