What was the Devonian Period?
The Devonian period is the fourth of six geologic periods that make up the Paleozoic era, the oldest era of multicellular life on Earth, extending from about 542 to 251 million years ago. The Devonian period itself extends from roughly 416 to 359 million years ago. The Devonian is sometimes called “The Age of Fishes” due to the abundance and diversity of fish genera that evolved during this time. The ammonites also emerged during the Devonian period. These nautilus-like organisms continued to thrive until the extinction of the dinosaurs only 65 million years ago. The Devonian period was particularly important in the evolution of Earthly life. Fish first evolved legs and began to walk on land as tetrapods, and the first insects and spiders colonized the land as well. The ancestors of millipedes had already achieved this several tens of millions of years before, during the Silurian, but the Devonian period represented the first serious diversity of life on land. Fish legs evolved from mu
