The Devonian Period
When was it?
408 to 360 million years ago.
What was going on?
Bony-headed Fish; the first tetrapods. And another mass extinction.
What were the continents like?
Godwanaland still occupies the area near the south pole; the continents near the
equator have moved closer together.
What kind of life existed?
The jawed fish continue to evolve, producing some very large species. One particular
group, the ostracoderms, are especially distinctive because of the bony plates around
their heads. More advance plants continue to colonize the land. And early amphibians (the
first tetrapods -- land vertebrates) evolve and come out of the water. Towards the end of
the Devonian, there is yet another big mass extinction.