The Silurian Period lasted 28 million years and began after the Ordovician period. It saw the emergence of fish, vascular plants, and the first true terrestrial biota. There were extinction events, but recovery was rapid, especially among invertebrate faunas.
The Silurian Period is the third of six major periods that make up the Paleozoic Era, a geological division of time extending from approximately 542 million years ago to 251 million years ago. The Silurian period itself began at the end of the Ordovician period, about 444 million years ago, and the beginning of the Devonian period, about 416 million years ago. Therefore, the Silurian period was a period of time that lasted 28 million years.
At the beginning of the Silurian period were the Ordovician-Silurian extinction events, the second largest series of extinctions in the history of the planet after the largest Permian-Triassic extinction event, which wiped out 60% of all marine genera. Recovery has been rapid, especially among invertebrate faunas. Superficially clam-like brachiopods dominated, making up 80% of the total species. Most trilobites became extinct in the recent extinction and were in decline throughout the Silurian.
The Silurian period and the Devonian period that followed it were an important moment in the evolution of fish. Fish dominated the sea, and many species had a curious type of head armor not seen in any extant species. Vascular plants, that is, plants capable of transporting nutrients through their tissues, first appeared on earth during the Silurian, although most plants were still non-vascular and only a few centimeters tall. The first steps towards greening the earth’s surface were underway. These plants bore no seeds and probably didn’t grow very far from water. They reproduced using spores and direct vegetative growth. The interior of the continents was vast, barren and dead. There were no real forests.
Although there had been a few animal raids on land before, the Silurian period saw the first true terrestrial biota walk the land, in the form of Myriapoda, a subphylum that includes centipedes and centipedes. This subphylum first emerged during the Silurian period and remains one of the oldest as it is still in existence today.
Eurypterids, or water scorpions, and jawless fishes first spread across fresh and brackish water. Snails and nautiloids were common organisms. Towards the end of the Silurian period, there were some minor extinction events, including the Lau event, caused by impact events or climate change.
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