This time period took place 359 to 299 million years ago. 3 min read The Carboniferous period, part of the late Paleozoic era, takes its name from large underground coal deposits that date to it.

Dominated by carbon-rich swamps and forests proliferating across Earth's rocky surface, the Carboniferous period saw a boost in atmospheric oxygen and vast quantities of carbon dioxide trapped in what ...

Coal. It powered the industrial revolution and fueled the early development of the science of geology. When the geologic time periods were being named, mainly in Great Britain, the time during which ...

Researchers have discovered that the mass extinction seen in plant species caused by the onset of a drier climate 307 million years ago led to extinctions of some groups of tetrapods, the first ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. A captivating new species of arachnid from the late ...

A study reveals how the Sigillaria brardii species -- a fossil plant typical of peatlands and abundant in the flora of Europe and North America during the Upper Carboniferous -- colonized new areas in ...