Carboniferous Period |
To plant geeks, the Carboniferous Period would have been a heaven. (Like Jerry.) To anyone fearing bugs, it would have been a nightmare. The Carboniferous Period was a time of YUUUGE vegetative growth and the source of almost all of our coal. A Carboniferous rainforest could be seen as a giantized version of today's forest floors.
This was due to 2 things. First, because many of the natural insect-repelling toxins plants used had not evolved yet, plants took the nuclear option. They used YUUUGE amounts of lignin in their bark and trunks to stop insects from devouring it. Since lignin is ridiculously hard to digest and therefore rot, extensive woody tree buildup occurred (this material would eventually form almost all of the world's coal deposits).
(All of the green is swamp)
Second, sea levels rose, generating YUUUGE lowland rain forest swamps that were filled with giant lycopods, tree ferns, horsetails and tree ferns. These forests put so much oxygen into the atmosphere that it encouraged the evolution of gigantic insects and amphibians.
Second, sea levels rose, generating YUUUGE lowland rain forest swamps that were filled with giant lycopods, tree ferns, horsetails and tree ferns. These forests put so much oxygen into the atmosphere that it encouraged the evolution of gigantic insects and amphibians.