Key Events

• The Devonian Period sees life spread across the continents.
• Plants that disperse spores spread across dry land, forming extensive forests.
• Plants evolve leaves, roots and seeds.
• Lobe-finned fish, the ancestors of all four-limbed vertebrates, adapt to walking on land.
• In the oceans, ammonites join trilobites, coral reefs, primitive sharks and a plethora of fish.
• The Devonian Period ends with a gradual extinction event.

Facts, Debates & Trivia

• The period is named after Devon, where the rocks from this period were first studied.
• The Devonian Period is also known as the ‘Age of Fishes’, due to the diversity of types of fish.
• A large part of Cornwall is formed of slate and sandstone from the Devonian Period. 

Conditions

• The climate is relatively warm for most of the Devonian Period.
• The end is marked by a rapid cooling.

Timeline

419.2 – 358.9 million years ago 

(60.3 million years)

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