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Era

Silurian

sih-LOOR-ee-un
Also Known As Gotlandian An older synonym, taken from the fossil-bearing strata of the Baltic island of Gotland, before the name Silurian (after the Silures of Wales) became standard.
Phanerozoic

The Silurian is the third and shortest period of the Paleozoic Era, spanning about 443.1 to 419.62 million years ago. It opened with recovery from the Late Ordovician mass extinction and is notable as the interval when vascular plants and several arthropod lineages first became fully established on land. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Rank
Period 1
Start (Million Years Ago)
443.1 1
Standard boundary age from the ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart; not independently re-dated by this atlas.
End (Million Years Ago)
419.62 1
Standard boundary age from the ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart; not independently re-dated by this atlas.
Key Event
Vascular plants emerged from more primitive land plants, dikaryan and glomeromycotan fungi expanded, and three groups of arthropods became fully terrestrialized, the first substantial colonization of land by complex life. 1
Connections

Anticipated By

Ordovician, Eras

Associated With

Late Ordovician Mass Extinction, Phenomena
Source Late Ordovician Mass Extinction (Wikipedia)

Has Geologic Rank

Geologic Period, Concepts

Precursor To

Devonian, Eras
Sources
1. Silurian (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Introduction
    The Silurian is the third and shortest period of the Paleozoic Era, and the third of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon.
  • Lead section
    One important event in this period was the initial establishment of terrestrial life in what is known as the Silurian-Devonian Terrestrial Revolution: vascular plants emerged from more primitive land plants, dikaryan fungi started expanding and diversifying along with glomeromycotan fungi, and three groups of arthropods (myriapods, arachnids and hexapods) became fully terrestrialized.
  • Etymology
  • Classification
  • Timespan (start)
  • Timespan (end)
View the Source
Late Ordovician Mass Extinction (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Late Ordovician Mass ExtinctionView the Source
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