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Devonian

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Scientist's illustration showing ancient fish and early four-legged animals that lived together in prehistoric freshwater environments.

The Devonian

The Devonian was a very long time ago, about 419 to 359 million years back. It was part of a big chunk of time called the Paleozoic era. We call this time the Devonian after a place named Devon in England, where scientists first found rocks from this age.

Plants and Animals

In the Devonian, something very exciting happened—plants began to grow on land! This was the start of forests. Also, the first spiders and insects walked on land. The oceans were busy too, full of many kinds of fish. That’s why we sometimes call this time the “Age of Fishes.”

Fish and Future Animals

Some special fish in the Devonian oceans started to change. These changes would one day help create animals that could walk on four legs, like frogs and salamanders. Much later, these changes would lead to reptiles, birds, and mammals.

A Changing World

The Devonian world had many lands and seas. Big lands like Gondwana and Laurussia were moving. The oceans were warm, and reefs made beautiful underwater homes for sea creatures. Life was busy growing in many places, making the Devonian a time of wonderful change on our planet.

Images

A view of Lummaton Quarry in Torquay, UK – a place where limestone is extracted from the earth.
A map showing how Earth looked 405 million years ago during the Emsian Age, with today's country outlines for comparison.
An ancient map showing how Earth looked 370 million years ago during the Famennian Age.
Map showing where ancient sea creatures called chasmataspidids lived during the Early–Middle Devonian period, millions of years ago.
An ancient map showing where a plant called Nostolepis grew around 400 million years ago during the Early Devonian period.
A diagram showing how fish have evolved from the time of the Cambrian period to today, with the width of each section showing how many families of fish existed at different times.
A fossilized fungus called Prototaxites milwaukeensis from ancient Earth, showing scientists how life looked hundreds of millions of years ago.
An artistic reconstruction of early Devonian land plants, showing the ancient flora from over 400 million years ago.
A fossilized branch from an ancient plant called a lycopod, found in Wisconsin.
An ancient fossilized plant from the Devonian period, discovered in Wisconsin.
A scientific artist's reconstruction of Dunkleosteus terrelli, an ancient armored fish that lived in the seas millions of years ago.
An artist’s reconstruction of Titanichthys clarki, an ancient armored fish that lived in the seas millions of years ago.

Related articles

Paleozoic
Gondwana

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Devonian, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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