Eras

Carboniferous

kar-buh-NIF-er-us

Also Known As Age of Amphibians

Citation Formats

General Reference

Earth and Environment Atlas. "Carboniferous." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://earth.interactiveatlas.org/eras/carboniferous.

APA Style

Earth and Environment Atlas. (n.d.). Carboniferous. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://earth.interactiveatlas.org/eras/carboniferous

BibTeX

@misc{earthandenvironmentatlas-carboniferous,
  author = {Earth and Environment Atlas},
  title = {Carboniferous},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://earth.interactiveatlas.org/eras/carboniferous},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The Carboniferous is the fifth period of the Paleozoic Era, spanning about 358.86 to 298.9 million years ago. Vast swamp forests laid down the coal beds that give the period its name, amphibians diversified widely, and the supercontinent Pangaea assembled against a backdrop of Late Paleozoic Ice Age glaciation. In North America it is conventionally split into the earlier Mississippian and later Pennsylvanian.

Facts

Rank

Period 1

Start (Million Years Ago)

358.86 1

Standard boundary age from the ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart; not independently re-dated by this atlas.

End (Million Years Ago)

298.9 1

Standard boundary age from the ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart; not independently re-dated by this atlas.

Key Event

Vast swaths of forest and swamp covered the land and eventually became the coal beds characteristic of Carboniferous stratigraphy; the supercontinent Pangaea assembled during the period. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Part Of

Paleozoic

Sources

1. Carboniferous (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction

Quote, Introduction

The Carboniferous is the period during which both terrestrial animal and land plant life was well established.

View the Source

1. Carboniferous (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction (coal swamps)

Quote, Introduction (coal swamps)

Vast swaths of forests and swamps covered the land, which eventually became the coal beds characteristic of the Carboniferous stratigraphy evident today.

View the Source

1. Carboniferous (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction (Age of Amphibians)

Quote, Introduction (Age of Amphibians)