The Paleozoic Era began 542,000,000 years ago and ended 241,000,000 years ago and is known as the Explosion of Life. Throughout the era, the climate kept shifting from warm to cold and affected the land. At the beginning of the era, the climate was moderate like we have today. The land started out as the supercontinent Pannotia. The carbon dioxide levels then plummeted and caused an ice age. The ice age lasted for thirty million years and caused a mass extinction. The land split into the continents of Gondwana, Baltica and Laurasia. In the Silurian and the Devonian periods, the climate recovered to a moderate temperature. This moderate climate lasted for about 100 million years. Then, as the later Paleozoic periods came around, the carbon dioxide levels plummeted to unheard of lows. This caused an ice age that resulted in Baltica and Laurasia merging. Gondwana later collided with Baltica and Laurasia to form Pangea. Pangea caused extreme temperatures and mass extinction.
Plant and animal life thrived during the Paleozoic Era. Invertebrates ruled the oceans. The invertebrates then evolved into vertebrates and, because of the plants’ oxygen, newly evolved arthropods were able to transition to land. The vertebrates evolved to many complex marine animals, land animals, and amphibians. Amphibians are animals that spend part of their life in water and part of their life on land. The amphibians later evolved into the early reptiles that would eventually become dinosaurs. The plant life thrived and then declined during the Paleozoic Era. Foliage and Carboniferous rainforests thrived at the beginning of the period due to the moderate climate and then declined later in the era due to the extreme temperatures. At the end of the era, Pangea formed and caused extreme temperatures. There was volcanic activity, meteor impact, glaciation, sea-level changes and global warming. The extreme temperatures caused a mass extinction and killed off most of the species. This extinction, known as the Permian Extinction, marked the end of the Paleozoic Era.