Paleozoic Era
An explosion of life forms and the largest mass extinction.
Cambrian Period
The majority of modern phyla first appeared in the Cambrian. This is known as the Cambrian explosion. Fossils from the Cambrian Period include mostly brachiopods and trilobites.
Olenellus clarki
(By Dwergenpaartje (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
Ordovician Period
Some of the most common Ordovician fossils are brachiopods and nautiloids.
Silurian Period
Silurian fossils consist primarily of tabulate corals, brachiopods, pelecypods, ostracods and gastropods.
Devonian Period
Devonian fossils include rugose and tabulate corals, bryozoa, brachiopods, trilobites, ammonoids, nautiloids, pelecypods and gastropods.
Carboniferous Period
The Carboniferous Period is comprised of the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian epochs.
Mississippian Epoch
Fossils from the Mississippian epoch consist of brachiopods, trilobites, gastropods, foraminiferids, ammonoids, nautiloids, conodonts, rugose corals, tabulate corals, bryozoa, crinoids, and blastoids.
Pennsylvanian Epoch
Pennsylvanian fossils include foraminiferids, bryozoa, rugose and tabulate corals, brachiopods, echinoids, pelecypods, gastropods, ammonoids, nautiloids, trilobites, shark teeth, bony fish scales, scaphopods, plant fossils, insects, and eurypterids.
The Permian Period
The Permian Period was a time before the appearance of the dinosaurs. Strange and bizarre creatures inhabited what is now New Mexico. Some of these included the amphibian Eryops, the reptiles Ophiacodon and Sphenacodon, the sail-backed reptile Dimetrodon and the reptile Limnoscelis. It was also a time when great reef complexes covered southern New Mexico.
An explosion of life forms and the largest mass extinction.
Cambrian Period
The majority of modern phyla first appeared in the Cambrian. This is known as the Cambrian explosion. Fossils from the Cambrian Period include mostly brachiopods and trilobites.
Olenellus clarki
(By Dwergenpaartje (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
Ordovician Period
Some of the most common Ordovician fossils are brachiopods and nautiloids.
Silurian Period
Silurian fossils consist primarily of tabulate corals, brachiopods, pelecypods, ostracods and gastropods.
Devonian Period
Devonian fossils include rugose and tabulate corals, bryozoa, brachiopods, trilobites, ammonoids, nautiloids, pelecypods and gastropods.
Carboniferous Period
The Carboniferous Period is comprised of the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian epochs.
Mississippian Epoch
Fossils from the Mississippian epoch consist of brachiopods, trilobites, gastropods, foraminiferids, ammonoids, nautiloids, conodonts, rugose corals, tabulate corals, bryozoa, crinoids, and blastoids.
Pennsylvanian Epoch
Pennsylvanian fossils include foraminiferids, bryozoa, rugose and tabulate corals, brachiopods, echinoids, pelecypods, gastropods, ammonoids, nautiloids, trilobites, shark teeth, bony fish scales, scaphopods, plant fossils, insects, and eurypterids.
The Permian Period
The Permian Period was a time before the appearance of the dinosaurs. Strange and bizarre creatures inhabited what is now New Mexico. Some of these included the amphibian Eryops, the reptiles Ophiacodon and Sphenacodon, the sail-backed reptile Dimetrodon and the reptile Limnoscelis. It was also a time when great reef complexes covered southern New Mexico.
Dimetrodon
(By H. Zell (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
(By H. Zell (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)