Evolution of the first forests in the Late Devonian. Trees modern in appearance with gymnospermous wood . Conifers first appear in the Carboniferous Permo-Carboniferous Coal swamp vegetation with wide diversity of plant groups coexisting. Icehouse conditions provide climate for diverse ecologies. Lycopsids, Sphenopsids, Ferns, Gymnosperms Late Pennsylvanian climatic change resulted in the demise and extinction of the major peat-forest forms.
Lineages survive, but dominant life forms become extinct.
To learn more about the now extinct vegetation that once blanketed the tropics of the Carboniferous, visit Plant Fossils of West Virginia . Ryoichiro Debuchi has created his own cyberspace Devonian Garden where you have the opportunity to manage a part of the Paleozoic ecosystem. If the primitive reptiles and plants are nurtured properly, they'll evolve to become dinosaurs. You need to have LIVE3D plugins installed on your machine to take the challenge. Copyright 1998-2001 by Robert A. Gastaldo.