What did the Coal Age Forests of Joggins Look Like?
315 million years ago, Joggins was located near the Earth’s equator and was part of a massive swampy river delta lying between two mountain ranges which would later become the Appalachians and Atlas Mountains. Hylonomus lyelli in the primeval forest, by John Sibbick (with permission) Like the Amazon of today, these ancient rivers were lined by a dense tropical forest, dominated by clubmosses (Lepidodendron and Sigillaria) which reached heights of 30m, seed fern trees and the bamboo-like horsetail, Calamites. It was a hot and humid environment, ravaged by monstrous storms that often caused devastating forest fires or the silt-laden rivers to overflow their banks and flood the forests. The air would have hummed with the sounds of giant insects while the soggy ground crawled with all manner of creatures, from the tiny, early reptiles that hid and scurried around the trees, to huge two-metre–long millipede-like arthropods that munched on the dead and rotting plants. The rivers also teamed
