The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era during the Phanerozoic eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian period at 419.2 million years ago (Ma), to the beginning of the succeeding Carboniferous period at 358.9 Ma. It is named after Devon, South West England, where rocks from this period were first studied.
The rocks of Lummaton Quarry in Torquay in Devon played an early role in defining the Devonian Period
Diorama of a Devonian seafloor
Prototaxites milwaukeensis, a large fungus, initially thought to be a marine alga, from the Middle Devonian of Wisconsin
The Devonian Period marks the beginning of extensive land colonization by plants. With large land-dwelling herbivores not yet present, large forests grew and shaped the landscape.
The Paleozoic Era is the first of three geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic and ends 251.9 Ma at the start of the Mesozoic Era. The Paleozoic is subdivided into six geologic periods :
Trilobites
Cephalaspis (a jawless fish)
Eogyrinus (an amphibian) of the Carboniferous
Life in the early Paleozoic